scholarly journals Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Traditional Chinese Medicines against Ischemic Injury in In Vivo Models of Cerebral Ischemia

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chin-Yi Cheng ◽  
Yu-Chen Lee

Inflammation plays a crucial role in the pathophysiology of acute ischemic stroke. In the ischemic cascade, resident microglia are rapidly activated in the brain parenchyma and subsequently trigger inflammatory mediator release, which facilitates leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions in inflammation. Activated leukocytes invade the endothelial cell junctions and destroy the blood-brain barrier integrity, leading to brain edema. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) stimulation in microglia/macrophages through the activation of intercellular signaling pathways secretes various proinflammatory cytokines and enzymes and then aggravates cerebral ischemic injury. The secreted cytokines activate the proinflammatory transcription factors, which subsequently regulate cytokine expression, leading to the amplification of the inflammatory response and exacerbation of the secondary brain injury. Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), including TCM-derived active compounds, Chinese herbs, and TCM formulations, exert neuroprotective effects against inflammatory responses by downregulating the following: ischemia-induced microglial activation, microglia/macrophage-mediated cytokine production, proinflammatory enzyme production, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, matrix metalloproteinases, TLR expression, and deleterious transcription factor activation. TCMs also aid in upregulating anti-inflammatory cytokine expression and neuroprotective transcription factor activation in the ischemic lesion in the inflammatory cascade during the acute phase of cerebral ischemia. Thus, TCMs exert potent anti-inflammatory properties in ischemic stroke and warrant further investigation.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Yongchang Li ◽  
Wei Zhong ◽  
Xiangqi Tang

Cerebral ischemia is a common global disease that is characterized by a loss of neurological function and a poor prognosis in many patients. However, only a limited number of treatments are available for this condition at present. Given that the efficacies of these treatments tend to be poor, cerebral ischemia can create a significant burden on patients, families, and society. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation treatment has shown significant potential in animal models of ischemic stroke; however, the specific mechanisms underlying this effect have yet to be elucidated. Furthermore, clinical trials have yet to yield promising results. Consequently, there is an urgent need to identify new methods to improve the efficiency of MSC transplantation as an optimal treatment for ischemic stroke. In this review, we provide an overview of recent scientific reports concerning novel strategies that promote MSC transplantation as an effective therapeutic approach, including physical approaches, chemical agents, traditional Chinese medicines and extracts, and genetic modification. Our analyses showed that two key factors need to be considered if we are to improve the efficacy of MSC transplantation treatments: survival ability and homing ability. We also highlight the importance of other significant mechanisms, including the enhanced activation of MSCs to promote neurogenesis and angiogenesis, and the regulation of permeability in the blood-brain barrier. Further in-depth investigations of the specific mechanisms underlying MSC transplantation treatment will help us to identify effective methods that improve the efficiency of MSC transplantation for ischemic stroke. The development of safer and more effective methods will facilitate the application of MSC transplantation as a promising adjuvant therapy for the treatment of poststroke brain damage.


2011 ◽  
Vol 286 (18) ◽  
pp. 16374-16385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude A. Piantadosi ◽  
Crystal M. Withers ◽  
Raquel R. Bartz ◽  
Nancy Chou MacGarvey ◽  
Ping Fu ◽  
...  

