Lipogenesis from n-butyrate in colonocytes

Cell membranes of colonic epithelial cells (CEC) in ulcerative colitis show structural abnormalities which are specific to the disease and which suggest impaired lipogenesis in CECs. Lipogenesis from [1-¹⁴C]-n-butyrate, the chief oxidative fuel of colonic epithelial cells, was measured in isolated CECs under control conditions, with or without glucose and in the presence of mercaptoacetate, a major reducing agent in the colonic lumen- Glucose significantly (p < 0.01) stimulated lipogenesis from [1-¹⁴C]-butyrate which was reversed by 5 mM mercaptoacetate. Mercaptoacetate significantly diminished CEC thiolase activity (EC 2.3.1.9). 5-Aminosalicylic acid reversed the adverse effects of mercaptoacetate in the saponifiable fraction of extracted lipids. Changes in lipogenesis due to colonic luminal reducing agents would affect the barrier function of CECs a feature relevant to the disease process of ulcerative colitis.     

Picroside III,an Active Ingredient of Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora,Ameliorates Experimental Colitis by Protecting Intestinal Barrier Integrity

This study aims to explore the protective effects of Picroside III, an active ingredient of Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora, on the intestinal epithelial barrier in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) induced Caco-2 cells and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) induced colitis in mice. Results show that Picroside III significantly alleviated clinical signs of colitis including body weight loss, disease activity index increase, colon shortening, and colon tissue damage. It also increased claudin-3, ZO-1 and occludin expressions and decreased claudin-2 expression in the colon tissues of mice with colitis. In vitro, Picroside III also significantly promoted wound healing, decreased the permeability of cell monolayer, upregulated the expressions of claudin-3, ZO-1 and occludin and downregulated the expression of claudin-2 in TNF-α treated Caco-2 cells. Mechanism studies show that Picroside III significantly promoted AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation in vitro and in vivo, and blockade with AMPK could significantly attenuate the upregulation of Picroside III in ZO-1 and occludin expressions and the downregulation of claudin-2 expression in TNF-α treated Caco-2 cells. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that Picroside III attenuated DSS-induced colitis by promoting colonic mucosal wound healing and epithelial barrier function recovery via the activation of AMPK.     

水罐疗法联合白头翁汤灌肠对溃疡性结肠炎患者Th1/Th2免疫平衡及肠黏膜屏障功能的影响

摘要 目的：探讨水罐疗法联合白头翁汤灌肠对溃疡性结肠炎（UC）患者Th1/Th2免疫平衡及肠黏膜屏障功能的影响。方法：选取2020年2月~2022年5月期间湖南中医药大学第一附属医院收治的UC患者100例。根据随机数字表法分为对照组（n=50）和研究组（n=50）。对照组患者接受白头翁汤灌肠,研究组在此基础上接受水罐疗法。对比两组疗效、中医证候评分、Th1/Th2免疫平衡及肠黏膜屏障功能变化情况。结果：研究组的总有效率明显高于对照组（P<0.05）。治疗后,两组里急后重、身热不扬、腹泻黏液脓血便、小便短赤、肛门灼热、腹痛、口干口苦等症状评分均降低,且研究组低于对照组同期（P<0.05）。治疗后,两组Th1/Th2相关指标白介素（IL）-2、γ-干扰素（IFN-γ）均降低,且研究组较对照组低;IL-4、IL-10均升高,且研究组较对照组高（P<0.05）。治疗后,两组肠黏膜屏障功能指标二胺氧化酶（DAO）、D-乳酸（D-LA）均降低,且研究组低于对照组同期（P<0.05）。结论：水罐疗法联合白头翁汤灌肠治疗UC患者,总有效率高,可缓解中医证候,疗效显著,对调节患者的Th1/Th2免疫平衡及肠黏膜屏障功能具有重要作用。     

