GPCR-mediated natural products and compounds: Potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of neurological diseases.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), widely expressed in the human central nervous system (CNS), perform numerous physiological functions and play a significant role in the pathogenesis of diseases. Consequently, identifying key therapeutic GPCRs targets for CNS-related diseases is garnering immense interest in research labs and pharmaceutical companies. However, using GPCRs drugs for treating neurodegenerative diseases has limitations, including side effects and uncertain effective time frame.

Targeting the I Channel PKA Phosphorylation Axis to Restore Its Function in High-Risk LQT1 Variants.

Background: The KCNQ1+KCNE1 (I) potassium channel plays a crucial role in cardiac adaptation to stress, in which β-adrenergic stimulation phosphorylates the I channel through the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/PKA (protein kinase A) pathway. Phosphorylation increases the channel current and accelerates repolarization to adapt to an increased heart rate. Variants in KCNQ1 can cause long-QT syndrome type 1 (LQT1), and those with defective cAMP effects predispose patients to the highest risk of cardiac arrest and sudden death.

The roles of dietary polyphenols at crosstalk between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease in ameliorating oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction via PI3K/Akt signaling pathways.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in which senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are crucially involved in its physiological and pathophysiological processes. Growing animal and clinical studies have suggested that AD is also comorbid with some metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and therefore, it is often considered brain diabetes. AD and T2DM share multiple molecular and biochemical mechanisms, including impaired insulin signaling, oxidative stress, gut microbiota dysbiosis, and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Potential anti-obesity effect of saponin metabolites from adzuki beans: A computational approach.

In contrast to its widespread traditional and popular culinary use to reduce weight, (adzuki beans) was not subjected to sufficient scientific scrutiny. Particularly, its saponins whose role was never investigated before to unveil the beans' antidiabetic and anti-obesity effects. Four vital pancreatic and intestinal carbohydrate enzymes were selected to assess the potency of the triterpenoidal saponins of to bind and activate these proteins through high-precision molecular modeling and dynamics mechanisms with accurate molecular mechanics Generalized Born Surface Area (MMGBSA) energy calculations; thus, recognizing their anti-obesity potential.

Exposure to Airborne PM Water-Soluble Inorganic Ions Induces a Wide Array of Reproductive Toxicity.

Water-soluble inorganic ions (WSIIs, primarily NH, SO, and NO) are major components in ambient PM, but their reproductive toxicity remains largely unknown. An animal study was conducted where parental mice were exposed to PM WSIIs or clean air during preconception and the gestational period. After delivery, all maternal and offspring mice lived in a clean air environment.

-Acetylcysteine overcomes epalrestat-mediated increase of toxic 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal and potentiates the anti-arthritic effect of epalrestat in AIA model.

Epalrestat, an aldose reductase inhibitor (ARI), has been clinically adopted in treating diabetic neuropathy in China and Japan. Apart from the involvement in diabetic complications, AR has been implicated in inflammation. Here, we seek to investigate the feasibility of clinically approved ARI, epalrestat, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Tricin promoted ATG-7 dependent autophagic degradation of α-synuclein and dopamine release for improving cognitive and motor deficits in Parkinson's disease.

Tricin, a natural nontoxic flavonoid distributed in grasses and euphorbia plants, has been reported to scavenge free radicals, possess anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects. However, its autophagic effect on Parkinson's disease (PD) has not been elucidated. By adopting cellular and C.

Profiling Microbiota from Multiple Sites in the Respiratory Tract to Identify a Biomarker for PM Nitrate Exposure-Induced Pulmonary Damages.

The microbiota present in the respiratory tract (RT) responds to environmental stimuli and engages in a continuous interaction with the host immune system to maintain homeostasis. A total of 40 C57BL/6 mice were divided into four groups and exposed to varying concentrations of PM nitrate aerosol and clean air. After 10 weeks of exposure, assessments were conducted on the lung and airway microbiome, lung functions, and pulmonary inflammation.

Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases ─ Targeting cardiac ion channels.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, imposing an increasing global health burden. Cardiac ion channels (voltage-gated Na, Ca, Ks, and others) synergistically shape the cardiac action potential (AP) and control the heartbeat. Dysfunction of these channels, due to genetic mutations, transcriptional or post-translational modifications, may disturb the AP and lead to arrhythmia, a major risk for CVD patients.

Sex Differences in Association Between Gut Microbiome and Essential Hypertension Based on Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring.

Background: Sex differences in the pathogenesis of hypertension exist. While gut microbiota (GM) has been associated with hypertension, it is unclear whether there are sex-linked differences in the association between GM and hypertension.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the sex differences in associations between GM characterized by shotgun sequencing, GM-derived short-chain fatty acids, and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure in 241 Hong Kong Chinese (113 men and 128 women; mean age, 54±6 years).