The induction of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1; Hmox1) by inflammation, for instance in sepsis, is associated both with an anti-inflammatory response and with mitochondrial biogenesis. Here, we tested the idea that HO-1, acting through the Nfe2l2 (Nrf2) transcription factor, links anti-inflammatory cytokine expression to activation of mitochondrial biogenesis. HO-1 induction after LPS stimulated anti-inflammatory IL-10 and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) expression in mouse liver, human HepG2 cells, and mouse J774.1 macrophages but blunted tumor necrosis factor-α expression. This was accompanied by nuclear Nfe2l2 accumulation and led us to identify abundant Nfe2l2 and other mitochondrial biogenesis transcription factor binding sites in the promoter regions of IL10 and IL1Ra compared with pro-inflammatory genes regulated by NF-κΒ. Mechanistically, HO-1, through its CO product, enabled these transcription factors to bind the core IL10 and IL1Ra promoters, which for IL10 included Nfe2l2, nuclear respiratory factor (NRF)-2 (Gabpa), and MEF2, and for IL1Ra, included NRF-1 and MEF2. In cells, Hmox1 or Nfe2l2 RNA silencing prevented IL-10 and IL-1Ra up-regulation, and HO-1 induction failed post-LPS in Nfe2l2-silenced cells and post-sepsis in Nfe2l2−/− mice. Nfe2l2−/− mice compared with WT mice, showed more liver damage, higher mortality, and ineffective CO rescue in sepsis. Nfe2l2−/− mice in sepsis also generated higher hepatic TNF-α mRNA levels, lower NRF-1 and PGC-1α mRNA levels, and no enhancement of anti-inflammatory Il10, Socs3, or bcl-xL gene expression. These findings disclose a highly structured transcriptional network that couples mitochondrial biogenesis to counter-inflammation with major implications for immune suppression in sepsis.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-qin Zhang ◽  
Qing Zhang ◽  
Li-li Huang ◽  
Ming-zhen Liu ◽  
Zai-xing Cheng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Pien-Tze-Huang (PTH), one of the most famous traditional Chinese medicines in China, is traditionally applied to treat various inflammation-related diseases including stroke. However, literature regarding the anti-inflammatory effects and possible mechanisms of PTH in ischemic stroke is unavailable. This study intended to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of PTH against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury and clarify its potential molecular mechanisms. Methods Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury was induced through transient left transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in male rats receiving oral pretreatment with PTH (180 mg/kg) for 4 days. TLR4 antagonist TAK-242 (3 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally at 1.5 h after MCAO. Magnetic resonance imaging, hematoxylin–eosin staining, RT-PCR, western blot, and immunofluorescence methods were used to studied the effect and mechanism of PTH against ischemic stroke. Results PTH treatment reduced cerebral infarct volume, improved neurological function, and ameliorated brain histopathological damage in MCAO rats. In addition, it markedly suppressed a variety of inflammatory responses as evidenced by the reduced mRNA levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and MCP-1; the inhibition of microglia and astrocyte activations; and the decreased protein expressions of iNOS and COX-2 in injured brains. Moreover, PTH down-regulated the protein expressions of TLR4, MyD88, and TRAF6; reduced the expression and NF-κB; and lowered the protein expressions of p-ERK1/2, p-JNK, and p-p38. Similar effects were observed in the TAK-242 treated group. However, TAK-242 did not significantly reinforce the anti-inflammatory effects of PTH. Conclusion PTH could attenuate neuroinflammation, improve neurological function, and alleviate brain injury in MCAO rats, and its potential mechanisms are partly connected to inhibition of neuroinflammation involving the TLR4/NF-κB/MAPK signaling pathway.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Xie ◽  
Fengzhou Li ◽  
Lei Fang ◽  
Wenzhi Liu ◽  
Chundong Gu

Inflammatory mediators and inflammatory cells in the inflammatory microenvironment promote the transformation of normal cells to cancer cells in the early stage of cancer, promote the growth and development of cancer cells, and induce tumor immune escape. The monomeric active ingredient β-elemene is extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine Curcuma wenyujin and has been proven to have good anti-inflammatory and antitumor activities in clinical applications for more than 20 years in China. Recent studies have found that this traditional Chinese medicine plays a vital role in macrophage infiltration and M2 polarization, as well as in regulating immune disorders, and it even regulates the transcription factors NF-κB and STAT3 to alter inflammation, tumorigenesis, and development. In addition, β-elemene regulates not only different inflammatory factors (such as TNF-α, IFN, TGF-β, and IL-6/10) but also oxidative stress in vivo and in vitro. The excellent anti-inflammatory and antitumor effects of β-elemene and its ability to alter the inflammatory microenvironment of tumors have been gradually elaborated. Although the study of monomeric active ingredients in traditional Chinese medicines is insufficient in terms of quality and quantity, the pharmacological effects of more active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicines will be revealed after β-elemene.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Han ◽  
Mei Yuan ◽  
Yi-Sha Guo ◽  
Xin-Ya Shen ◽  
Zhen-Kun Gao ◽  
...  

