ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Respiratory diseases mainly include asthma, influenza, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary hypertension, lung fibrosis, and lung cancer. Given their high prevalence and poor prognosis, the prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases are increasingly essential. In particular, the development for the novel strategies of drug treatment has been a hot topic in the research field. Ginsenosides are the major component of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer (ginseng), a food homology and well-known medicinal herb. In this review, we summarize the current therapeutic effects and molecular mechanisms of ginsenosides in respiratory diseases. METHODS: The reviewed studies were retrieved via a thorough analysis of numerous articles using electronic search tools including Sci-Finder, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Web of Science. The following keywords were used for the online search: ginsenosides, asthma, influenza, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary hypertension (PH), lung fibrosis, lung cancer, and clinical trials. We summarized the findings and the conclusions from 176 manuscripts on ginsenosides, including research articles and reviews. RESULTS: Ginsenosides Rb1, Rg1, Rg3, Rh2, and CK, which are the most commonly reported ginsenosides for treating of respiratory diseases, and other ginsenosides such as Rh1, Rk1, Rg5, Rd and Re, all primarily reduce pneumonia, fibrosis, and inhibit tumor progression by targeting NF-κB, TGF-ß/Smad, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, and JNK pathways, thereby ameliorating respiratory diseases. CONCLUSION: This review provides novel ideas and important aspects for the future research of ginsenosides for treating respiratory diseases.
Subject(s)
Asthma , Ginsenosides , Hypertension, Pulmonary , Influenza, Human , Lung Neoplasms , Panax , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive , Pulmonary Fibrosis , Humans , Ginsenosides/pharmacology , Ginsenosides/therapeutic use , Ginsenosides/chemistry , Pulmonary Fibrosis/drug therapy , Hypertension, Pulmonary/drug therapy , Influenza, Human/drug therapy , Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/drug therapy , Asthma/drug therapy , Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy , Panax/chemistryABSTRACT
Apolipoprotein E (APOE) plays a pivotal role in lipid including cholesterol metabolism. The APOE ε4 (APOE4) allele is a major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's and cardiovascular diseases. Although APOE has recently been associated with increased susceptibility to infections of several viruses, whether and how APOE and its isoforms affect SARS-CoV-2 infection remains unclear. Here, we show that serum concentrations of APOE correlate inversely with levels of cytokine/chemokine in 73 COVID-19 patients. Utilizing multiple protein interaction assays, we demonstrate that APOE3 and APOE4 interact with the SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2; and APOE/ACE2 interactions require zinc metallopeptidase domain of ACE2, a key docking site for SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. In addition, immuno-imaging assays using confocal, super-resolution, and transmission electron microscopies reveal that both APOE3 and APOE4 reduce ACE2/Spike-mediated viral entry into cells. Interestingly, while having a comparable binding affinity to ACE2, APOE4 inhibits viral entry to a lesser extent compared to APOE3, which is likely due to APOE4's more compact structure and smaller spatial obstacle to compete against Spike binding to ACE2. Furthermore, APOE ε4 carriers clinically correlate with increased SARS-CoV-2 infection and elevated serum inflammatory factors in 142 COVID-19 patients assessed. Our study suggests a regulatory mechanism underlying SARS-CoV-2 infection through APOE interactions with ACE2, which may explain in part increased COVID-19 infection and disease severity in APOE ε4 carriers.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2/genetics , Apolipoprotein E3/metabolism , Apolipoprotein E4/genetics , Apolipoprotein E4/metabolism , Apolipoproteins E/genetics , Apolipoproteins E/metabolism , Binding Sites , COVID-19/genetics , Humans , Inflammation/genetics , Protein Binding , Spike Glycoprotein, CoronavirusABSTRACT
More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has created massive economic policy uncertainty (EPU). EPU and its economic fallout have been a hot topic of study; however, the impact of EPU on CO2 emissions has been seldom addressed to date. This paper investigates the effects of the EPU on CO2 emissions. It elucidates the role of EPU in moderating the environmental regulation-CO2 emissions nexus at the national and regional levels using the panel data model and provincial panel data from 2003 to 2017 in China. The main empirical results are as follows. The EPU has a negative impact on carbon emissions; however, this relationship is non-significant even at the 10% level in the central and western region datasets. Environmental regulation positively increases the CO2 emissions implying that the green paradox occurs in the whole and western regions datasets. From the perspective of the moderating effect of uncertainty, EPU exerts a positive impact upon the environmental regulation-CO2 emissions nexus in the whole and western region datasets. The moderating effect is not significant in the eastern and central regions. The results demonstrate that the re-examination of the EKC hypothesis is inconclusive. Kuznets relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions for the national, eastern, and central samples was confirmed. In contrast, CO2 emissions monotonically rise as GDP grows for western datasets. Based on the overall findings, some policy implications were put forward. We recommend that the local government should consider EPU to improve the institutional environment. Further, different regions should implement various environmental policies according to regional conditions maximizing the emission reduction potential.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Carbon Dioxide , Carbon Dioxide/analysis , China , Economic Development , Humans , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2 , UncertaintyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) should be deeply concerned all over the world. Panax ginseng (ginseng) as traditional Chinese medicine is widely used in the treatment and health care for respiratory diseases. However, only one similar systematic review based on common cold has been published in 2011. New studies have occurred and a new systematic evaluation which could describe ARTI is needed. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will search for randomized control trials of ginseng on preventing acute respiratory tract infection in the following 8 databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED (via OVID) and 4 Chinese databases (Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, and Wan fang Database). The time is limited from the construction of the library to April 2020. The selection of studies, data extraction and quality of assessment will be conducted independently by 2 reviewers. The morbidity of ARTI by assessing self-report, caregiver report or clinical confirmation will be considered as the primary outcome. ARTI-related death among children or adults, other adverse events, absenteeism, laboratory-confirmed infection will be regarded as secondary outcome. All reported side effects and adverse events will be included as safety outcomes. Standard meta-analysis will be performed using Rev Man software V5.3. RESULTS: This study will provide a better understanding of the association between P ginseng and ARTI. CONCLUSION: This systematic review may offer stronger evidences for the clinicians to prevent the patients from ARTI and update the former one based on basic diseases and the safety. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020181317.