1.Traditional Chinese Medicine Regulates NF-κB Signaling Pathway for Treatment of Obesity: A Review
Zijing WU ; Jixin LI ; Linjie QIU ; Yan REN ; Chacha ZOU ; Meijie LI ; Wenjie LI ; Jin ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(5):310-318
Obesity is a chronic low-grade inflammation and a risk factor for diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and malignant tumors, demonstrating an increasingly grim development situation. The nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway is a key signaling pathway involved in the immune response and inflammatory response. In obese individuals, the expression of NF-κB is overactivated, which leads to abnormal inflammatory responses in the body. Therefore, it is expected to alleviate inflammation and treat obesity by regulating the NF-κB signaling pathway, which has been proven effective by a large number of studies. The available studies on the NF-κB signaling pathway mostly focus on tumors, and there is no systematic review of the mechanism of this pathway in mediating obesity and the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment. We reviewed the research progress in the pathological and physiological processes of obesity mediated by NF-κB signaling pathway and TCM treatment, aiming to give insights into the clinical treatment of obesity with TCM and provide reference targets and research directions for exploring the biological foundations and the development of new TCM preparations.
2.Clinical Application and Pharmacological Mechanism of Sishenwan in Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis: A Review
Keqiu YAN ; Xiaoyu ZHANG ; Sifeng JIA ; Yuyu DUAN ; Zixing QIAN ; Yifan CAI ; Junyi SHEN ; Wenjie XIAO ; Xinkun BAO ; Guangjun SUN ; Aizhen LIN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(21):261-270
Ulcerative colitis (UC), a chronic, non-specific inflammatory bowel disease with typical symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and bloody stools, demonstrates a high relapse rate and difficulty in curing. Sishenwan, first recorded in Internal Medicine Abstract (Nei Ke Zhai Yao), are a classic prescription for treating diarrhea caused by deficiency of the spleen and kidney Yang. The core therapeutic principle of Sishenwan is warming and tonifying the spleen and kidney, and astringing the intestine and stopping diarrhea. In recent years, Sishenwan have demonstrated distinct advantages in the clinical treatment of UC. The pathogenesis of UC involves multiple factors, including immune dysregulation and gut microbiota imbalance. Although Western medicine is effective in the short term, its side effects, high relapse rate, and resistance associated with long-term use pose substantial challenges. Sishenwan have shown excellent clinical outcomes in the treatment of UC due to deficiency of the spleen and kidney Yang. Modern clinical studies indicate that Sishenwan, used alone or in combination with Western medicine or other Chinese medicine compound prescriptions, significantly improve the clinical efficacy in treating UC due to deficiency of the spleen and kidney Yang. Sishenwan effectively alleviate core symptoms such as mucus, pus, and blood in stools, and persistent abdominal pain, reduce Mayo scores and the relapse rate, and improve patients' quality of life. Research on the material basis reveals that Sishenwan contain multiple active ingredients such as psoralen, isopsoralen, and evodiamine. Mechanism studies indicate that Sishenwan inhibit the inflammatory cascade reactions by regulating the signal network through multiple targets. Sishenwan regulate cellular immunity and restore intestinal immune homeostasis. At the microecological level, Sishenwan promote the intestinal barrier repair through the "microbiota-metabolism-immunity" axis. The current research still needs to be deepened in aspects such as the mining of specific biomarkers for syndromes and the exploration of the collaborative mechanism of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. In the future, a full-chain system covering syndrome differentiation, targeting, and monitoring needs to be constructed for promoting the paradigm transformation of Sishenwan into precision drugs. This review systematically explains the treatment mechanism of Sishenwan regarding the combination of disease and syndrome and its multi-target regulatory characteristics, providing a theoretical basis and transformation direction for the treatment of UC with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