参苓白术散联合针刺对溃疡性结肠炎大鼠内质网应激、炎症反应的作用机制

摘要 目的：探讨参苓白术散联合针刺对溃疡性结肠炎大鼠内质网应激、炎症反应的作用机制。方法：采用三硝基苯磺酸的方法构建溃疡性结肠炎大鼠模型。给予大鼠参苓白术散联合针刺干预。采用ELISA法检测大鼠病变结肠的炎症反应和氧化应激水平;采用肉眼观察各组结肠组织形态学评分;采用Western blot 检测大鼠内质网应激相关蛋白的表达。结果：与空白组相比,模型组、针刺组、参苓白术散、参苓白术散组联合针刺组大鼠体质量更低（P＜0.05）;与模型组相比,针刺组、参苓白术散、参苓白术散组联合针刺组溃疡指数评分和大鼠体质量更低（P＜0.05）,且参苓白术散组联合针刺组明显低于针刺组和参苓白术散组;与空白组相比,模型组、针刺组、参苓白术散、参苓白术散组联合针刺组ROS、GSH-Px、MDA更高（P＜0.05）;与模型组相比,针刺组、参苓白术散、参苓白术散组联合针刺组ROS、GSH-Px、MDA更低（P＜0.05）,且参苓白术散组联合针刺组明显低于针刺组和参苓白术散组;与空白组相比,模型组、针刺组、参苓白术散、参苓白术散组联合针刺组TNF-α、IL-1β、IL-18更高（P＜0.05）;与模型组相比,针刺组、参苓白术散、参苓白术散组联合针刺组TNF-α、IL-1β、IL-18更低（P＜0.05）,且参苓白术散组联合针刺组低于针刺组和参苓白术散组;与空白组相比,模型组、针刺组、参苓白术散、参苓白术散组联合针刺组GRP78、p-PERK、p-eIF2α更高（P＜0.05）;与模型组相比,针刺组、参苓白术散、参苓白术散组联合针刺组GRP78、p-PERK、p-eIF2α更低（P＜0.05）,且参苓白术散组联合针刺组明显低于针刺组和参苓白术散组。结论：参苓白术散组联合针刺可有效抑制溃疡性结肠炎大鼠内质网应激,进而抑制炎症反应和氧化应激反应,并促进溃疡性结肠炎大鼠病变病情转归。     

不同发病时期溃疡性结肠炎患者肠道菌群差异及对血清TLRs/NFκB和SOCS3 及Cingulin蛋白水平的影响

目的分析溃疡性结肠炎(UC)患者不同发病时期肠道菌群的差异,同时研究菌群变化及对患者血清TLRs/NFκB、SOCS3、Cingulin蛋白水平的影响。方法选取2015年5月至2017年2月在我院确诊的UC患者为研究对象。将活动性溃疡性结肠炎(AUC)患者和缓解性溃疡性结肠炎(RUC)患者按病情不同分为AUC组(48例)和RUC组(42例)。选取同期在我院发现的结肠息肉患者作为对照组(50例)。对3组患者的肠道菌群分布、Cingulin蛋白表达量、肠黏膜中TLRs/NFκB的表达量和外周血中SOCS3及TNFα水平进行对比。结果UC患者(AUC组及RUC组)肠道大肠埃希菌数量高于对照组,双歧杆菌数量低于对照组;同时RUC组患者肠道乳杆菌数量低于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(均P<0.05)。AUC、RUC组患者结肠组织中Cingulin蛋白的表达量分别为145.06±18.06和122.09±9.07,均显著高于对照组的85.17±8.17;同时AUC、RUC组患者结肠组织中Cingulin蛋白表达量的差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。AUC组和RUC组患者病変肠黏膜中TLR2、TLR4、TLR5、TLR9、NFκB的mRNA表达量均显著高于对照组,同时AUC组患者病変肠黏膜中TLR2、TLR4、TLR5、TLR9、NFκB的mRNA表达量高于RUC组,差异均有统计学意义(均P<0.05)。RUC组患者外周血SOCS3水平高于对照组,AUC组和RUC组患者外周血TNFα水平显著高于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(均P<0.05)。结论TNFα、SOCS3可能参与UC的病程,其在UC患者中存在高表达现象,可导致人体肠道菌群出现紊乱,最终引发人体多部位的炎症应激反应。     

Revealing mechanism of Caulis Sargentodoxae for the treatment of ulcerative colitis based on network pharmacology approach

