Aberrant activation of glycolysis represents a key metabolic mechanism underlying the initiation and progression of nasal inflammation. Allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, and vasomotor rhinitis exhibit distinct etiologies, yet all are characterized by inflammatory responses, impaired epithelial barrier function, and neurovascular dysregulation, in which glycolytic metabolic reprogramming acts as a central hub connecting immunometabolism and inflammatory regulation.Recent evidence indicates that glycolysis-dependent activation of immune cells provides the essential energy basis for inflammatory onset. In dendritic cells, eosinophils, mast cells, and Th2 cells, the expression of key glycolytic enzymes including HK2, PKM2, and LDHA is upregulated, thereby promoting cellular activation and proinflammatory cytokine release via the mTOR-HIF-1α signaling axis. Notably, the metabolic reprogramming of eosinophils prolongs their survival and enhances the release of cytotoxic granules, while in mast cells, enhanced glycolysis facilitates IgE-mediated degranulation and histamine release. Furthermore, glycolysis also influences the Th17/Treg balance, with enhanced glycolytic flux promoting Th17 differentiation and contributing to the heterogeneous inflammatory profiles observed across different rhinitis subtypes.As a central metabolite, lactate contributes to the formation of a metabolism-inflammation vicious cycle through multiple mechanisms. Lactate acidifies the local microenvironment to activate TRPV1 channels and facilitate neuropeptide release, mediates immune cell chemotaxis through GPR81, and regulates gene expression via histone lactylation, thereby sustaining proinflammatory gene transcription. These lactate-mediated processes collectively amplify local inflammation and contribute to the persistence of nasal symptoms.Glycolytic reprogramming in epithelial cells is modulated by the EGF/EGFR pathway, and its dysregulation may result in disrupted tight junctions, abnormal goblet cell hyperplasia, and subsequent tissue remodeling. Substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide released from sensory neurons, in conjunction with metabolic products, synergistically maintain persistent inflammatory stimulation by activating mast cells, forming a neuro-immune-metabolic regulatory network that drives disease chronicity.From a therapeutic perspective, glycolytic inhibitors such as 2-deoxyglucose, FX11, and 3-bromopyruvate exert anti-inflammatory effects by targeting key enzymes including HK2 and LDHA, each with distinct mechanisms: 2-DG competitively inhibits hexokinase, FX11 selectively targets LDHA to reduce lactate production, and 3-BrPA modulates multiple glycolytic enzymes. Moreover, traditional Chinese medicine formulas, monomeric active components, and small-molecule compounds have shown promising potential in alleviating nasal inflammation by regulating the mTOR-HIF-1α axis, exerting antioxidant effects, and modulating endoplasmic reticulum stress pathways. The multi-target characteristics of these natural products offer advantages in addressing the complex pathophysiology of nasal inflammatory diseases.Despite these advances, several challenges remain. The non-selective inhibition of glycolysis may interfere with epithelial repair and mucosal regeneration, leading to delayed wound healing. Technical limitations in dynamic metabolic monitoring and sampling precision hinder the accurate assessment of local nasal metabolism. Furthermore, current animal models, which predominantly rely on acute stimulation protocols, inadequately recapitulate the chronic tissue remodeling processes characteristic of human rhinitis.This review systematically summarizes glycolysis as a common metabolic node shared by different rhinitis subtypes, offering a novel theoretical basis for the development of precision therapeutic strategies targeting metabolic reprogramming.

