• age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
• berries
• flavonoids
• phytochemicals

• UPLC-DAD
• carotenoids
• goji berry
• saponification
• zeaxanthin

• Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods
• Lycium/chemistry
• Carotenoids/analysis
• Carotenoids/chemistry
• Plant Extracts/chemistry
• Plant Extracts/analysis
• Fruit/chemistry

• MOST 109-2221-E-234-002 National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan

• anti-inflammation
• inherited retinal diseases
• lycium barbarum glycopeptide
• n-methyl-n-nitrosourea
• opsin
• photoreceptor
• reactive gliosis
• retinal degeneration
• retinitis pigmentosa
• rhodopsin

• Lycium genus
• goji berries
• gut microbiota
• pharmacological activity
• signal pathway

• 0062/2021/A2, 002/2023/ALC & 006/2023/SKL Macau Science and Technology Development Fund

• Diabetic retinopathy
• Network meta-analysis
• Systematic review
• Therapeutic effect
• Traditional Chinese medicine

• Chinese herbal compound
• Lingqihuangban granule
• diabetic retinopathy
• network pharmacology
• photocoagulation
• retinal hemorrhage

• Humans
• Diabetic Retinopathy/drug therapy
• Network Pharmacology
• Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases
• China
• Databases, Factual
• Diabetes Mellitus

• 81970811 National Natural Science Foundation of China
• 21015800700 Domestic Science and Technology Cooperation Project of Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission

• bile acids
• microbiota
• taurine

• Bile Acids and Salts
• Gastrointestinal Microbiome/physiology
• Taurine

• Taurine
• hyperlipidemia
• lipid metabolism
• molecular targets
• transcription factors

• Animals
• Humans
• Taurine/pharmacology
• Hypercholesterolemia/complications
• Hypercholesterolemia/metabolism
• Atherosclerosis
• Lipid Metabolism
• Lipids

• Lycium barbarum
• Anti-inflammation
• antioxidant
• gut microbiota
• metabolites
• polysaccharides
• prebiotics

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the third leading cause of blindness worldwide. Macular pigment optical density (MPOD), a biomarker for AMD, is a non-invasive measure to assess risk. The macula xanthophyll pigments lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z) protect against blue light and provide oxidant defense, which can be indexed by MPOD. This study examined the effects of Z-rich goji berry intake on MPOD and skin carotenoids in healthy individuals. A randomized, unmasked, parallel-arm study was conducted with 27 participants, aged 45–65, who consumed either 28 g of goji berries or a supplement containing 6 mg L and 4 mg Z (LZ), five times weekly for 90 days. After 90 days, MPOD was significantly increased in the goji berry group at 0.25 and 1.75 retinal eccentricities (p = 0.029 and p = 0.044, respectively), while no changes were noted in the LZ group. Skin carotenoids were significantly increased in the goji berry group at day 45 (p = 0.025) and day 90 (p = 0.006), but not in the LZ group. Regular intake of goji berries in a healthy middle-aged population increases MPOD may help prevent or delay the development of AMD.

• age-related macular degeneration
• carotenoids
• goji berry
• lutein
• macular pigment optical density
• zeaxanthin

• Different development stages
• Endogenous molecules
• Mass spectrometry imaging
• Spatial distribution
• Wolfberry

To explore the clinical efficacy and mechanism of compound Shenlu granule (SLG) treatment in patients with aplastic anemia (AA).

A total of 89 AA patients were randomly divided into an SLG supportive group (group A, n = 44) and a control group (group B, n = 45) while continuing Western medical management. After 6 months, hemograms, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome scores, and overall clinical efficacy rate were assessed. Serum metabolomics characteristics were observed using ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry after SLG intervention.

The levels of red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), and platelet (PLT) were increased in both groups after treatment for 6 months (P < 0.05), and in group A, the elevation of PLT became much more significant (P < 0.01). The TCM syndrome score was lower in group A than in group B after treatment (P < 0.05). Metabolomics data showed a significant difference in the patients using SLG after 6 months, and 14 biomarkers were identified.