3.Clinical Application and Pharmacological Mechanism of Sishenwan in Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis: A Review
Keqiu YAN ; Xiaoyu ZHANG ; Sifeng JIA ; Yuyu DUAN ; Zixing QIAN ; Yifan CAI ; Junyi SHEN ; Wenjie XIAO ; Xinkun BAO ; Guangjun SUN ; Aizhen LIN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(21):261-270
Ulcerative colitis (UC), a chronic, non-specific inflammatory bowel disease with typical symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and bloody stools, demonstrates a high relapse rate and difficulty in curing. Sishenwan, first recorded in Internal Medicine Abstract (Nei Ke Zhai Yao), are a classic prescription for treating diarrhea caused by deficiency of the spleen and kidney Yang. The core therapeutic principle of Sishenwan is warming and tonifying the spleen and kidney, and astringing the intestine and stopping diarrhea. In recent years, Sishenwan have demonstrated distinct advantages in the clinical treatment of UC. The pathogenesis of UC involves multiple factors, including immune dysregulation and gut microbiota imbalance. Although Western medicine is effective in the short term, its side effects, high relapse rate, and resistance associated with long-term use pose substantial challenges. Sishenwan have shown excellent clinical outcomes in the treatment of UC due to deficiency of the spleen and kidney Yang. Modern clinical studies indicate that Sishenwan, used alone or in combination with Western medicine or other Chinese medicine compound prescriptions, significantly improve the clinical efficacy in treating UC due to deficiency of the spleen and kidney Yang. Sishenwan effectively alleviate core symptoms such as mucus, pus, and blood in stools, and persistent abdominal pain, reduce Mayo scores and the relapse rate, and improve patients' quality of life. Research on the material basis reveals that Sishenwan contain multiple active ingredients such as psoralen, isopsoralen, and evodiamine. Mechanism studies indicate that Sishenwan inhibit the inflammatory cascade reactions by regulating the signal network through multiple targets. Sishenwan regulate cellular immunity and restore intestinal immune homeostasis. At the microecological level, Sishenwan promote the intestinal barrier repair through the "microbiota-metabolism-immunity" axis. The current research still needs to be deepened in aspects such as the mining of specific biomarkers for syndromes and the exploration of the collaborative mechanism of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. In the future, a full-chain system covering syndrome differentiation, targeting, and monitoring needs to be constructed for promoting the paradigm transformation of Sishenwan into precision drugs. This review systematically explains the treatment mechanism of Sishenwan regarding the combination of disease and syndrome and its multi-target regulatory characteristics, providing a theoretical basis and transformation direction for the treatment of UC with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
4.Mechanism of Sanhuang Ointment in Treatment of Haemorrhoids Based on Network Pharmacology and Experimental Verification
Wenjie LI ; Qian YU ; Yi ZHENG ; Yiliu YANG ; Xinyue ZHANG ; Guangzhe LI ; Mingming YAN
Chinese Journal of Modern Applied Pharmacy 2024;41(12):1591-1603
OBJECTIVE
To predict the core ingredients, targets and signaling pathways of Sanhuang ointment in the treatment of haemorrhoids based on network pharmacology, and preliminarily discuss the mechanism of action preliminarily by means of molecular docking and experimental verification.
METHODS
Active ingredients, targets and haemorrhoid related targets of Sanhuang ointment were obtained through literature research and database screening. Association networks were constructed and core targets were screened by Cytoscape, and gene function analysis and pathway enrichment analysis were conducted. Autodock Vina was used for molecular docking verification, and the regulatory effects of Sanhuang ointment on core targets were verified by ELISA and immunohistochemistry.
RESULTS
The 77 active ingredients and 61 potential targets of Sanhuang ointment for treating haemorrhoids were collected. KEGG showed that Sanhuang ointment could regulate calcium signaling pathways, neuroactive ligand receptor interactions, cGMP-PKG pathway, etc. Affect 6 core targets of CGRP, NK-1R, TRPV1, VEGF, IL-6 and TNF-α. Molecular docking showed that Sanhuang ointment had a good affinity with target protein, and animal experiments verified that Sanhuang ointment could inhibit the expression of IL-6, CGRP, substance P, and promote the expression of VEGF.
