ginsenoside-rd and Chronic-Disease

Cognitive impairment has been widely recognized as a common symptom of chronic stress. Ginsenoside Rd (GRd), the major active compound in Panax ginseng, was previously reported in various neurological researches. However, little research is available regarding on the effect of GRd on cognitive improvement in mice subjected to chronic stress. In the present study, we investigated the neuroprotective effects of GRd in chronic restraint stress (CRS)-induced cognitive deficits and explored the potential mechanism in male C57BL/6J mice. Our results demonstrated that oral administration of GRd for 28 days markedly increased the spontaneous alternation in Y-maze and the relative discrimination index in novel object or location recognition tests following CRS. Additionally, GRd treatment considerably increased the antioxidant enzymes activities in the hippocampus. The expression levels of hippocampus and serum inflammation factors in the CRS groups were also counter-regulated by GRd treatment. Meanwhile, GRd treatment could reverse CRS-induced the decrease in phosphorylated phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), camp-reflecting element binding protein (CREB), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) expression in the hippocampus. These findings provided evidences that GRd improves cognitive impairment in CRS mice by mitigating oxidative stress and inflammation, while upregulating the hippocampal BDNF-mediated CREB signaling pathway.

Topics: Animals; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; Chronic Disease; Cognitive Dysfunction; Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; Disease Models, Animal; Ginsenosides; Hippocampus; Inflammation; Male; Maze Learning; Memory, Short-Term; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Models, Biological; Motor Activity; Oxidative Stress; Receptor, trkB; Restraint, Physical; Signal Transduction; Stress, Psychological

YiQiFuMai Powder Injection (YQFM) is widely used in clinical practice for the treatment of heart failure (HF). However, its functional molecular mechanism remains to be fully uncovered. Our present study aimed to elucidate the impact of YQFM and underlying mechanisms on coronary artery ligation (CAL)-induced HF. Our results exhibited that YQFM significantly mitigated CAL-induced HF via meliorating the left ventricular contractile function and reducing the serum content of creatine kinase MB (CK-MB), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), interleukin-6 (IL-6), troponin (Tn), myosin, myoglobin (MYO) and myocilin (MYOC). Then, the relevance between circulating omentin level and cardiac function was investigated and we found that serum omentin levels positively associated with ejection fraction and negatively correlated with NT-proBNP content. Further, the effect of YQFM on cardiac function and omentin change in 1, 7 and 14 days CAL-induced HF mice was evaluated and the omentin secretion in isolated subcutaneous (SCAT) and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) after YQFM treatment were detected. YQFM could increase the circulating omentin content both in 14 days CAL-induced HF mice and isolated EAT. And increased omentin in conditioned medium (CM) could inhibit simulated ischemic/reperfusion (SI/R)-induced cardiomyocytes apoptosis. Moreover, YQFM could ameliorate myocardial apoptosis via positive regulation of AMPK, PI3 K/Akt and negative regulation of MAPKs signaling pathways. Ginsenoside Rd might partially mediated omentin-dependent protective effect of YQFM. Our findings indicated that regulation of cross-talk between adipose tissue and cardiomyocytes might be a potential target through which YQFM exerts cardioprotective effect apart from direct cardiomyocytes protection.

Topics: Adipokines; Adipose Tissue; Animals; Apoptosis; Cell Line; Chronic Disease; Coronary Vessels; Creatine Kinase; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Ginsenosides; Heart Failure; Heart Ventricles; Injections; Ligation; Male; Mice, Inbred ICR; Myocardial Contraction; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury; Myocytes, Cardiac; Powders; Rats; Signal Transduction; Time Factors; Up-Regulation

Increased expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been associated with memory-enhancing and neuroprotective properties of some drugs under chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) condition. Ginsenoside Rd (GSRd), one of the main active ingredients in Panax ginseng, is widely used for brain protection. However, it is poorly understood whether epigenetic mechanisms implied in the BDNF modulation after GSRd treatment for CCH remain elusive. Here, we investigated the neuroprotective effects of GSRd and the involved mechanisms. We demonstrated that GSRd administration ameliorated CCH-induced impairment of learning and memory behaviors, evidenced by decreased escape latency and increased number of crossing the platform in Morris water maze test. This improvement was associated with promoted neuron survival and increased BDNF expression in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of CCH mice. GSRd improved neuron survival and decreased neuron apoptosis and the level of caspase-3 under oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) by upregulation of BDNF as well as in vitro. The levels of acetylated histone H3 (Ac-H3) and histone deacetylase (histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2)) were altered under OGD/R in a time-dependent manner, and GSRd reestablished the balance between Ac-H3 and HDAC2 which resulted in upregulation of BDNF and increased neuron survival. MS-275, an inhibitor of class I HDACs, abolished the levels of Ac-H3 at the bdnf promoters and enhanced upregulation of BDNF after GSRd administration, suggesting a synergistic effect between GSRd and MS-275. All the data suggested that GSRd provided neuroprotection by epigenetic modulation which accounted for the regulation of BDNF in CCH mice.

Topics: Acetylation; Animals; Brain Ischemia; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; Cell Survival; Cells, Cultured; Chronic Disease; Cognitive Dysfunction; CREB-Binding Protein; Epigenesis, Genetic; Ginsenosides; Glucose; Hippocampus; Histone Deacetylase 2; Histones; Male; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Neurons; Neuroprotection; Oxygen; p300-CBP Transcription Factors; Spatial Learning