SLG supportive treatment showed positive results in patients with AA, and metabolomics data indicated that SLG influenced aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis and glycerophospholipid metabolism to gradually return to normal.

• Goji berry
• Lycium barbarum polysaccharide
• Meta-analysis
• chronic non-communicable diseases
• glucose and lipid metabolism

• Fructus lycii
• age-related macular degeneration
• antioxidants
• carotenoids
• diabetic retinopathy
• retinitis pigmentosa

• Animals
• Antioxidants/administration & dosage
• Antioxidants/isolation & purification
• Carotenoids/administration & dosage
• Carotenoids/isolation & purification
• Diabetic Retinopathy/diet therapy
• Dietary Supplements
• Fruit/chemistry
• Humans
• Lycium/chemistry
• Macular Degeneration/diet therapy
• Phytotherapy
• Retinal Diseases/diet therapy
• Retinitis Pigmentosa/diet therapy

Marine organisms provide an abundant source of potential medicines. Many of the marine-derived biomaterials have been shown to act as different mechanisms in immune responses, and in each case they can significantly control the immune system to produce effective reactions. Marine-derived proteins, peptides, and protein hydrolysates exhibit various physiologic functions, such as antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant, antihypertensive, and anti-inflammatory activities. Recently, the immunomodulatory properties of several antimicrobial peptides have been demonstrated. Some of these peptides directly kill bacteria and exhibit a variety of immunomodulatory activities that improve the host innate immune response and effectively eliminate infection. The properties of immunomodulatory proteins and peptides correlate with their amino acid composition, sequence, and length. Proteins and peptides with immunomodulatory properties have been tested in vitro and in vivo, and some of them have undergone different clinical and preclinical trials. This review provides a comprehensive overview of marine immunomodulatory proteins, peptides, and protein hydrolysates as well as their production, mechanisms of action, and applications in human therapy.

• immune response
• immunomodulatory peptide
• marine organism
• protein hydrolysates

• Animals
• Anti-Infective Agents/pharmacology
• Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/pharmacology
• Aquatic Organisms/chemistry
• Humans
• Immunity, Innate/drug effects
• Immunologic Factors/pharmacology
• Immunomodulation/drug effects
• Proteins/pharmacology

• Antioxidants/metabolism
• Fruit/chemistry
• Humans
• Lycium/chemistry

• Apoptosis
• Arsenic
• Mitophagy
• PPARγ

Arsenic exposure causes nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Inflammation is a key contributor to the pathology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), including NASH. However, it is unclear how arsenic induces inflammation. In mouse livers, we show that arsenic trioxide (As₂O₃) induced NASH, increased autophagy and NLRP3 inflammasome activation, increased lipid accumulation, and resulted in dysregulation of lipid-related genes. Supplemented with taurine (Tau) attenuated the inflammation and autophagy caused by As₂O₃. In HepG2 cells, we found that As₂O₃-induced pyroptotic cell death was dependent upon the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome, which was CTSB-dependent. In addition, inhibiting autophagy alleviated the As₂O₃-induced increase of cytosolic CTSB expression and subsequent release of LDH, activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, and pyroptosis. Moreover, we found that Tau alleviated As₂O₃-induced elevation of autophagy, CTSB expression, and activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, and reduced the release of LDH, pyroptotic cell death, and inflammation. Interestingly, As₂O₃-induced lipid accumulation could not be alleviated by either inhibition of autophagy nor by inhibition of CTSB. Additionally, neither inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome or Tau treatment could alleviate lipid accumulation. These results demonstrated that As₂O₃-induced pyroptosis involves autophagy, CTSB, and the NLRP3 inflammasome cascade, and that Tau alleviates As₂O₃-induced liver inflammation by inhibiting the autophagic-CTSB-NLRP3 inflammasomal pathway rather than decreasing lipid accumulation. These findings give insight into the association of autophagy, inflammation, pyroptosis, and NASH induced by As₂O₃.