Aberrant activation of glycolysis represents a key metabolic mechanism underlying the initiation and progression of nasal inflammation. Allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, and vasomotor rhinitis exhibit distinct etiologies, yet all are characterized by inflammatory responses, impaired epithelial barrier function, and neurovascular dysregulation, in which glycolytic metabolic reprogramming acts as a central hub connecting immunometabolism and inflammatory regulation.Recent evidence indicates that glycolysis-dependent activation of immune cells provides the essential energy basis for inflammatory onset. In dendritic cells, eosinophils, mast cells, and Th2 cells, the expression of key glycolytic enzymes including HK2, PKM2, and LDHA is upregulated, thereby promoting cellular activation and proinflammatory cytokine release via the mTOR-HIF-1α signaling axis. Notably, the metabolic reprogramming of eosinophils prolongs their survival and enhances the release of cytotoxic granules, while in mast cells, enhanced glycolysis facilitates IgE-mediated degranulation and histamine release. Furthermore, glycolysis also influences the Th17/Treg balance, with enhanced glycolytic flux promoting Th17 differentiation and contributing to the heterogeneous inflammatory profiles observed across different rhinitis subtypes.As a central metabolite, lactate contributes to the formation of a metabolism-inflammation vicious cycle through multiple mechanisms. Lactate acidifies the local microenvironment to activate TRPV1 channels and facilitate neuropeptide release, mediates immune cell chemotaxis through GPR81, and regulates gene expression via histone lactylation, thereby sustaining proinflammatory gene transcription. These lactate-mediated processes collectively amplify local inflammation and contribute to the persistence of nasal symptoms.Glycolytic reprogramming in epithelial cells is modulated by the EGF/EGFR pathway, and its dysregulation may result in disrupted tight junctions, abnormal goblet cell hyperplasia, and subsequent tissue remodeling. Substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide released from sensory neurons, in conjunction with metabolic products, synergistically maintain persistent inflammatory stimulation by activating mast cells, forming a neuro-immune-metabolic regulatory network that drives disease chronicity.From a therapeutic perspective, glycolytic inhibitors such as 2-deoxyglucose, FX11, and 3-bromopyruvate exert anti-inflammatory effects by targeting key enzymes including HK2 and LDHA, each with distinct mechanisms: 2-DG competitively inhibits hexokinase, FX11 selectively targets LDHA to reduce lactate production, and 3-BrPA modulates multiple glycolytic enzymes. Moreover, traditional Chinese medicine formulas, monomeric active components, and small-molecule compounds have shown promising potential in alleviating nasal inflammation by regulating the mTOR-HIF-1α axis, exerting antioxidant effects, and modulating endoplasmic reticulum stress pathways. The multi-target characteristics of these natural products offer advantages in addressing the complex pathophysiology of nasal inflammatory diseases.Despite these advances, several challenges remain. The non-selective inhibition of glycolysis may interfere with epithelial repair and mucosal regeneration, leading to delayed wound healing. Technical limitations in dynamic metabolic monitoring and sampling precision hinder the accurate assessment of local nasal metabolism. Furthermore, current animal models, which predominantly rely on acute stimulation protocols, inadequately recapitulate the chronic tissue remodeling processes characteristic of human rhinitis.This review systematically summarizes glycolysis as a common metabolic node shared by different rhinitis subtypes, offering a novel theoretical basis for the development of precision therapeutic strategies targeting metabolic reprogramming.

Abelmoschi Corolla, the dried corolla of Abelmoschus manihot, has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-fibrosis activities. Its chemical constituents mainly include flavonoids, organic acids, steroids, and polysaccharides. This study reviewed the research progress in the chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of Abelmoschi Corolla in recent 20 years. According to the concept of quality marker(Q-marker), the Q-markers of Abelmoschi Corolla were predicted from plant phylogeny, chemical constituent specificity, traditional efficacy, chemical constituent measurability, and absorbed constituents. The primary Q-markers for Abelmoschi Corolla were anticipated to include quercetin-3'-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, gossypetin-8-O-β-D-glucuronide, isoquercetin, myricetin,quercetin, and hyperoside, with the aim of providing reference data for improving the quality evaluation system of Abelmoschi Corolla.
Abelmoschus/chemistry* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Flowers/chemistry* ; Humans ; Animals ; Quality Control ; Flavonoids/chemistry*

This study investigated the effects of Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata on striatal neuronal apoptosis in rats with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) based on the B-cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2)/Bcl-2-associated X protein(Bax)/caspase-3 signaling pathway. Twenty-four 3-week-old male spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHR) were randomly divided into a model group, a methylphenidate group(2 mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)), and a Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata group(2.4 mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)). Age-matched male Wistar Kyoto(WKY) rats were used as the normal control group, with 8 rats in each group. The rats were administered by gavage for 28 days. Body weight and food intake were recorded for each group. The open field test and elevated plus maze test were used to assess hyperactivity and impulsive behaviors. Nissl staining was used to detect changes in striatal neurons and Nissl bodies. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL) fluorescence staining was used to detect striatal cell apoptosis. Western blot was employed to detect the expression levels of Bcl-2, Bax, and caspase-3 proteins in the striatum. The results showed that compared with the model group, Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata significantly reduced the total movement distance, average movement speed, and central area residence time in the open field test, and significantly reduced the ratio of open arm entries, open arm stay time, and head dipping in the elevated plus maze test. Furthermore, it increased the number of Nissl bodies in striatal neurons, significantly downregulated the apoptosis index, significantly increased Bcl-2 protein expression and the Bcl-2/Bax ratio, and reduced Bax and caspase-3 protein expression. In conclusion, Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata can reduce hyperactivity and impulsive behaviors in ADHD rats. Its mechanism may be related to the regulation of the Bcl-2/Bax/caspase-3 signaling pathway in the striatum, enhancing the anti-apoptotic capacity of striatal neurons.
Animals ; Male ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Rats ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Caspase 3/genetics* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/genetics* ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein/genetics* ; Rehmannia/chemistry* ; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/physiopathology* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Neurons/cytology* ; Rats, Inbred SHR ; Rats, Inbred WKY ; Humans ; Corpus Striatum/cytology* ; Plant Extracts

