Anwulignan alleviates d-galactose induced renal damage by regulating Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway in mice.

Unlabelled: Free radical accumulation in the body will cause oxidative stress damages including the renal damage. (Schisandra), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, has been used throughout the world. Anwulignan, a monomer extracted from Schisandra has been shown in our previous studies to possess antioxidant and protective effects on the liver, brain and spleen damages in the aging mice.

Protective Effects of Anwulignan against HCl/Ethanol-Induced Acute Gastric Ulcer in Mice.

Gastric ulcer is one of the most common gastrointestinal diseases. Anwulignan (AN) is a major active component of Rehd. This study was designed to evaluate the protective effect of AN against the acute gastric ulcer induced by HCl/ethanol in mice.

Anwulignan Ameliorates the Intestinal Ischemia/Reperfusion.

Anwulignan is one of the monomer compounds in the lignans from In this study, we observed the effect of anwulignan on intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (II/R) injury in male Sprague-Dawley rats and explored the underlying mechanisms. The results showed that pretreatment with oral anwulignan could significantly increase the mesenteric blood microcirculatory flow velocity; relieve the congestion and pathologic injury of jejunum; enhance the autonomic tension of jejunum smooth muscle and its reactivity to acetylcholine; increase the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione -transferase, and choline acetyltransferase; increase the contents of acetylcholine and glutathione in the serum or jejunal tissue; decrease the activities of myeloperoxidase, protein kinase C, and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase; reduce the contents of malondialdehyde, 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine, nicotinamide adenine, reactive oxygen species, tumor necrosis factor-, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1; increase the expression levels of muscarinic receptor 3, PI3K, phosphorylation protein kinase B, p-GSK3 Ser9, Nrf2, p-Nrf2, heme oxygenase (decycling) 1, and b-cell lymphoma 2 in the jejunal tissue; and decrease the expression levels of p-GSK3 Tyr216, kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1, Bax, and cleaved caspase-3, suggesting that anwulignan can ameliorate II/R-induced jejunal tissue injury in rats and that the mechanism may be related to its activating the PI3K/protein kinase B pathway and then regulating the Nrf2/Anti-oxidative Response Element signaling pathway and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins to play antioxidant and antiapoptotic roles. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Anwulignan can significantly reduce jejunal tissue injury and the production of inflammatory factors in rats with intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury, improve the antioxidant capacity, and reduce the apoptosis of jejunal tissue, and it has the effect of significantly improving intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats, suggesting that anwulignan may be used as a potential drug for the prevention and treatment of intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury or a resource for the development of health food.

Schisantherin A improves learning and memory abilities partly through regulating the Nrf2/Keap1/ARE signaling pathway in chronic fatigue mice.

Chronic fatigue is frequently accompanied by decreased learning and memory capabilities. Schizantherin A (SCA) is one of the main active monomer components in lignans. In the present study, a chronic fatigue mouse model was established using the exhausted swimming approach to investigate the effects of SCA on learning and memory and its associated mechanism of action.

Anti-fatigue effect of anwulignan via the NRF2 and PGC-1α signaling pathway in mice.

Objective: To examine the anti-fatigue function of anwulignan from Schisandra and its underlying mechanism.

Methods: After an excessive fatigue mouse model was created, anwulignan was administered to the mice, and its effect on exercise tolerance was studied by the weight-bearing swimming test, rotarod test, grip strength test, and tail suspension test. The biochemical indicators closely related to fatigue, including blood urea nitrogen (BUN), lactic acid (LD), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and creatine kinase (CK) in the serum; liver glycogen (LG) in the liver tissue; muscle glycogen (MG); inorganic phosphate (Pi) and Annexin V in the gastrocnemius; superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities; malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS); and the 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) content in both serum and the gastrocnemius were detected.