• advanced glycation end-products
• aldose reductase
• diabetic retinopathy
• metalloproteinase-9
• mitogen-activated protein kinases
• oxidative stress
• phytochemicals
• poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase
• protein kinase C
• reactive oxygen species
• vascular endothelial growth factor

• Animals
• Diabetic Retinopathy/drug therapy
• Diabetic Retinopathy/genetics
• Diabetic Retinopathy/metabolism
• Diabetic Retinopathy/pathology
• Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects
• Glycation End Products, Advanced/antagonists & inhibitors
• Glycation End Products, Advanced/metabolism
• Hexosamines/antagonists & inhibitors
• Hexosamines/metabolism
• Humans
• Hypoglycemic Agents/isolation & purification
• Hypoglycemic Agents/pharmacology
• Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/genetics
• Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism
• Oxidative Stress
• Phytochemicals/isolation & purification
• Phytochemicals/pharmacology
• Phytotherapy/methods
• Plants, Medicinal/chemistry
• Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases/genetics
• Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases/metabolism
• Protein Kinase C/genetics
• Protein Kinase C/metabolism
• Reactive Oxygen Species/antagonists & inhibitors
• Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism
• Retina/drug effects
• Retina/metabolism
• Retina/pathology

• Modified-Goshajinkigan
• case study
• diabetic mellitus
• herbal decoction
• non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy

• Adult
• Blindness/prevention & control
• Diabetic Retinopathy/drug therapy
• Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry
• Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use
• Humans
• Magnoliopsida
• Male
• Phytotherapy
• Poria
• Retina/pathology

• Bioactive metabolites
• Italian Lycium barbarum
• Lycium barbarum L. (Solanaceae)
• Lycium barbarum berries
• Lycium barbarum flowers
• Lycium barbarum leaves
• Lycium barbarum stems
• NMR-Based phytochemical analysis

• Arachidonate 5-Lipoxygenase/metabolism
• Caffeic Acids/analysis
• Caffeic Acids/metabolism
• Caffeic Acids/pharmacology
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Chlorogenic Acid/analysis
• Chlorogenic Acid/metabolism
• Chlorogenic Acid/pharmacology
• Coumaric Acids/analysis
• Coumaric Acids/metabolism
• Coumaric Acids/pharmacology
• Enzyme Inhibitors/analysis
• Enzyme Inhibitors/metabolism
• Enzyme Inhibitors/pharmacology
• Flowers/chemistry
• Fruit/chemistry
• Humans
• Italy
• Lycium/chemistry
• Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
• Medicine, Chinese Traditional
• Plant Leaves/chemistry
• Rutin/analysis
• Rutin/metabolism
• Rutin/pharmacology
• Tyramine/analogs & derivatives
• Tyramine/analysis
• Tyramine/metabolism
• Tyramine/pharmacology

• Goji berry
• LC-DAD-MS (ESI+)
• chemiluminescence
• polyphenols

• Acetates/chemistry
• Antioxidants/isolation & purification
• Antioxidants/pharmacology
• Biphenyl Compounds/chemistry
• Butanols/chemistry
• Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
• Fruit
• Greece
• Lycium/chemistry
• Methanol/chemistry
• Molybdenum/chemistry
• Phenols/isolation & purification
• Phenols/pharmacology
• Phytochemicals/isolation & purification
• Phytochemicals/pharmacology
• Phytotherapy
• Picrates/chemistry
• Plant Extracts/isolation & purification
• Plant Extracts/pharmacology
• Plants, Medicinal
• Solvents/chemistry
• Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
• Tungsten Compounds/chemistry