CONCLUSION
Sanhuang ointment may act on CGRP, NK-1R and other targets, regulate Calcium signaling pathway and PI3K-Akt pathways, and exert analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis to treat haemorrhoids.
5.Methodology for Developing Rapid and Living Guidelines of Traditional Chinese Medicine (RALIG-TCM) (Part 1):Concept and Current Practice
Lijiao YAN ; Ning LIANG ; Ziteng HU ; Yujing ZHANG ; Yaxin CHEN ; Fuqiang ZHANG ; Xiaoling LI ; Wenjie CAO ; Chen ZHAO ; Cheng LYU ; Nannan SHI ; Yanping WANG
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2024;65(3):269-274
Rapid and living guidelines are those developed in response to public health emergencies in a short period of time using a scientific and standardized approach. Subsequently, they provide timely and credible recommendations for decision makers through regular and frequent updates of clinical evidence and recommendations. In this paper, we introduced the definition of rapid and living guideline as well as analyzed the basic characteristics of eight rapid and living guidelines in the field of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) published till 2023 June, summarizing three core methodological issues in relation to how to rapidly develop guidelines, how to formulate recommendations when there is lack of evidence, and how to ensure the timeliness of guidelines. Based on the analysis of current rapid and living guidelines, it is implicated that there is necessity to carry out rapid and living guideline in the field of TCM, and the methodology of rapid integration of multivariate evidence in the field of TCM needs to be further explored; furthermore, it is necessary to further explore the obstacles of implementation of guidelines and promote timely updating, all of which provide certain theoretical references for relevant guideline developers and researchers.
6.Methodology for Developing Rapid and Living Guidelines of Traditional Chinese Medicine (RALIG-TCM) (Part 4): Evidence Monitoring and Dynamic Updates
Lijiao YAN ; Ning LIANG ; Yujing ZHANG ; Ziteng HU ; Yaxin CHEN ; Xiaoling LI ; Wenjie CAO ; Huizhen LI ; Xingyu ZONG ; Chen ZHAO ; Cheng LYU ; Nannan SHI ; Yanping WANG
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2024;65(3):287-291
In developing rapid and living guidelines of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in response to public health emergencies, it is important that evidence continue to be reviewed, and clinical questions and recommendations updated if necessary, due to the rapid changes in disease progression and the continuous generation of relevant research evidence. This paper proposed that the updating scope in dynamic mode should first be identified; then evidence monitoring should be carried out in four aspects, including clinical research, related guidelines or laws and regulations, disease progression, as well as clinical use of recommendations and clinical needs; finally, based on the results of the evidence monitoring, different options should be made, including revising the clinical questions, updating the evidence and recommendations, and withdrawing the guideline.
7.Association between latent class of health-risk behaviors and depressive symptoms among middle school students
SUN Qiang ; LI Xiaoyong ; GONG Qinghai ; PAN Wenjie ; HUANG Yan
Journal of Preventive Medicine 2024;36(6):474-478
Objective:
To analyze the association between latent class of health-risk behaviors and depressive symptoms among middle school students, so as to provide the evidence for the prevention and intervention of depressive symptoms among middle school students.
Methods:
Students in two junior high schools, two senior high schools and one vocational high school in Yinzhou District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, were selected using a stratified multi-stage cluster sampling method. Demography and health-risk behaviors were collected using questionnaire surveys, depressive symptoms were investigated using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression-10 Scale, and latent class analysis was conducted for health-risk behaviors. The association between different latent classes and depressive symptoms was analyzed using a multivariable logistic regression model.