This study aims to explore the mechanism of Jiaotai Pills in treating depression based on metabolomics and network pharmacology. The chemical constituents of Jiaotai Pills were identified by UHPLC-Orbitrap Exploris 480, and the targets of Jiaotai Pills and depression were retrieved from online databases. STRING and Cytoscape 3.7.2 were used to construct the protein-protein interaction network of core targets of Jiaotai Pills in treating depression and the "compound-target-pathway" network. DAVID was used for Gene Ontology(GO) function and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses of the core targets. The mouse model of depression was established with chronic unpredictable mild stress(CUMS) and treated with different doses of Jiaotai Pills. The behavioral changes and pathological changes in the hippocampus were observed. UHPLC-Orbitrap Exploris 120 was used for metabolic profiling of the serum, from which the differential metabolites and related metabolic pathways were screened. A "metabolite-reaction-enzyme-gene" network was constructed for the integrated analysis of metabolomics and network pharmacology. A total of 34 chemical components of Jiaotai Pills were identified, and 143 core targets of Jiaotai Pills in treating depression were predicted, which were mainly involved in the arginine and proline, sphingolipid, and neurotrophin metabolism signaling pathways. The results of animal experiments showed that Jiaotai Pills alleviated the depression behaviors and pathological changes in the hippocampus of the mouse model of CUMS-induced depression. In addition, Jiaotai Pills reversed the levels of 32 metabolites involved in various pathways such as arginine and proline metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, and porphyrin metabolism in the serum of model mice. The integrated analysis showed that arginine and proline metabolism, cysteine and methionine metabolism, and porphyrin metabolism might be the key pathways in the treatment of depression with Jiaotai Pills. In conclusion, metabolomics combined with network pharmacology clarifies the antidepressant mechanism of Jiaotai Pills, which may provide a basis for the clinical application of Jiaotai Pills in treating depression.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Depression/genetics* ; Mice ; Network Pharmacology ; Metabolomics ; Male ; Disease Models, Animal ; Humans ; Protein Interaction Maps/drug effects* ; Antidepressive Agents

Panax species are mostly valuable medicinal plants. While some species' seeds are sensitive to dehydration, the dehydration tolerance of seeds from other Panax species remains unclear. The phospholipase D(PLD) gene plays an important role in plant responses to dehydration stress. However, the characteristics of the PLD gene family and their mechanisms of response to dehydration stress in seeds of Panax species with different dehydration tolerances are not well understood. This study used seeds from eight Panax species to measure the germination rates and PLD activity after dehydration and to analyze the correlation between dehydration tolerance and seed traits. Bioinformatics analysis was also conducted to characterize the PnPLD and PvPLD gene families and to evaluate their expression patterns under dehydration stress. The dehydration tolerance of Panax seeds was ranked from high to low as follows: P. ginseng, P. zingiberensis, P. quinquefolius, P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus, P. japonicus var. angustifolius, P. japonicus, P. notoginseng, and P. stipuleanatus. A significant negative correlation was found between dehydration tolerance and seed shape(three-dimensional variance), with flatter seeds exhibiting stronger dehydration tolerance(r=-0.792). Eighteen and nineteen PLD members were identified in P. notoginseng and P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus, respectively. These members were classified into five isoforms: α, β, γ, δ, and ζ. The gene structures, subcellular localization, physicochemical properties, and other characteristics of PnPLD and PvPLD were similar. Both promoters contained regulatory elements associated with plant growth and development, hormone responses, and both abiotic and biotic stress. During dehydration, the PLD enzyme activity in P. notoginseng seeds gradually increased as the water content decreased, whereas in P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus, PLD activity first decreased and then increased. The expression of PLDα and PLDδ in P. notoginseng seeds initially increased and then decreased, whereas in P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus, the expression of PLDα and PLDδ consistently decreased. In conclusion, the dehydration tolerance of Panax seeds showed a significant negative correlation with seed shape. The dehydration tolerance in P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus and dehydration sensitivity of P. notoginseng seeds may be related to differences in PLD enzyme activity and the expression of PLDα and PLDδ genes. This study provided the first systematic comparison of dehydration tolerance in Panax seeds and analyzed the causes of tolerance differences and the optimal water content for long-term storage at ultra-low temperatures, thus providing a theoretical basis for the short-term and ultra-low temperature long-term storage of medicinal plant seeds with varying dehydration tolerances.
Seeds/metabolism* ; Panax/physiology* ; Plant Proteins/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Phospholipase D/metabolism* ; Plants, Medicinal/enzymology* ; Germination ; Multigene Family ; Water/metabolism* ; Dehydration ; Phylogeny