Objective: The traditional Chinese medicine Caulis Sargentodoxae is widely used in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC), but the mechanism remains unknown. The present study aims to reveal its effective components, targets and pathways through network pharmacology and bioinformatics approaches.Materials and methods: Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) was used to identify effective components. The ligand-based targets prediction was achieved through SwissTargetPrediction and TargetNet. UC-related targets were identified using Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data and DisGeNET. The common targets of disease and components were constructed and analyzed by PPI network. Lastly, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses are used to explain the functions of these common targets. Components-Targets-Pathways network was visualized and analyzed to further reveal the connection between the components and targets.Results: Eight active components and 102 key targets were identified to play an important role in UC. These targets were related to regulation of protein serine/threonine kinase activity, positive regulation of cell motility, response to molecule of bacterial origin, response to toxic substance, ERK1 and ERK2 cascade, peptidyl-tyrosine modification, inositol lipid-mediated signaling, cellular response to drug, regulation of inflammatory response and leukocyte migration. Moreover, HIF-1 signaling pathway and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway were the key targets involved in UC-related signaling pathways.Conclusion: The eight active components of Caulis Sargentodoxae mainly play a therapeutic role for UC through synergistic regulation of HIF-1 signaling pathway and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.     

猴头菌粉与5-氨基水杨酸联用抑制小鼠急性溃疡性结肠炎并提高肠道共生菌Parabacteroides distasonis丰度

猴头菌Hericium erinaceus是一种药食同源真菌,广泛应用于治疗胃肠道疾病,可采用液态发酵技术规模化量产获得菌丝体粉。本研究旨在分析猴头发酵菌粉（HE,300mg/kg/d）与5-氨基水杨酸（5-aminosalicylic acid,5-ASA,150mg/kg/d）联用对葡聚糖硫酸钠（dextran sodium sulfate,DSS）诱导的小鼠结肠炎的治疗作用。HE和5-ASA能够减轻小鼠急性溃疡性结肠炎症状,包括减轻体重的降低率和疾病活动指数评分（DAI）。HE和5-ASA联用可以显著抑制小鼠结肠组织炎症,通过降低肿瘤坏死因子-α（Tnf-α）和白细胞介素-β（Il-β）基因的表达。此外,利用16S rRNA基因测序技术对小鼠盲肠微生物群落组成及结构进行分析。HE与5-ASA联用可以重塑肠道微生态环境,并显著提高狄氏副拟杆菌Parabacteroides distasonis相对丰度。人体粪便体外发酵结果证实HE与5-ASA可以增加P. distasonis。综上,HE与5-ASA联用可有效抑制小鼠结肠炎症水平,并调节肠道微生物,可能是通过增加P. distasonis起作用。     

肠道菌群与溃疡性结肠炎患者血清ET、SOCS-3、TLRs水平的相关性

目的探究肠道菌群改变与溃疡性结肠炎(UC)患者血清内毒素(ET)、外周血细胞因子信号传导抑制蛋白-3(SOCS-3)及Toll样受体(TLRs)水平的相关性,为后续研究提供参考。方法选择我院2018年1月至2019年2月收治的75例UC患者按照入组时疾病状态分为活动期组(39例)和缓解期组(36例)。选择同期40例健康体检者作为对照组。检测患者粪便样品中肠道菌群种类和数量,并检测患者血清中ET、SOCS-3、TLRs水平。结果活动期组、缓解期组及对照组患者肠道拟杆菌、双歧杆菌、真杆菌、消化球菌、乳杆菌、小梭菌、肠球菌及肠杆菌数量存在明显差异,其中活动期组患者肠道拟杆菌、双歧杆菌、真杆菌、消化球菌及乳杆菌数量最低,小梭菌、肠球菌及肠杆菌数量最高(均P0.05)。3组患者血清ET、SOCS-3、TLR-4水平存在明显差异,其中活动期组患者血清ET[(0.13±0.02)EU/mL]及TLR-4[(13.91±2.18)ng/mL]水平最高,SOCS-3[(33.82±9.18)mg/mL]水平最低(均P0.05)。肠道中拟杆菌、真杆菌、消化球菌、乳杆菌及双歧杆菌水平是影响患者ET及TLR-4的独立保护因素且为影响SOCS-3的独立危险因素(均P0.05)。小梭菌、肠球菌及肠杆菌水平是影响患者ET及TLR-4的独立危险因素且为影响SOCS-3的独立保护因素(均P0.05)。结论活动期UC患者肠道菌群及ET、SOCS-3、TLRs水平均存在显著异常,肠道菌群改变是影响UC患者血清ET、SOCS-3、TLRs水平的独立影响因素。