Results:
A total of 1 247 students were surveyed, including 641 boys (51.40%) and 606 girls (48.60%). There were 452 junior high school students (36.25%), 532 high school students (42.66%) and 263 vocational high school students (21.09%). Latent class analysis showed that health-risk behaviors in students were classified into three groups, namely healthy behavior group (52.93%), poor diet group (39.94%) and high-risk behavior group (7.14%), and the detection rates of depressive symptoms were 7.12%, 18.88% and 52.81%, respectively, with a statistically significant difference between groups (P<0.05). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for age, gender, native place, only child and living on campus, the poor diet group (OR=3.107, 95%CI: 2.086-4.627) and high-risk behavior group (OR=15.401, 95%CI: 9.031-26.262) had higher risks of depressive symptoms compared with the healthy behavior group.
Conclusion
Having high-risk behaviors and poor diet may increase the risk of developing depressive symptoms among middle school students.
8.Association study between mammalian sterile 20-like kinase 1 SNPs and colorectal cancer
Licong MA ; Xiaoxia YAN ; Fang GAO ; Wenjie DONG ; Yingze LI ; Yanbin JIA
Acta Universitatis Medicinalis Anhui 2024;59(3):547-553
Objective To explore the association between mammalian sterile 20-like kinase 1(MST1)gene poly-morphism and haplotype and the risk of colorectal cancer,rectal cancer,and colon cancer in the Han population in Baotou area by case-control association study.Methods A total of 390 patients with colorectal cancer diagnosed by pathology and 413 normal physical examination population were collected,and 2 ml of peripheral blood was taken for subsequent gene genotyping.Single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)of MST1 gene were screened according to the genetic polymorphism data of Chinese Han population provided by the National Center for Biotechnology In-formation-Haplotype Mapping database.Gene genotyping was performed by Taqman method.Logistic regression was used to calculate the association between each SNP and the risk of colorectal cancer,colon cancer,and rectal cancer under codominant,dominant,overdominant,and recessive genetic models.Results Four SNPs of MST1 gene were screened,namely rs8000,rs2234197,rs2267853,and rs6073629.Among them,SNP rs2234197 was associated with the risk of rectal cancer.Compared with the GG+AA genotype,the AG genotype could reduce the risk of rectal cancer,OR[95%confidence interval(CI)]=0.657(0.442-0.976).SNP rs8000 was associated with the risk of colon cancer.Compared with the TT+GT genotype,the GG genotype could reduce the risk of colon cancer[OR(95%CI)=0.425(0.182-0.992)].Conclusion MST1 gene SNP rs2234197 AG genotype and SNP rs8000 GG genotype may be protective factors for rectal cancer and colon cancer,respectively.
9.Associations of TEAD1/TEAD4 gene polymorphisms with non-cardia gastric carcinogenesis
Xiaoxia YAN ; Wenjie DONG ; Yunxiang ZHANG ; Fang GAO ; Yanbin JIA
Acta Universitatis Medicinalis Anhui 2024;59(5):863-868
Objective To investigate the associations of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2304733 in TEA domain transcription factor 1 (TEAD1) , rs7135838 and rs1990330 in TEA domain transcription factor 4 (TEAD4) genes with the risk of non-cardia gastric carcinogenesis.Methods Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect specific antibodies against Helicobacter pylori(Hp) in serum samples of the normal con-trol group.470 normal controls were divided into Hp infection negative group (n=223) and positive group (n=247) based on antibody titers.In the 450 non-cardia gastric cancer cases and 470 controls, polymerase chain reac-tion-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to genotype the each SNP locus.The uncon-ditional Logistic regression method was used to evaluate the associations between each SNP locus and the risk of non-cardia gastric carcinogenesis.Results The SNPs of TEAD1 and TEAD4 were not associated with Hp infec-tion.TEAD1 rs2304733 was associated with the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer.Compared with the carriers of TT genotype, the carries of CT and CC genotypes had an increased risk of non-cardia gastric cancer (CT vs TT:OR=2.321 , 95%CI:1.690-3.188;CC vs TT:OR=5.140 , 95%CI:1.080-24.463) .TEAD4 rs1990330 was as-sociated with the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer.Compared with the carriers of GG genotype, those with GT geno-type had an increased risk of non-cardia gastric cancer (OR = 2.405 , 95% CI: 1.480 - 3.908) .TEAD4 rs7135838 was not associated with the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer.TEAD1 rs2304733, TEAD4 rs7135838 and rs1990330 had interaction effects on the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer (P<0.05).Conclusion In Baotou Han population, TEAD1 rs2304733 and TEAD4 rs1990330 do not play a major role in Hp infection, but may play a role in the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer.TEAD4 rs7135838 may not play a major role in the risk of Hp infec-tion and non-cardia gastric cancer.TEAD1 rs2304733 and TEAD4 rs1990330 have the strongest synergistic effect on the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer, which is the best interaction model.