Medical institutions, with their clinical practice foundation and abundant human use experience data, have become important carriers for the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) and the "cradles" of the preparation of new TCM. To effectively promote the transformation of new TCM originating from the TCM clinical practice in medical institutions and establish an effective evaluation index system for the transformation of new TCM conforming to the characteristics of TCM, consensus experts adopted the literature research, questionnaire survey, Delphi method, etc. By focusing on the policy and technical evaluation of new TCM originating from the TCM clinical practice in medical institutions, a comprehensive evaluation from the dimensions of drug safety, efficacy, feasibility, and characteristic advantages was conducted, thus forming a comprehensive evaluation system with four primary indicators and 37 secondary indicators. The expert consensus reached aims to encourage medical institutions at all levels to continuously improve the high-quality research and development and transformation of new TCM originating from the TCM clinical practice in medical institutions and targeted at clinical needs, so as to provide a decision-making basis for the preparation, selection, cultivation, and transformation of new TCM for medical institutions, improve the development efficiency of new TCM, and precisely respond to the public medication needs.
Medicine, Chinese Traditional/standards* ; Humans ; Consensus ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

This study aims to explore the scientific connotation of sinking Rehmanniae Radix has the best quality and compare the quality between floating and sinking fresh Rehmanniae Radix samples. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole electrostatic field Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry(UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS) was employed to detect the chemical components in floating and sinking fresh Rehmanniae Radix samples. The fingerprint of fresh Rehmanniae Radix was established by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC), and four index components were determined simultaneously. The cluster analysis, principal component analysis(PCA), and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA) were conducted to compare the quality of floating and sinking fresh Rehmanniae Radix samples. An evaporative light-scattering detector was used to compare the content of five sugars. The extract yield and drying rate were determined, and the quality connotation of sinking Rehmanniae Radix has the best quality was explained by multiple indicators. A total of 41 components were preliminarily identified from fresh Rehmanniae Radix by UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS, including 7 iridoid glycosides, 9 phenylethanol glycosides, 6 amino acids, 4 sugars, 3 phenolic acids, 5 nucleosides, 3 organic acids, 1 ionone, 1 furan, 1 coumarin, and 1 phenylpropanoid. The results showed that the main chemical components were consistent between floating and sinking fresh Rehmanniae Radix. Nine common peaks were identified in the fingerprints of 15 batches of floating and sinking fresh Rehmanniae Radix samples, and the similarity of fingerprints was greater than 0.9. The cluster analysis, PCA, and OPLS-DA classified floating and sinking fresh Rehmanniae Radix sasmples into two categories, indicating differences in the quality between them. The total content of catalpol, rehmannioside D, ajugol, and verbascoside in sinking fresh Rehmanniae Radix samples was higher than that in floating samples of the same batch and specification, and the main differential component was catalpol. The total content of fructose, glucose, sucrose, raffinose, and stachyose in sinking fresh Rehmanniae Radix samples was higher than that in floating samples of the same batch and specification, and the main differential component was stachyose. The extract yield and drying rate of the sinking samples were higher than those of floating samples. This study preliminarily showed that floating and sinking fresh Rehmanniae Radix samples had the same components but great differences in the content of medicinal substance basis. The total content of four glycosides and five sugars, extract yield, and drying rate of sinking fresh Rehmanniae Radix samples is higher than that of floating samples of the same batch and specification. These findings, to a certain extent, explains the scientificity of sinking Rehmanniae Radix has the best quality recorded in ancient books and provide a reference for the quality control and clinical application of fresh Rehmanniae Radix.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Rehmannia/chemistry* ; Chemometrics ; Mass Spectrometry/methods* ; Quality Control ; Principal Component Analysis ; Plant Extracts