Lycium barbarum, commonly known as goji, is important in Chinese herbal medicine and its fruit is a very important agricultural and biological product. However, the molecular mechanism of formation of its fruit and associated medicinal and nutritional components is unexplored. Moreover, this species lacks SSR markers due to lack of genomic and transcriptomic information. In this study, a total of 139,333 unigenes with average length of 1049 bp and N50 of 1579 bp are obtained by trinity assembly from Illumina sequencing reads. A total of 92,498 (66.38%) unigenes showed similarities in at least one database including Nr (46.15%), Nt (56.56%), KO (15.56%), Swiss-prot (33.34%), Pfam (33.43%), GO (33.62%) and KOG/COG (17.55%). Genes in flavonoid and taurine biosynthesis pathways were found and validated by RT-qPCR. A total of 50,093 EST-SSRs were identified from 38,922 unigenes, and 22,537 EST-SSR primer pairs were designed. Four hundred pairs of SSR markers were randomly selected to validate assembly quality, of which 352 (88%) were successful in PCR amplification of genomic DNA from 11 Lycium accessions and 210 produced polymorphisms. The polymorphic loci showed that the genetic similarity of the 11 Lycium accessions ranged from 0.50 to 0.99 and the accessions could be divided into 4 groups. These results will facilitate investigations of the molecular mechanism of formation of L. barbarum fruit and associated medicinal and nutritional components, and will be of value to novel gene discovery and functional genomic studies. The EST-SSR markers will be useful for genetic diversity evaluation, genetic mapping and marker-assisted breeding.

• deoxyribonucleotide
• fatty acids
• metabolism
• peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α

• Lycium barbarum
• anti-inflammation
• hydroxycinnamic acid amides
• organic synthesis
• wolfberries

• Amides/chemistry
• Animals
• Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal/chemistry
• Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal/pharmacology
• Caffeic Acids/chemical synthesis
• Caffeic Acids/chemistry
• Cell Line
• Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic
• Coumaric Acids/chemistry
• Coumaric Acids/pharmacology
• Drug Evaluation, Preclinical/methods
• Lipopolysaccharides/pharmacology
• Lycium/chemistry
• Macrophages/drug effects
• Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
• Mice
• Molecular Structure
• Nitric Oxide/metabolism
• Tandem Mass Spectrometry
• Tyramine/chemistry

Chronic exposures to arsenic had been associated with metabolism diseases. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) was found in the liver, regulated metabolism. Here, we found that the expression of PPARγ was decreased, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and autophagy were increased after treatment with As₂O₃ in offsprings’ livers. Taurine (Tau), a sulfur-containing β–amino acid could reverse As₂O₃-inhibited PPARγ. Tau also inhibit the generation of ROS and autophagy. We also found that As₂O₃ caused autophagic cell death and ROS accelerated in HepG2 cells. Before incubation with As₂O₃, the cells were pretreated with PPARγ activator Rosiglitazone (RGS), we found that autophagy and ROS was inhibited in HepG2 cells, suggesting that inhibition of PPARγ contributed to As₂O₃-induced autophagy and the generation of ROS. After pretreatment with Tau, the level of PPARγ was improved and the autophagy and ROS was inhibited in As₂O₃-treated cells, suggesting that Tau could protect hepatocytes against As₂O₃ through modulating PPARγ pathway.

Some vital components of marine shellfish are documented as an important source for both nutritional and pharmacological applications.

Taurine is a natural amino acid present as free form in many mammalian tissues and in particular in skeletal muscle. Taurine exerts many physiological functions, including membrane stabilization, osmoregulation and cytoprotective effects, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions as well as modulation of intracellular calcium concentration and ion channel function. In addition taurine may control muscle metabolism and gene expression, through yet unclear mechanisms. This review summarizes the effects of taurine on specific muscle targets and pathways as well as its therapeutic potential to restore skeletal muscle function and performance in various pathological conditions. Evidences support the link between alteration of intracellular taurine level in skeletal muscle and different pathophysiological conditions, such as disuse-induced muscle atrophy, muscular dystrophy and/or senescence, reinforcing the interest towards its exogenous supplementation. In addition, taurine treatment can be beneficial to reduce sarcolemmal hyper-excitability in myotonia-related syndromes. Although further studies are necessary to fill the gaps between animals and humans, the benefit of the amino acid appears to be due to its multiple actions on cellular functions while toxicity seems relatively low. Human clinical trials using taurine in various pathologies such as diabetes, cardiovascular and neurological disorders have been performed and may represent a guide-line for designing specific studies in patients of neuromuscular diseases.

