Molecular mechanism of sleep deprivation-induced body injury and traditional Chinese medicine prevention and treatment: a review / 中国中药杂志

Sleep occupies one-third of a person's lifetime and is a necessary condition for maintaining physiological function and health. With the increase in social and economic pressures, the growing use of electronic devices and the accelerated aging process of the population, insufficient sleep and its hazards have drawn widespread attention from researchers in China and abroad. Sleep deprivation refers to a decrease in sleep or a severe lack of sleep due to various reasons. Previous studies have found that sleep deprivation can cause extensive damage to the body, including an increased incidence and mortality rate of neuropathic diseases in the brain, cardiovascular diseases, imbalances in the gut microbiota, and other multi-organ diseases. The mechanisms underlying the occurrence of multi-system and multi-organ diseases due to sleep deprivation mainly involve oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and impaired immune function in the body. According to traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), sleep deprivation falls into the category of sleepiness, and long-term sleepiness leads to Yin-Yang imbalance, resulting in the consumption of Qi and damage to the five Zang-organs. The appropriate treatment should focus on tonifying deficiency, reinforcing healthy Qi, and harmonizing Yin and Yang. TCM is characterized by a wide variety and abundant resources, and it has minimal side effects and a broad range of applications. Numerous studies have shown that TCM drugs and prescriptions not only improve sleep but also have beneficial effects on liver nourishment, intelligence enhancement, and kidney tonification, effectively preventing and treating the body injury caused by sleep deprivation. Given the increasing prevalence of sleep deprivation and its significant impact on body health, this article reviewed sleep deprivation-mediated body injury and its mechanism, summarized and categorized TCM compound prescriptions and single drugs for preventing and treating body injury, with the aim of laying the foundation for researchers to develop effective drugs for preventing and treating body injury caused by sleep deprivation and providing references for further exploration of the molecular mechanisms underlying the body injury caused by sleep deprivation.

Anti-aging Mechanism of Chinese Medicinal Polysaccharides： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

In the greying society， pension burden and high incidence of geriatric diseases have hindered social and economic development to a certain extent. Aging is a biological process involving multiple organs and factors， which leads to the occurrence of a variety of diseases. The occurrence of aging is related to a variety of signal pathways， such as nutrient sensing signal pathway and intracellular stress signal pathway， which attracts the interest of scholars in anti-aging drugs and poses a challenge to the development of such drugs. The anti-tumor， hypoglycemic， hypolipidemic， antioxidant， and antiviral activities of Chinese medicinal polysaccharides have been gradually confirmed， and they also have significant advantages in anti-aging. Thus， they are potential candidates for the development of anti-aging drugs. It has been verified that Chinese medicinal polysaccharides exert the anti-aging effect through a variety of mechanisms. To be specific， through dietary restriction， they promote the expression of longevity genes silencing information regulator 1 （Sirt1） and forkhead box O （FoxO） transcription factor， enhance the sensitivity to insulin， activate Sirt1 deacetylase or inhibit insulin/IGF-1 signaling （IIS） and mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR） signal pathway， thereby exerting the anti-aging effect. In addition， they can inhibit the production of reactive oxygen species （ROS） and the release of pro-inflammatory mediators， enhance anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capacity， and regulate the immunity to inhibit inflammation and aging. Moreover， they can also inhibit apoptosis and delay aging through p53-mediated pathway. Despite the extensive research on anti-aging effect of Chinese medicinal polysaccharides， and the diverse effects and ideal efficacy of the polysaccharides， the anti-aging mechanism has not been systematically reviewed. Therefore， this paper summarizes the relevant literature in PubMed and CNKI and systematically expounds the aging-related signal pathways regulated by Chinese medicinal polysaccharides， which is expected to provide a reference for researchers and clinical workers.

Analysis of in vitro activity and compatibility of Dunhuang Yifang Dabupi Decoction on gastric cancer based on computer-aided drug design / 药学学报

Based on the research system of computer-aided drug design combined with complex network analysis, the potential mechanism of Dunhuang Dabupi Decoction in preventing and treating gastric cancer (GC) is analyzed, and the scientific connotation of its prescription rules is explored through the efficacy grouping. To study the effect of Dabupi Decoction freeze-dried powder solution on the proliferation activity of gastric cancer cells through cell experiments; the TCMSP and TCMID databases were used to collect the compound components of Dabupi Decoction. Swiss Target Prediction is used to predict potential targets of compounds. DrugBank, GeneCards, TTD, and DisGeNET were used to collect potential targets for gastric cancer. Analyze protein interactions of potential targets through the STRING database. DAVID database was used for KEGG enrichment analysis; Dabupi Decoction was divided into Wenzhong group (dried ginger), Yiqi group (ginseng, licorice, Atractylodes macrocephala), nourishing Yin group (Ophiopogon japonicus, Schisandra) and Jiangni group according to its efficacy characteristics. The inverse group (inula) has 4 functional compatibility groups. Cytoscape was used to construct a network of "medicinal flavor-potential active ingredient-key target" respectively, and the network was used to analyze the scientific connotation of the compatibility of efficacy groups. The Schrödinger software was used to verify the molecular docking of the core components and the core targets. The material basis of the Dabupi Decoction to prevent and treat gastric cancer was discovered through the combination of pattern analysis and combined free energy calculation. The core drug was analyzed from the perspective of dynamics through molecular dynamics simulation. Potential targets and representative potential compounds interact with each other. Cell experiments confirmed that Dabupitang freeze-dried powder solution can down-regulate the mitochondrial membrane potential of AGS gastric cancer cells, block the cell cycle in the G0/G1 phase (P < 0.05), and inhibit its proliferation (P < 0.05). The pathways enriched by the four functional groups contained in Dabupi Decoction are mainly distributed in the body's energy metabolism, inflammation-immune system regulation, and cycle-apoptotic functions. Each module is connected by a common target gene and has its own focus. The results of molecular docking showed that the compounds liquiritigenin, quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, methylophiopogonanone A, etc. may be the effective multi-target components of Dabupi Decoction. Estrogen receptor 1, androgen receptor, ATP-binding cassette superfamily G member 2, epidermal growth factor receptor, glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta and other targets have good affinity with each potential active compound, which may be a potential target of Dabupi Decoction for preventing and treating gastric cancer. Among them, kaempferol and the drug target EGFR not only have good binding ability, but also have good binding stability. This study is based on computer-aided drug design combined with complex network analysis strategies to initially reveal the material basis and molecular mechanism of Dabupi Decoction in the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer. It also explores the scientific connotation of Dabupi Decoction in the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer with different efficacy groups, and its clinical application provide chemical bioinformatics basis.

Research progress on Astragali Radix and prediction of its quality markers (Q-markers) / 中国中药杂志

Astragali Radix, a medicinal herb for invigorating Qi, has anti-aging, anti-tumor, immunoregulatory, blood sugar-and lipid-lowering, anti-fibrosis, anti-radiation and other pharmacological effects. This article reviewed the studies about the chemical components and pharmacological effects of Astragali Radix. According to the theory of quality markers(Q-markers) of Chinese medicinal materials, we predicted the Q-markers of Astragali Radix from traditional efficacy, chemical component validity, measurability, plant phylogeny, and pharmacokinetis. The results showed that total polysaccharides, flavonoids(e.g., calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside, formononetin, calycosin, quercetin, and ononin), and saponins(e.g., astragalosides Ⅱ, Ⅲ, and Ⅳ) can be taken as the main Q-markers. This review lays a foundation for regulating the quality research and standard establishment of Astragali Radix, and benefits the control and quality supervision of the production process of Astragali Radix and its related products.