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Choosing Herbal Treatments
Published in Scott Mendelson, Herbal Treatment of Major Depression, 2019
In older, primarily herb-based medical traditions, the use of adaptogens has been well accepted. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are tonic herbs that have long been used to improve low body resistance and weak constitution, or to add support when the body is finding it difficult to fight severe diseases.128 These various herbs have been categorized as those that strengthen Chi, blood, Yin, or Yang in the body. Among these tonic herbs are Panax ginseng, Rhodiola crenulata, Astragalus membranaceus, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Eleutherococcus senticosus, Atractylodes macrocephala, Angelica sinensis, Epimedium brevicornu, Psoralea corylifolia, Stachys geobombycis, Asparagus cochinchinensis, and Polygonatum odoratum. Many of those herbs are found on various lists of adaptogenic herbs as well as in TCM combinations used for the treatment of depression-like syndromes. In Ayurveda, the ancient traditional medicine of India, adaptogenic herbs are referred to as rasayana, and have included Tinospora cordifolia, Asparagus racemosus, Emblica officinalis, Withania somnifera, Piper longum, Terminalia chebula, and others.129
Increasing the Sensitivity of Adipocytes and Skeletal Muscle Cells to Insulin
Published in Christophe Wiart, Medicinal Plants in Asia for Metabolic Syndrome, 2017
Ethanol extract of rhizome of Polygonatum odoratum (Mill.) Druce given to C57BL/6 mice as 1% part of high-fat diet for 8 weeks prevented body weight gain, had no effect on food intake and lowered plasma glucose from about 6 to 5 mmol/L.337 This regimen improved glucose tolerance in intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test and improved glucose clearance during intraperitoneal insulin tolerance test.337 This regimen lowered plasma cholesterol and triglycerides and had no effect on low-density lipoprotein–cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein–cholesterol.337 This extract lowered plasma insulin to normal, doubled plasma adiponectin levels, and normalized serum leptin.337 The extract given 2 weeks at 1% of high-fat diet to C57BL/6 mice after 12 weeks of high-fat diet lowered glycemia and triglycerides.337 In both preventive and therapeutic treatment, the extract lowered liver triglycerides and had no effect on liver cholesterol.337 In the preventive treatment, the extract increased hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ, acetyl-CoA carboxylase and uncoupling protein-2.337 In white adipose tissue, the extract in preventive study increased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivator-1α, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, acyl-CoA-oxidase, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ, fatty acid-binding protein, lipoprotein lipase, uncoupling protein-2, glucose transporter-4, and decreased tumor necrosis factor-α.337 In preventive treatment the extract increased body temperature and brown adipose tissue expression of uncoupling protein-2.337 In therapeutic treatment, the extract increased hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ, -α and fatty acid translocase.337 In white adipose tissue, the extract in therapeutic study increased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ and target fatty acid-binding protein, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivator-1α, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, lipoprotein lipase, uncoupling protein-2, glucose transporter-4, and decreased tumor necrosis factor-α.337 Clinical trials are warranted.
Qiliqiangxin improves cardiac function and attenuates cardiac remodelling in doxorubicin-induced heart failure rats
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2020
Xutao Sun, Guozhen Chen, Ying Xie, Deyou Jiang, Jieru Han, Fei Chen, Yunjia Song
QL capsules were provided by Yiling Pharmaceutical Corporation (Shijiazhuang, China). The QL powder consisted of Panax ginseng C. A. Mey. (Araliaceae), Astragalus membranaceus Bge. (Fabaceae), Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge.(Lamiaceae), Descurainia sophia L. (Brassicaceae), Aconitum carmichaeli Debx. (Ranunculaceae), Alisma orientalis Sam. (Alismataceae), Carthamus tinctorius L. (Asteraceae), Acanthopanax gracilistylus W. W. Smith. (Araliaceae), Polygonatum odoratum Mill. (Asparagaceae), Cinnamomum cassia L. (Lauraceae), and Citrus aurantium L. (Rutaceae). It was dissolved in sterile water to a concentration of 0.1 g/mL. Doxorubicin (DOX; Batch No. 020150703; Shanxi Pude Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Datong, Shanxi, China) and the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor captopril (Batch No. 1511221; Suicheng Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Zhengzhou, Henan, China) were separately dissolved in sterile saline solution.
