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Two new triterpenes mayteneri A (1), mayteneri B (2), and seven known compounds (3-9) were isolated from stems of Maytenus hookeri Loes. The chemical structures of compounds 1 and 2 were established by 1D, 2D NMR, HRESIMS analysis, and calculating electronic circular dichroism (ECD). The structures of known compounds 3-9 were determined by comparison of their spectral with those reported. Compounds 4-7 showed significant inhibitory activity for NLRP3 inflammasome, with the IC50 values of 2.36–3.44 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Bladder cancer occurs mainly in older people and is expensive to manage. Swedish Herbal Rhodiola-5 (SHR-5), a standardized Rhodiola Rosea extract from the Swedish Herbal Institute (the SHI, Gothenburg, Sweden), has been in clinical studies for managing mild to moderate depression and physical and mental fatigue. Previous studies have shown that SHR-5 extended the life span of the fruit fly through a mechanism that was not associated with dietary restriction. In this study, we examined whether drinking SHR-5 can delay tumor development in a superficial bladder cancer mouse model. Drinking SHR-5 daily markedly improved the survival rate of the bladder tumor-bearing mice, by an absolute 61.7%, and reduced urinary tract obstruction and tumor burden. SHR-5 drinking reshaped the tumor metabolism via the inhibition of the mTOR leading to a decreased tumor cell proliferation. Background: SHR-5 has been used as an "adaptogen" for enhancing physical and mental performance and for fighting stress in the healthy population. The purpose of this study is to determine the chemopreventive efficacy of SHR-5 for superficial bladder cancer and to investigate the underlying mechanisms of action. Methods: UPII-mutant Ha-ras bladder-cancer-transgenic mice, that developed low-grade and noninvasive papillary transitional urothelial cell carcinoma, were fed with 1.25 and 6.25 mg/mL SHR-5 in drinking water for 6 months. The survival of the mice, obstructive uropathy, tumor burden and morphology, and proliferation were evaluated by pathological, molecular, metabolic, and statistical analyses. Results: Approximately 95% or more of the male UPII-mutant Ha-ras mice that drank SHR-5 daily survived over 6 months of age, while only 33.3% of those mice that drank normal water survived over 6 months of age (p < 0.0001); SHR-5 drinking exposure also reduced tumor-bearing bladder weight and urinary tract obstruction and inhibited mTOR signaling in neoplastic tissues. Global metabolic analysis revealed that SHR-5 resulted in increased phenolic metabolites and decreased CoA, a critical metabolic cofactor for lipid metabolism. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the potential of SHR-5 as an anti-aging agent for bladder cancer prevention through reshaping tumor metabolism via the inhibition of the mTOR signaling. Global metabolomics profiling provides a unique and efficient tool for studying the mechanisms of complex herb extracts' action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To summarize the quantity and quality of evidence for using Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. (TwHF) preparations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to find the reasons of the disparity by comprehensively appraising the related systematic reviews (SRs). Methods. We performed an overview of evidence for the effectiveness and safety of TwHF preparations for patients with RA. We searched seven literature databases from inception to July 15, 2021. We included SRs of TwHF preparations in the treatment of RA. Four tools were used to evaluate the reporting quality, methodological quality, risk of bias, and the certainty of evidence for the included SRs, which are the PRISMA, the AMSTAR-2, the ROBIS, and the GRADE approach. Results. We included 27 SRs (with 385 studies and 33,888 participants) for this overview. The AMSTAR-2 showed that 19 SRs had critically low methodological quality and the remaining 8 had low methodological quality. The rate of overlaps was 68.31% (263/385), and the CCA (corrected covered area) was 0.53, which indicated the degree of overlap is slight. Based on the assessment of ROBIS, all 27 SRs were rated as low risk in phase 1; one SR was rated as low risk in domain 1, 9 SRs were in low risk in domain 2, 16 SRs were in low risk in domain 3, and 16 SRs were in low risk in domain 4 in phase 2; 7 SRs were rated as low risk in phase 3. Among 27 items of PRISMA, 15 items were reported over 70% of compliance, the reporting quality of 16 SRs was rated as "fair," and 11 were "good." Using GRADE assessment, moderate quality of evidence was found in 5 outcomes, and 5 outcomes were low quality. Conclusion. The use of TwHF preparations for the treatment of RA may be clinically effective according to the moderate-quality evidence. There are methodological issues, risk of bias, and reporting deficiencies still needed to be improved. SRs with good quality and further randomized clinical trials that focus on clinical important outcomes are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citrisorbicillinol (1), along with six other known compounds (2 – 7), was isolated from an endphyte Penicillium citrinum ZY-2 of Plantago asiatica L. Citrisorbicillinol (1) was characterized as a skeletally unprecedented hybrid sorbicillinoid, and its unique framework is likely formed by intermolecular [4 + 2] cycloaddition between intermediates derived from citrinin and sorbicillinoid biosynthetic gene clusters. Compounds 1 and 2 demonstrated to promote osteoblastic differentiation in MC3T3-E1 cells, and to be osteogenic in the prednisolone induced osteoporotic zebrafish. Compounds 3–7 exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against four human cancer cell lines. [Display omitted] • An undescribed polyketide citrisorbicillinol was isolated from endphyte Penicillium citrinum ZY-2. • The unique citrisorbicillinol framework is likely formed by an intermolecular [4 + 2] cycloaddition. • Citrisorbicillinol was demonstrated to be osteogenic in the prednisolone induced osteoporotic zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eleven undescribed 16,17-dinor-abietane diterpenoids, caseazins A-K (1 − 11), and ten known diterpenoids (12 − 21) were isolated from the twigs and leaves of Casearia kurzii (Flacourtiaceae). Caseazins A-K were the first abietane -type dinorditerpenoids to have been isolated from the plant of Casearia kurzii. Their chemical structures were elucidated using a combination of 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The absolute configurations of 5 and 10 were established by electronic circular dichroism calculations. Moreover, compounds 2 , 3 , 13 , 14 , and 18 exhibited anti-inflammatory activity with IC 50 values of 0.17, 0.36, 6.55, 1.30, and 4.53 μM, respectively. IL-1β and caspase-1 analyses suggested that compound 14 inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome activation and blocked macrophage pyroptosis. Diterpenoids from Casearia kurzii with NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitory activity were reported in this research. [Display omitted] • Eleven undescribed dinorditerpenoids were isolated from Casearia kurzii. • The compound 14 showed potent inhibitory activity against pyroptosis by blocking NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Their structures were established by elucidated by NMR, HRESIMS and ECD analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is a common pathological manifestation of many cardiovascular diseases at a certain stage, with excessive accumulation of collagen fibers, excessive increase in collagen content, and a significant increase in collagen volume as the main pathological changes. There are currently no effective drugs for the treatment of myocardial fibrosis. