The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads and rages around the world and threatens human life. It is disappointing that there are no specific drugs until now. The combination of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and western medication seems to be the current more effective treatment strategy for COVID-19 patients in China. In this review, we mainly discussed the relationship between COVID-19 and gut microbiota (GM), as well as the possible impact of TCM combined with western medication on GM in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, aiming to provide references for the possible role of GM in TCM against COVID-19. The available data suggest that GM dysbiosis did occur in COVID-19 patients, and the intervention of GM could ameliorate the clinical condition of COVID-19 patients. In addition, TCMs (e.g., Jinhua Qinggan granule, Lianhua Qingwen capsule, Qingfei Paidu decoction, Shufeng Jiedu capsule, Qingjin Jianghuo decoction, Toujie Quwen granules, and MaxingShigan) have been proven to be safe and effective for the treatment of COVID-19 in Chinese clinic. Among them, Ephedra sinica, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Bupleurum chinense, Lonicera japonica,Scutellaria baicalensi, and Astragalus membranaceus are common herbs and have a certain regulation on GM, immunity, and angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Notably, Qingfei Paidu decoction and MaxingShigan have been demonstrated to modulate GM. Finally, the hypothesis of GM-mediated TCM treatment of COVID-19 is proposed, and more clinical trials and basic experiments need to be initiated to confirm this hypothesis.
Corydalis yanhusuo W. T. Wang (Papaveraceae) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine that has long been used to treat several conditions and is widely distributed in Asian countries. This review focuses on the traditional uses, botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and toxicology of C. yanhusuo. The literature on C. yanhusuo was reviewed using several resources, including classic books on Chinese herbal medicine and scientific databases, namely, PubMed, Springer, Web of Science, Science Direct, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Based on information from these databases regarding the chemical components of C. yanhusuo, we evaluated the underlying interaction network between chemical components, biological targets, and associated diseases using Cytoscape software. To date, more than 160 compounds have been isolated and identified from C. yanhusuo, including alkaloids, organic acids, volatile oils, amino acids, nucleosides, alcohols, and sugars. The crude extracts and purified compounds of this plant have analgesic, antiarrhythmic, and antipeptic ulcer properties, along with hypnotic effects. However, studies on the pharmacokinetics of C. yanhusuo extracts remain limited. C. yanhusuo has therapeutic potential in diseases such as cancer and depression, probably due to glaucine and corydaline. Our network pharmacology analysis revealed interactions between 20 compounds, 54 corresponding targets, and 4 health conditions. We found that leonticine, tetrahydroberberine, and corydalmine may regulate the expression of PTGS2, PTGS1, KCNH2, SCN5A, RXRA, CAMKK2, NCOA2, and ESR1, representing a potential treatment strategy against pain, gastric ulcers, inflammation, and cardiac arrhythmias. Additionally, this article discusses the future directions of research on C. yanhusuo.
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic recurrent inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract. Recent studies demonstrate that the phenolic tannin paeonol (Pae) attenuates UC in mouse models by downregulating inflammatory factors. However, its molecular mechanism for UC treatment has not been explored from the perspective of the gut microbiota and metabolomics. In this study, we investigated the effects of Pae on colonic inflammation, intestinal microbiota and fecal metabolites in 3% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) induced BALB/c UC mice. Pae significantly improved the clinical index, relieved colonic damage, reduced cytokine levels, and restored the integrity of the intestinal epithelial barrier in UC mice. In addition, Pae increased the abundance of gut microbiota, partially reversed the disturbance of intestinal biota composition, including Lactobacillus and Bacteroides, and regulated metabolite levels, such as bile acid (BA) and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA). In conclusion, our study provides new insight on Pae remission of UC.
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