• Biochanin A
• Cytokine
• Human umbilical vein endothelial cells
• NF-κB
• PPAR-γ

A hyperbranched cationic polysaccharide derivative-mediated small interfering (si)RNA interference strategy was proposed to inhibit nuclear transcription factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation in human retinal pigment epithelial (hRPE) cells for the gene therapy of diabetic retinopathy. Two hyperbranched cationic polysaccharide derivatives containing the same amount of cationic residues, but with different branching structures and molecular weights, including 3-(dimethylamino)-1-propylamine-conjugated glycogen (DMAPA-Glyp) and amylopectin (DMAPA-Amp) derivatives, were developed for the efficient delivery of NF-κB siRNA into hRPE cells. The DMAPA-Glyp derivative showed lower toxicity against hRPE cells. Furthermore, the DMAPA-Glyp derivative more readily condensed siRNA and then formed the nanoparticles attributed to its higher branching architecture when compared to the DMAPA-Amp derivative. Both DMAPA-Glyp/siRNA and DMAPA-Amp/siRNA nanoparticles were able to protect siRNA from degradation by nuclease in 25% fetal bovine serum. The particle sizes of the DMAPA-Glyp/siRNA nanoparticles (70–120 nm) were smaller than those of the DMAPA-Amp/siRNA nanoparticles (130–180 nm) due to the higher branching architecture and lower molecular weight of the DMAPA-Glyp derivative. In addition, the zeta potentials of the DMAPA-Glyp/siRNA nanoparticles were higher than those of the DMAPA-Glyp/siRNA nanoparticles. As a result, siRNA was much more efficiently transferred into hRPE cells using the DMAPA-Glyp/siRNA nanoparticles rather than the DMAPA-Amp/siRNA nanoparticles. This led to significantly high levels of suppression on the expression levels of NF-κB p65 messenger RNA and protein in the cells transfected with DMAPA-Glyp/siRNA nanoparticles. This work provides a potential approach to promote hyperbranched polysaccharide derivatives as nonviral siRNA vectors for the inhibition of NF-κB activation in hRPE cells.

• amylopectin
• glycogen
• human retinal pigment epithelial cells
• nuclear transcription factor-kappa B
• siRNA

• Lycium barbarum
• carotenoid exhaustive extraction
• quality control
• validated HPLC-DAD

• Carotenoids/analysis
• Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods
• Fruit/chemistry
• Lycium/chemistry
• Plant Extracts/analysis
• Quality Control
• Zeaxanthins/analysis

Diabetic retinopathy is a preventable microvascular diabetic complication and a leading cause of vision loss. Retinal pigment epithelial cell apoptosis is an early event in diabetic retinopathy. Taurine is reportedly beneficial for diabetic retinopathy and is abundant in the fruit of Lycium barbarum (LB). We have investigated the effect of pure taurine and an extract of LB rich in taurine on a model of diabetic retinopathy, the retinal ARPE-19 cell line exposed to high glucose. We demonstrate for the first time that LB extract and the active ligand, taurine, dose dependently enhance cell viability following high glucose treatment in the ARPE-19 retinal epithelial cell line. This cytoprotective effect was associated with the attenuation of high glucose-induced apoptosis, which was shown by characteristic morphological staining and the dose-dependent decrease in the number of apoptotic cells, determined by flow cytometry. Moreover, we have shown that LB extract and taurine dose dependently downregulate caspase-3 protein expression and the enzymatic activity of caspase-3. We conclude that taurine, a major component of LB, and the LB extract, have a cytoprotective effect against glucose exposure in a human retinal epithelial cell line and may provide useful approaches to delaying diabetic retinopathy progression.