Paeoniflorin affects hepatocellular carcinoma progression by inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin pathway through downregulation of 5-HT1D

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver cancer with high mortality. Paeoniflorin is a pinane monoterpene picroside with anti-tumor effect isolated from Chinese peony root and white peony root. Objective: To investigate the underlying mechanism of paeoniflorin (PF) regulating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression via 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 1D (5-HT1D). Methods: HepG2 and SMMC-7721 hepatoma cells were treated with different concentrations of PF (0, 5, 10, 20 μM). Cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion were examined by CCK-8 and colony formation assays, flow cytometry, wound healing assay, and transwell assay, respectively. RT-qPCR assay was used to detect the expression level of 5-HT1D, and Western blot assay was used to detect the expressions of 5-HT1D and Wnt/β-catenin pathway-related proteins. Results: With the increase of PF concentration, the mRNA level of 5-HT1D in HepG2 and SMMC-7721 hepatoma cells were decreased in a dose-dependent manner, and the proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion ability of cells were gradually weakened, while the apoptosis rate was gradually increased. Overexpression of 5-HT1D significantly promoted the proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion of HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cells, and increased the expression of Wnt/β-catenin pathway-related proteins β-actenin, survivin, C-myc, and Cyclin D1. Furthermore, 5-HT1D overexpression could reverse the effect of PF on hepatoma cells and inhibit the expressions of Wnt/β-catenin pathway-related proteins. Conclusion: PF may inhibit the progression of HCC by blocking Wnt/β-catenin pathway expression through downregulating 5-HT1D.

Coloclyster of Red Peony Root Granules Alleviates Moderately Severe Acute Pancreatitis: A Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Clinical Trial

The red peony root derived from Paeonia lactiflora has been applied to treat human inflammatory diseases. To investigate its therapeutic potential in treating moderately severe acute pancreatitis (MSAP), which has been rarely studied, this study was designed as a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial. A total of 60 MSAP patients were enrolled and randomly divided into an experimental (n = 30) group and a control group (n = 30), who received a coloclyster of 15 g of red peony root or placebo granules dissolved in 150 mL of water, respectively. The patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded. The results showed that the experimental group had a shorter remission time of fever (p<0.05) and abdominal pain (p<0.01) and faster resumption of self-defecation (p<0.01) than did the control group. In addition, the coloclyster of red peony root decreased the modified Balthazar CT score as well as the serum interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels to a greater extent than did the placebo coloclyster (p<0.05). The remission times for the normalization of white blood cells and percentage of neutrophils and lymphocytes in the experimental group were also significantly shorter than those in the control group (p<0.05). In conclusion, a coloclyster of red peony root could help alleviate the clinical symptoms and shorten the course of MSAP by possibly attenuating systematic inflammation. This trial is registered with 14004664.

Impact of different post-harvest processing methods on the chemical compositions of peony root

The impact of key processing steps such as boiling, peeling, drying and storing on chemical compositions and morphologic features of the produced peony root was investigated in detail by applying 15 processing methods to fresh roots of Paeonia lactiflora and then monitoring contents of eight main components, as well as internal root color. The results showed that low temperature (4 °C) storage of fresh roots for approximately 1 month after harvest resulted in slightly increased and stable content of paeoniflorin, which might be due to suppression of enzymatic degradation. This storage also prevented roots from discoloring, facilitating production of favorable bright color roots. Boiling process triggered decomposition of polygalloylglucoses, thereby leading to a significant increase in contents of pentagalloylglucose and gallic acid. Peeling process resulted in a decrease of albiflorin and catechin contents. As a result, an optimized and practicable processing method ensuring high contents of the main active components in the produced root was developed.