The American journal of Chinese medicine
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Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a serious public problem threatening global health. At present, although "cocktail therapy" has achieved significant clinical effects, HIV still cannot be completely eradicated. Furthermore, long-term antiviral treatment has caused problems such as toxic side effects, the emergence of drug-resistant viruses, and poor patient compliance. ⋯ Thus, finding lead compounds from natural products followed by structure optimization has become one of the important ways of modern drug discovery. Nowadays, many natural products have been found, such as berberine, gnidimacrin, betulone, and kuwanon-L, which exert effective anti-HIV activity through immune regulation, inhibition of related functional enzymes in HIV replication, and anti-oxidation. This paper reviewed these natural products, their related chemical structure optimization, and their anti-HIV mechanisms.
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Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has become a universal and chronic global public health concern and causes multiple complex complications. In order to meet the rapidly growing demand for T2DM treatment, increased research has been focused on hypoglycemic drugs. ⋯ Multiple in vitro and in vivo studies have also shown that the extracts of C. paliurus leaves are innocuous and safe. This study aims to provide an up-to-date review of the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological effects against diabetes, toxicology, and clinical studies of C. paliurus leaves, in hopes of promoting a better understanding of their role in the prevention and treatment of T2DM.
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Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a malignant cardiopulmonary disease, in which pulmonary arterial remodeling is regarded as the prominent pathological feature. So far, the mechanism of PAH is still unclear, so its treatment remains a challenge. However, inflammation plays an important part in the occurrence and progression of PAH. ⋯ Furthermore, crocin treatment reduced the inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress responses. In summary, crocin may play a protective role in MCT-induced PAH rats by alleviating inflammatory response, improving pulmonary arterial remodeling, and preventing PAH. Therefore, crocin as a new treatment for PAH may be quite worthy of consideration.
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Apoptosis in the penumbra region is the major cell death mechanism occurring during ischemia-reperfusion injury's early phase. Here, we evaluated how the Alpinia oxyphylla Miq (AOM) affects mitochondria-related apoptosis 3 days after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) and examined the mechanisms underlying the regulation of MAPK-mediated mitochondria-related apoptotic signaling in the peri-infarct cortex in rats. The rats were administered the AOM extract intraperitoneally at doses of 0.2[Formula: see text]g/kg (AOM-0.2[Formula: see text]g), 0.4[Formula: see text]g/kg (AOM-0.4[Formula: see text]g), or 0.8[Formula: see text]g/kg (AOM-0.8[Formula: see text]g) at MCAo initiation. ⋯ Pretreatment with SB203580 - a p38 MAPK inhibitor - completely abrogated the effects of AOM-0.8[Formula: see text]g on the aforementioned protein expression, whereas treatment with SP600125 - a JNK inhibitor - exerted protective effects similar to those of AOM-0.8[Formula: see text]g. Treatment with 0.4 or 0.8[Formula: see text]g/kg AOM has neuroprotective effects against mitochondria-related apoptosis by suppressing cyto c, Smac/DIABLO, and AIF release from the mitochondria to cytosol. The anti-mitochondria related apoptotic effects of the AOM extract are attributable to the interactions between upregulated p38 MAPK/p90RSK-mediated p-Bad and CREB signaling and downregulated JNK/cathepsin B-mediated Bax and p53 signaling in the peri-infarct cortex 3 days after transient MCAo.
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While a number of coding genes have explained the anticancer activity of ginsenoside Rh2, little is known about noncoding RNAs. This study was performed to elucidate the regulatory activity of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) CFAP20DC-AS1, which is known to be downregulated by Rh2. MiR-3614-3p, which potentially binds CFAP20DC-AS1, was screened using the LncBase Predicted program, and the binding was verified by assaying the luciferase activity of a luciferase/lncRNA recombinant plasmid construct. ⋯ Target genes of miR-3614-3p, BBX and TNFAIP3, were downregulated by Rh2 and the miRNA but upregulated by the lncRNA. Rh2 inhibits CFAP20DC-AS1, which obscures the association of the lncRNA with miR-3614-3p, resulting in the suppression of oncogenic BBX and TNFAIP3. Taken together, the Rh2/CFAP20DC-AS1/miR-3614-3p/target gene axis contributes to the antiproliferation activity of Rh2 in cancer cells.