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the main component of the medical practice used for more than 5000 years, especially in China, often exerts a wider action spectrum than previously attempted options in treating human diseases. In recent times, the great potential of TCM in the treatment of MF has received much attention. Especially many experimental studies on the treatment of MF by Astragalus mongholicus Bunge have been conducted, and the effect is remarkable, which may provide more comprehensive database and theoretical support for the application of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge in the treatment of MF and could be considered a promising candidate drug for preventing MF. This review summarizes the chemical components of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge, Astragalus mongholicus Bunge extrac t, Astragalus mongholicus Bunge single prescription, and Astragalus mongholicus Bunge compound preparation in the treatment of MF, and provides comprehensive information and a reliable basis for the exploration of new treatment strategies of botanical drugs in the therapy of MF. The literature information was obtained from the scientific databases on ethnobotany and ethnomedicines (up to August 2022), mainly from the PubMed, Web of Science, and CNKI databases. The experimental studies on the anti-myocardial fibrosis role of the effective active components of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge and the utility of its compound preparation and the involved mechanisms were identified. The search keywords for such work included: "myocardial fibrosis" or "Cardiac fibrosis ", and " Astragalus mongholicus Bunge", "extract," or "herb". Several studies have shown that the effective active components of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge and its formulas, particularly Astragaloside IV, Astragalus polysaccharide, total saponins of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge, triterpenoid saponins of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge, and cycloastragenol, exhibit potential benefits against MF, the mechanisms of which appear to involve the regulation of inflammation, oxidant stress, and pro-fibrotic signaling pathways, etc. Conclusion : These research works have shown the therapeutic benefits of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge in the treatment of MF. However, further research should be undertaken to clarify the unconfirmed chemical composition and regulatory mechanisms, conduct standard clinical trials, and evaluate the possible side effects. The insights in the present review provided rich ideas for developing new anti-MF drugs. Myocardial fibrosis (MF) with excessive accumulation of collagen fibers, excessive increase in collagen content, and a significant increase in collagen volume as the main pathological changes is a common pathological manifestation of many cardiovascular diseases at a certain stage, which seriously affects cardiac function. At present, there is still a lack of effective drugs for the treatment of MF. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the main component of the medical practice used for more than 5000 years especially in China, often exerts wider action spectrum than previously attempted options in treating human diseases. In recent times, the great potential of TCM in the treatment of MF has received much attention. Especially many experimental studies on the treatment of MF by Astragalus mongholicus Bunge have been conducted, and the effect is remarkable, which may provide more comprehensive data base and theoretical support for the application of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge in the treatment of MF and could be considered a promising candidate drug for preventing MF. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A phytochemical investigation to obtain bioactive substances as lead compounds or agents for anti-inflammatory led to the obtainment of eleven previously undescribed clerodane diterpenoids, named caseatardies A-K (1 − 11), and four known clerodane diterpenoids (12 – 15) from the twigs and leaves of Casearia tardieuae. The structural elucidation of these clerodane diterpenoids was based on 1D and 2D-NMR spectroscopy (COSY, HSQC, HMBC and ROESY) as well as high resolution mass spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS). The relative configurations were defined by ROESY correlations. The anti-inflammatory activity of all the isolated compounds was screened and compound 15 decreased LDH level in a dose-dependent manner, showing IC 50 value of 2.89 μM. [Display omitted] • Eleven new clerodane diterpenoids with conjugated diene side chain at C-9 were isolated from Casearia tardieuae. • The compound 15 showed potent inhibitory activity against pyroptosis by blocking NLRP3 inflammasome activation. • Their structures were established by elucidated by 1D, 2D-NMR and HR-ESI-MS analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A phytochemical investigation was conducted on Euphorbia helioscopia , resulting in the isolation of thirteen compounds, including nine undescribed diterpenoids, Euphzycopias A − I (1 – 9), of which the skeletons of compounds 1 – 4 were found in E. helioscopia L. Compounds 1 – 3 had 5/7/6 cyclic systems, while compound 4 had a 4/11 polycyclic system with a 4,7-cyclic ether between C-4 and C-7. The anti-inflammasome test using the isolated compounds (1–6, 8–13) showed that the diterpenes from E. helioscopia L. had a strong inhibitory effect on NLRP3 inflammasomes with IC 50 values of 3.34–14.92 μM. [Display omitted] • Nine undescribed diterpenoids were isolated from Euphorbia helioscopia L. • The skeletons of the first four compounds first appeared in the genus Euphorbia L. • Some compounds had significant anti-inflammatory activity on NLRP3 inflammasome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]