Meta-analysis reveals variations in microbial communities from diverse stony coral taxa at different geographical distances.

Coral-associated microbial communities play a vital role in underpinning the health and resilience of reef ecosystems. Previous studies have demonstrated that the microbial communities of corals are affected by multiple factors, mainly focusing on host species and geolocation. However, up-to-date, insight into how the coral microbiota is structured by vast geographic distance with rich taxa is deficient. In the present study, the coral microbiota in six stony coral species collected from the coastal area of three countries, including United States of America (USA), Australia and Fiji, was used for analysis. It was found that the geographic influence on the coral microbiota was stronger than the coral host influence, even though both were significant. Interestingly, the contribution of the deterministic process to bacterial community composition increased as geographical distance grew. A total of 65 differentially abundant features of functions in coral microbial communities were identified to be associated with three geolocations. While in the same coastal area of USA, the similar relationship of coral microbiota was consistent with the phylogenetic relationship of coral hosts. In contrast to the phylum Proteobacteria, which was most abundant in other coral species in USA, Cyanobacteria was the most abundant phylum in Orbicella faveolata. The above findings may help to better understand the multiple natural driving forces shaping the coral microbial community to contribute to defining the healthy baseline of the coral microbiome.

Deciphering the Underlying Mechanisms of Formula Le-Cao-Shi Against Liver Injuries by Integrating Network Pharmacology, Metabonomics, and Experimental Validation.

Le-Cao-Shi (LCS) has long been used as a folk traditional Chinese medicine formula against liver injuries, whereas its pharmacological mechanisms remain elusive. Our study aims to investigate the underlying mechanism of LCS in treating liver injuries via integrated network pharmacology, metabonomics, and experimental validation. By network pharmacology, 57 compounds were screened as candidate compounds based on ADME parameters from the LCS compound bank (213 compounds collected from the literature of three single herbs). According to online compound-target databases, the aforementioned candidate compounds were predicted to target 87 potential targets related to liver injuries. More than 15 pathways connected with these potential targets were considered vital pathways in collectively modulating liver injuries, which were found to be relevant to cancer, xenobiotic metabolism by cytochrome P450 enzymes, bile secretion, inflammation, and antioxidation. Metabonomics analysis by using the supernatant of the rat liver homogenate with UPLC-Q-TOF/MS demonstrated that 18 potential biomarkers could be regulated by LCS, which was closely related to linoleic acid metabolism, glutathione metabolism, cysteine and methionine metabolism, and glycerophospholipid metabolism pathways. Linoleic acid metabolism and glutathione metabolism pathways were two key common pathways in both network pharmacology and metabonomics analysis. In ELISA experiments with the CCl4-induced rat liver injury model, LCS was found to significantly reduce the levels of inflammatory parameters, decrease liver malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and enhance the activities of hepatic antioxidant enzymes, which validated that LCS could inhibit liver injuries through anti-inflammatory property and by suppressing lipid peroxidation and improving the antioxidant defense system. Our work could provide new insights into the underlying pharmacological mechanisms of LCS against liver injuries, which is beneficial for its further investigation and modernization.

The underlying mechanisms of anti-hepatitis B effects of formula Le-Cao-Shi and its single herbs by network pharmacology and gut microbiota analysis.

Formula Le-Cao-Shi (LCS), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been used as folk remedy for treating hepatitis B for a long time. In our previous study, the anti-hepatitis B effects of LCS have been verified. In the present study, the anti-hepatitis B activities of LCS and its three single herbs were investigated in vitro by HepG2.2.15 cellular model, and the mechanisms against hepatitis B were deciphered via network pharmacology and gut microbiota analysis. By network pharmacology method, twelve key compounds that played a vital role in LCS were filtered from 213 ingredients. The targets RORA, CDK2, RELA, AKT1, IKBKG, PRKCß and CASP3 were directly related to hepatitis B pathway, which indicated that LCS could exert anti-hepatitis B effect by co-regulating cell cycle and inflammatory pathways. The interactions between candidate compounds and target proteins that were directly involved in hepatitis B pathway were validated by molecular docking simulation and RT-PCR. By gut microbiota analysis, it was revealed that LCS could alter the disordered microbial composition in the infected ducks towards normal, especially the restoration of three key strains, namely Streptococcus alactolyticus, Enterococcus cecorum and Bacteroides fragilis. The above findings could provide a scientific basis for further development and utilization of LCS against hepatitis B.

Bioactive Alpha-Pyrone and Phenolic Glucosides from the Marine-Derived Metarhizium sp. P2100.

Glycoside compounds have attracted great interest due to their remarkable and multifarious bioactivities. In this study, four hitherto unknown 4-methoxy-ß-D-glucosyl derivatives were obtained and identified from the marine-derived fungus Metarhizium sp. P2100, including three alpha-pyrone glycosides (1-3) and one phenolic glycoside (4). Their planar structures were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D/2D NMR and HRESIMS. The absolute configurations of 1-3 were determined by a single-crystal X-ray crystallographic experiment, a comparison of the experimental, and a calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra, respectively. Compounds 2 and 3 are a pair of rare epimeric pyranoside glycosides at C-7 with a core of aglycone as 2H-pyrone. Compounds 1-4 exhibited weak anti-inflammatory activities. In particular, compounds 1-3 displayed inhibitory activities against α-amylase, showing a potential for the development of a new α-amylase inhibitor for controlling diabetes.