Bioactive compound schaftoside from Clinacanthus nutans attenuates acute liver injury by inhibiting ferroptosis through activation the Nrf2/GPX4 pathway.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Clinacanthus nutans (Burm. f.) Lindau, a traditional herb renowned for its anti-tumor, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties, has garnered considerable attention. Although its hepatoprotective effects have been described, there is still limited knowledge of its treatment of acute liver injury (ALI), and its mechanisms remain unclear. AIM OF THE STUDY: To assess the efficacy of Clinacanthus nutans in ALI and to identify the most effective fractions and their underlying mechanism of action. METHODS: Bioinformatics was employed to explore the underlying anti-hepatic injury mechanisms and active compounds of Clinacanthus nutans. The binding ability of schaftoside, a potential active ingredient in Clinacanthus nutans, to the core target nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) was further determined by molecular docking. The role of schaftoside in improving histological abnormalities in the liver was observed by H&E and Masson's staining in an ALI model induced by CCl4. Serum and liver biochemical parameters were measured using AST, ALT and hydroxyproline kits. An Fe2+ kit, transmission electron microscopy, western blotting, RT-qPCR, and DCFH-DA were used to measure whether schaftoside reduces ferroptosis-induced ALI. Subsequently, specific siRNA knockdown of Nrf2 in AML12 cells was performed to further elucidate the mechanism by which schaftoside attenuates ferroptosis-induced ALI. RESULTS: Bioinformatics analysis and molecular docking showed that schaftoside is the principal compound from Clinacanthus nutans. Schaftoside was shown to diminish oxidative stress levels, attenuate liver fibrosis, and forestall ferroptosis. Deeper investigations revealed that schaftoside amplified Nrf2 expression and triggered the Nrf2/GPX4 pathway, thereby reversing mitochondrial aberrations triggered by lipid peroxidation, GPX4 depletion, and ferroptosis. CONCLUSION: The lead compound schaftoside counters ferroptosis through the Nrf2/GPX4 axis, providing insights into a novel molecular mechanism for treating ALI, thereby presenting an innovative therapeutic strategy for ferroptosis-induced ALI.

The Investigation of the Molecular Mechanism of Morinda officinalis How in the Treatment of Heart Failure.

Heart failure (HF) is a cardiovascular disease with an extremely high mortality rate. However, Morinda officinalis How (MO) has not been studied for cardiovascular purposes at this time, the aim of this study was to find new mechanism for the MO of treatment of HF through a bioinformatics and experimental validation. The present study also aimed to establish a link between the basic and clinical applications of this medicinal herb. MO compounds and targets were obtained by traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology (TCMSP) and Pubchem. Subsequently, HF targets were acquired from DisGeNET and the interactions of all the targets and other human proteins were obtained via String so as to establish a component-target interaction network by Cytoscape 3.7.2. All the targets of clusters were inserted into Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) to perform GO (gene ontology) enrichment analysis. Molecular docking was adopted to predict the targets of MO relevant to the treatment of HF and to further explore the associated pharmacological mechanisms. Subsequently, a series of in vitro experiments, including histopathological staining, immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence analyses were conducted for further verification. Moreover, western blot analysis and in vivo experiments were performed. The results indicated that MO alleviated apoptosis, regulated cholesterol metabolism and transport function, and reduced inflammation, which resulted in the successful treatment of HF. Beta-sitosterol, Asperuloside tetraacetate and americanin A were the key bioactive components of MO. ALB, AKT1, INS, STAT3, IL-6, TNF, CCND1, CTNNB1, CAT, and TP53 were the core potential targets, which were significantly associated with multiple pathways, namely the FoxO signaling pathway, the AMPK signaling pathway, and the HIF-1 signaling pathway. In vivo experiments validated that MO may protect against heart failure or treat this disease by increasing the levels of autophagy via the FoxO3 signaling pathway in rats. The present study suggested that a combination of network pharmacology prediction with experimental validation may offer a useful tool to characterize the molecular mechanism of action of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) MO in the treatment of HF.