The American journal of Chinese medicine
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ECa 233 is a standardized extract of Centella asiatica (CA), an herb widely used in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. Previous studies reported that ECa 233 enhanced memory retention and synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus of healthy rats. Because of this, we became curious whether ECa 233 has a therapeutic effect on the fear memory deficit in the triple transgenic Alzheimer's disease (3xTg-AD) model mice. ⋯ We found that ECa 233 prevented a cued fear memory deficit and enhanced hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) in 3xTg-AD mice. Subsequent proteomic and western blot analyses revealed increased expression levels of the molecules related to LTP induction and maintenance, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), tyrosine receptor kinase B (TrkB) and its network proteins, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1 and 2) in the hippocampi and amygdala of 3xTg-AD mice after ECa 233 pre-treatment. Our results indicate that ECa 233 is a promising potential herbal standardized extract that could be used in preventing the fear memory deficit and synaptic dysfunction before the early onset of AD.
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Ganoderma is the dried fruiting bodiy of Ganoderma lucidum (Leyss.ex Fr.) Karst. or Ganoderma sinense Zhao, Xu et Zhang, belonging to the family Polyporaceae, which grows mainly in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions. As a traditional Chinese medicine, Ganoderma has been used in China for more than 2000 years because of its medicinal properties, such as relieving cough and asthma, providing nourishment, and strengthening. ⋯ It is mainly used in clinical practice for the treatment of Diabetic Nephropathy and malignant tumors, with few side effects and high safety. This paper reviews the progress of research on its chemical composition, pharmacological effects, and clinical applications, with the goal of providing a basis for the better development and utilization of Ganoderma.
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Breast cancer is a malignant disease with an increasing incidence. Chemotherapy is still an important means for breast cancer treatment, but multidrug resistance (MDR) greatly limits its clinical application. ⋯ This review firstly summarizes the major mechanisms of MDR in breast cancer, including the reduced accumulation of intracellular chemotherapeutic drugs, the promoted inactivation of intracellular chemotherapeutic drugs, and the enhanced damage repair ability of DNA, etc., and secondly highlights the research progress of 15 kinds of TCM monomers, including curcumin, resveratrol, emodin, apigenin, tetrandrine, gambogic acid, matrine, paeonol, schisandrin B, [Formula: see text]-elemene, astragaloside IV, berberine, puerarin, tanshinone IIA, and quercetin, in reversing MDR of breast cancer. This review also provides the suggestion for the future research of MDR reversal agents in breast cancer.
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Ferroptosis is a new cell death process characterized by massive iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation. Emerging evidence demonstrates that ferroptosis plays a crucial role in the development and progression of tumorigenesis. Targeting it is a potentially effective cancer prevention and treatment strategy in the clinic. ⋯ A total of 62 kinds of natural products and their active compounds were reported to exert antitumor effects via causing ferroptosis of cancer cells by regulating the System Xc--GPX4 axis and lipid, mitochondrial, and iron metabolism. Natural products have advantages in improving chemotherapy's therapeutic effects by causing cancer cell ferroptosis through their polypharmacological actions. These molecular mechanisms of ferroptosis regulation by natural products will pave the way for developing natural antitumor drugs based on regulating ferroptosis.
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Solasonine (SS) is a natural glycoalkaloid compound that has been reported to possess a significant anticancer function. However, its anticancer effects and related mechanisms in osteosarcoma (OS) have not been studied. This study sought to investigate the impact of SS on the growth of OS cells. ⋯ Additionally, SS reduced the levels of Wnt3a, [Formula: see text]-catenin, and Snail in OS cells in vitro. Furthermore, Wnt3a activation reversed the SS-induced inhibition of glycolysis in OS cells. Collectively, this study discovered a novel effect of SS in inhibiting aerobic glycolysis, in addition to cancer stem-like features and EMT, implying that SS could be a therapeutic candidate for OS treatment.