10.Application of Allograft Endometriosis Rat Model in Pharmaco-dynamic Evaluation of GnRH Agonists
Ruihua ZHONG ; Guoting LI ; Wenjie YANG ; Xiangjie GUO ; Jieyun ZHOU ; Yingyi HU ; Qicheng NI ; Ye YANG ; Min ZHANG ; Yan ZHU
Laboratory Animal and Comparative Medicine 2024;44(2):127-138
Objective To establish an allogeneic rat model of endometriosis and to evaluate the effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist GenSci006 on experimental rat endometriosis. Methods Endometrium from SPF grade donor female SD rats were transplanted onto the abdominal wall of recipient female rats to construct an allogeneic endometriosis model. The rats undergoing sham surgery were divided into the sham group. Three weeks later, the length, width and height of the ectopic endometrium were measured, and the volume of the endometrium (V1) was calculated before drug administration. The modeling rats were randomly divided into four groups: model group, triptorelin group (0.25 mg/kg), GenSci006-1 group (0.125 mg/kg) and GenSci006-2 group (0.25 mg/kg). Each group had 16 rats and received a single dose of the corresponding drug. The sham group and model group were administered an equal volume of solvent. Three weeks after administration, ectopic endometrium was measured to calculate the volume V2 and inhibition rate. The effect of GenSci006 on rat uterus and ovarian tissues was assessed by comparing organ coefficients and changes in pathological sections. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the levels of serum estradiol (E2), progesterone (P4), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH). Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression of GnRH receptor (GnRHR) mRNA in the hypothalamus and pituitary. Western blot was used to detect the expression of estradiol receptor alpha (ERα), beta (ERβ) and progesterone receptor (PR) in ectopic endometrium. Results Three weeks after administration, compared with the model group, the body weight of rats in the triptorelin and GenSci006-2 groups significantly increased (P < 0.05), while the volume of ectopic endometrium significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Compared with the sham group, the model group showed no significant changes in uterine and ovarian organ coefficients or endometrial thickness (P > 0.05). Compared with the model group, the uterine organ coefficients and endometrial thickness were significantly reduced in the triptorelin and GenSci006-2 groups (P < 0.05). Compared with the sham group, the serum levels of E2, P4, FSH and LH in the model group showed no significant changes (P > 0.05). Compared with the model group, the ovarian organ coefficient and serum P4 levels of rats in the Triptorelin, GenSci006-1, and GenSci006-2 groups were significantly reduced (P < 0.05), while the serum LH levels of rats in the GenSci006-1 group were significantly increased (P < 0.05). However, there were no significant changes in serum E2 and FSH levels in each group (P > 0.05). Compared with the model group, the expression levels of GnRHR mRNA in the pituitary tissue of rats in the triptorelin and GenSci006-2 groups were significantly downregulated (P < 0.05), with no significantly changes in the hypothalamus (P > 0.05). There were no significant changes in the expression level of GnRHR mRNA in the hypothalamus or the protein levels of ERα, ERβ and PR in the ectopic endometrial tissue in any group (P > 0.05). Conclusion The allogeneic endometriosis rat model is a suitable animal model for screening and evaluating drugs for treating endometriosis. The volume of ectopic endometrium, inhibition rate, uterine and ovarian organ coefficients, and serum E2 levels may serve as indicators for detecting drug efficacy.


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