Fibroblastic reticular cells in lymph node potentiate white adipose tissue beiging through neuro-immune crosstalk in male mice.

Lymph nodes (LNs) are always embedded in the metabolically-active white adipose tissue (WAT), whereas their functional relationship remains obscure. Here, we identify fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs) in inguinal LNs (iLNs) as a major source of IL-33 in mediating cold-induced beiging and thermogenesis of subcutaneous WAT (scWAT). Depletion of iLNs in male mice results in defective cold-induced beiging of scWAT.

Deficiency of exchange protein directly activated by cAMP (EPAC)-1 in mice augments glucose intolerance, inflammation, and gut dysbiosis associated with Western diet.

Background: Gut microbiota (GM) dysregulation, known as dysbiosis, has been proposed as a crucial driver of obesity associated with "Western" diet (WD) consumption. Gut dysbiosis is associated with increased gut permeability, inflammation, and insulin resistance. However, host metabolic pathways implicated in the pathophysiology of gut dysbiosis are still elusive.

Dietary Patterns and Nutrient Intake in University Students of Macao: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Nutritional status affects the health of the public and is one of the key factors influencing social-economic development. To date, little research on the nutritional status of the Macao university student population has been conducted.

Objectives: To identify and evaluate the dietary pattern and the nutritional intake among Macao university students.

Retinal microglia protect against vascular damage in a mouse model of retinopathy of prematurity.

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a common cause of blindness in preterm babies. As a hypoxia-induced eye disease characterized by neovascularization, its association with retinal microglia has been noted but not well documented. We performed a comprehensive analysis of retinal microglia and retinal vessels in mouse oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR), an animal model of ROP.

Scutellarin acts on the AR-NOX axis to remediate oxidative stress injury in a mouse model of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Background: Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathology of ischemic stroke. Studies have confirmedthat scutellarin has antioxidant effects against ischemic injury, 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.

Methods: C57BL/6N mice (Wild-type, WT) and AR knockout (AR) mice suffered from transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) injury (1 h occlusion followed by 3 days reperfusion), and scutellarin was administered from 2 h before surgery to 3 days after surgery.

Corrigendum to "Sulfated heteropolysaccharides from : Structural characterization and transcript-metabolite profiling of immunostimulatory effects on RAW264.7 cells" [Food Chemistry: X 13 (2022) 100251].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.fochx.

Sulfated heteropolysaccharides from : Structural characterization and transcript-metabolite profiling of immunostimulatory effects on RAW264.7 cells.

Investigation of the polysaccharides from an edible marine brown algae has led to obtaining three fractional sulfated polysaccharides UPPs 1-3 with molecular weights of 7.212 kDa, 13.924 kDa, and 55.

A cross-sectional study for the mental health status and sleep quality among college students in Macao during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: The main focus of this study was to investigate the effect of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the mental health condition and sleep quality of college students in Macao. In addition, the students' behaviours during the pandemic, such as drinking alcohol, taking sleeping pills, and seeking psychological counselling were analyzed.

Method: A cross-sectional survey of mental health and sleep quality status, as well as the possible behavioral risk factors, was conducted among the college students of Macao in August, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exacerbated VEGF up-regulation accompanies diabetes-aggravated hemorrhage in mice after experimental cerebral ischemia and delayed reperfusion.

Reperfusion therapy is the preferred treatment for ischemic stroke, but is hindered by its short treatment window, especially in patients with diabetes whose reperfusion after prolonged ischemia is often accompanied by exacerbated hemorrhage. The mechanisms underlying exacerbated hemorrhage are not fully understood. This study aimed to identify this mechanism by inducing prolonged 2-hour transient intraluminal middle cerebral artery occlusion in diabetic Ins2 mice to mimic patients with diabetes undergoing delayed mechanical thrombectomy.

Identification of natural compounds as SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors by molecular docking-based virtual screening with bio-layer interferometry.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which enter the host cells through the interaction between its receptor binding domain (RBD) of spike glycoprotein with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor on the plasma membrane of host cell. Neutralizing antibodies and peptide binders of RBD can block viral infection, however, the concern of accessibility and affordability of viral infection inhibitors has been raised. Here, we report the identification of natural compounds as potential SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors using the molecular docking-based virtual screening coupled with bilayer interferometry (BLI).

Saponins isolated from Radix polygalae extent lifespan by modulating complement C3 and gut microbiota.

With the increase in human lifespan, population aging is one of the major problems worldwide. Aging is an irreversible progressive process that affects humans via multiple factors including genetic, immunity, cellular oxidation and inflammation. Progressive neuroinflammation contributes to aging, cognitive malfunction, and neurodegenerative diseases.