Long Cui

Ginseng, when used as a food and nutritional supplement, has the ability to regulate human immunity. Here, the potential anti-hepatic fibrosis effect of ginsenoside Rd (Rd), one of the protopanaxadiol types of ginsenoside, was investigated. We established a hepatic fibrosis model using intraperitoneal injection of thioacetamide (TAA) for five weeks in mice. In addition, an in vitro model was established by using TGF-β to activate hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), treated with Rd and an estrogen-related receptor α (ERRα) inhibitor (XCT-790). The ERRα knockdown (shRNA-ERRα) of the primary mouse hepatocytes was used to establish hepatocyte injury by TGF-β, and they were then incubated in Rd. The Rd significantly alleviated the histopathological changes, and reduced the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels. The Rd could upregulate the ERRα and downregulate the fibrosis markers in the livers of mice. In TAA-induced mice, the Rd inhibited the purinergic ligand-gated ion channel 7 receptor (P2X7r)-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome activation, consequently reversing the liver inflammatory response. The Rd significantly increased the expression of ERRα and suppressed the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the HSCs or primary hepatocytes. The Rd significantly decreased the P2X7r-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome activation, consequently reversing the inflammatory response, including the production of IL-1β, IL-23 in the activated HSCs and primary hepatocytes. The Rd could ameliorate the damage of the hepatocytes and further inhibit the entry of IL-1β and IL-18 into the extracellular matrix. The Rd reduced the inflammatory reaction by regulating the ERRα–P2X7r signaling pathway while suppressing the fibrogenesis, which suggests that the Rd can serve as a novel dietary supplement approach to combat hepatic fibrosis.

Two new β-dihydroagarofuran-type sesquiterpenes 1β,2α,6α,8β,15- pentaacetoxy- 9α-benzoyloxy- β-dihydroagarofuran (1) and 1β,2β,6α,15-tetraacetoxy-9β-benzoyloxy- β-dihydroagarofuran (2), together with five known abietane diterpenoids (3–7) were isolated from ethyl acetate extract of stems of Tripterygium wilfordii. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of detailed spectroscopic and physico-chemical analyses. All the isolates were evaluated for in vitro inhibitory activity against A549, HOS and MCF-7. Among them, compounds 4 and 5 exhibited manifest inhibition on A549, HOS and MCF-7 cancer cell lines.