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the main organelle for protein synthesis, trafficking and maintaining intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis. The stress response of ER results from the disruption of ER homeostasis in neurological disorders. Among these disorders, cerebral ischemia is a prevalent reason of death and disability in the world. ER stress stemed from ischemic injury initiates unfolded protein response (UPR) regarded as a protection mechanism. Important, disruption of Ca2+ homeostasis resulted from cytosolic Ca2+ overload and depletion of Ca2+ in the lumen of the ER could be a trigger of ER stress and the misfolded protein synthesis. Brain cells including neurons, glial cells and endothelial cells are involved in the complex pathophysiology of ischemic stroke. This is generally important for protein underfolding, but even more for cytosolic Ca2+ overload. Mild ER stress promotes cells to break away from danger signals and enter the adaptive procedure with the activation of pro-survival mechanism to rescue ischemic injury, while chronic ER stress generally serves as a detrimental role on nerve cells via triggering diverse pro-apoptotic mechanism. What’s more, the determination of some proteins in UPR during cerebral ischemia to cell fate may have two diametrically opposed results which involves in a specialized set of inflammatory and apoptotic signaling pathways. A reasonable understanding and exploration of the underlying molecular mechanism related to ER stress and cerebral ischemia is a prerequisite for a major breakthrough in stroke treatment in the future. This review focuses on recent findings of the ER stress as well as the progress research of mechanism in ischemic stroke prognosis provide a new treatment idea for recovery of cerebral ischemia.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Llin Peng ◽  
Minzhen Deng ◽  
Yan Huang ◽  
Shuang Wu ◽  
Yucheng Cao ◽  
...  

Abstract BackbroundOxidative stress plays an important role in the ischemic stroke induced brain damage. Our previous study showed that Scutellarin protects against ischemic injury in vitro and in vivo induced oxidative damage in rats, and we also reported that the involvement of Aldose reductase (AR) in oxidative stress and cerebral ischemic injury, in this study we furtherly explicit whether the antioxidant effect of Scutellarin on cerebral ischemia injury is related to AR gene regulation and its specific mechanism.MethodsC57BL/6N mice (Wild-type, WT) and AR knockout (AR-/-) mice were subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) model with 1h occlusion followed by 3d reperfusion, and Scutellarin was administered from 2h before surgery to 3 days after surgery. Subsequently, Neurological function were assessed by the modified Longa score method, the histopathological morphology observed with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride and hematoxylin-eosin staining. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the levels of ROS, 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHDG), Neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), poly ADP-ribose polymerase-1 (PARP1) and 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) in the ischemic penumbra regions. Quantitative proteomics profiling using quantitative nano-HPLC-MS/MS were performed to compare the protein expression difference between AR-/- and WT mice with or without tMCAO injury. The expression of AR, NOX1, NOX2 and NOX4 in the ipsilateral side of ischemic brain were detected by Real time-PCR, Western blot and immunofluorescence co-staining with NeuN.ResultsScutellarin treatment alleviated brain damage suffered from tMCAO injury such as improved neurological function deficit, brain infarct area and neuronal injury and reduced the expression of oxidation-related products, moreover, also down-regulated tMCAO induced AR mRNA and protein expression.ConclusionsScutellarin would be a potential drug for the treatment of ischemic stroke through regulating AR-NOX Axis modulate oxidative stress injury to play the protective role of cerebral ischemia injury.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui-Lin Wang ◽  
Qi-Hui Zhou ◽  
Meng-Bei Xu ◽  
Xiao-Li Zhou ◽  
Guo-Qing Zheng

Astragaloside IV (AST-IV) is a principal component of Radix Astragali seu Hedysari (Huangqi) and exerts potential neuroprotection in experimental ischemic stroke. Here, we systematically assessed the effectiveness and possible mechanisms of AST-IV for experimental acute ischemic stroke. An electronic search in eight databases was conducted from inception to March 2016. The study quality score was evaluated using the CAMARADES. Rev Man 5.0 software was used for data analyses. Thirteen studies with 244 animals were identified. The study quality score of included studies ranged from 3/10 to 8/10. Eleven studies showed significant effects of AST-IV for ameliorating the neurological function score (P<0.05); seven studies for reducing the infarct volume (P<0.05); and three or two studies for reducing the brain water content and Evans blue leakage (P<0.05), respectively, compared with the control. The mechanisms of AST-IV for ischemic stroke are multiple such as antioxidative/nitration stress reaction, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptosis. In conclusion, the findings of present study indicated that AST-IV could improve neurological deficits and infarct volume and reduce the blood-brain barrier permeability in experimental cerebral ischemia despite some methodological flaws. Thus, AST-IV exerted a possible neuroprotective effect during the cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury largely through its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptosis properties.


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