Fuzhu jiangtang granules combined with metformin reduces insulin resistance in skeletal muscle of diabetic rats via PI3K/Akt signaling
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2019
Yunsong Cao, Wen Sun, Guangyuan Xu
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used in China for more than 2000 years for the prevention and treatment of diabetes and complications such as diabetic nephropathy (Tong et al. 2012; He et al. 2016; Sun et al. 2016). Fuzhu Jiangtang granules (FJG) consist of many complex ingredients such as Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae), Polygonatum odoratum (Mill.) Druce (Asparagaceae), Morus alba L. (Moraceae), Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F. H. Chen (Araliaceae) and Cinnamomum cassia Presl. (Lauraceae). Previous studies have found that Jiang Tang Xiao Ke (JTXK) granules, a Chinese herbal formula similar to FJG, could improve glycemic and lipid metabolism in diabetic rats through its anti-oxidative action and modulation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway (Zhao et al. 2014; Guo et al. 2016; Zhang et al. 2016; Yu et al. 2017). Despite numerous advances in treatment, there are still many diabetic patients who are unable to achieve adequate glycemic control while on the maximum recommended dose of antidiabetic agents. Thus, attempts should be made to find complementary and alternative therapies to the existing antidiabetic agents to achieve satisfactory outcomes.
Desulfovibrio vulgaris, a potent acetic acid-producing bacterium, attenuates nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in mice
Published in Gut Microbes, 2021
Ying Hong, Lili Sheng, Jing Zhong, Xin Tao, Weize Zhu, Junli Ma, Juan Yan, Aihua Zhao, Xiaojiao Zheng, Gaosong Wu, Bingbing Li, Bangxing Han, Kan Ding, Ningning Zheng, Wei Jia, Houkai Li
Emerging evidence has demonstrated the well-established anti-obesity effect of polysaccharides from Ganoderma lucidum,9Hirsutella sinensis,13 and Polygonatum odoratum21 through modulating gut microbiota. Our recent study indicated that APS supplementation also altered the composition of gut microbiota in HFD-fed mice.20 In addition, our in vitro data indicated that APS could not inhibit the TG accumulation in hepatocytes (data not shown). We therefore wondered whether the modulation on gut microbiota contributed to the anti-NAFLD effect of APS. The gut microbiota composition was compared among groups based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. An average of 38621 ± 1058 (mean±s.e.m) valid reads were obtained that covered the majority of bacterial diversity (Supplementary Table 1). First of all, the results showed that the gut microbiome of HFD mice was characterized with reduced α diversity indexes including Shannon, Sobs, Chao and Ace compared to the Control group (Con, p < .001). APS supplementation significantly increased these indexes compared to the HFD group (p < .05, Supplementary Figure 1a), suggesting that APS supplementation increased the bacterial richness (increased Sobs, Chao, Ace and Shannon indexes) and evenness (increased Shannon index) in HFD-fed mice. Then, weighted UniFrac principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) showed that samples from both HFD and APS groups were separated from the Con group on PCoA 1 (p = .001), while HFD and APS groups were also separated with each other (p = .004, Supplementary Figure 1b). In addition, we observed significant changes in the relative abundance of the main phyla including increased Firmicutes and Proteobacteria (p < .01) and reduced Bacteroidetes (p < .001) in the HFD mice. APS supplementation mainly reduced the relative abundance of Firmicutes (p < .01) and increased Bacteroidetes (p < .001) leading to the reduction of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio compared to the HFD group, while some unidentified bacteria in HFD and APS groups were not detected in Con group (Supplementary Figure 1c).