Frankincense and myrrha (FM), commonly used as a classical herbal pair, have a wide range of clinical applications and definite anti-inflammatory activity. However, anti-neuroinflammation effects and mechanisms are not clear. In this study, we adopted a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced microglial (BV2) cell model and a network pharmacology method to reveal the anti-neuroinflammatory effects and mechanisms of boswellic acid (BA) and myrrha sesquiterpenes (MS) with different proportions of compatibility. The data showed that the different ratios of BA and MS had different degrees of inhibition of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA expression, down-regulated the phosphor-nuclear factor kappa B/nuclear factor kappa B (p-NF-ҡB)/(NF-ҡB), phosphorylated protein kinase b/protein kinase b (p-AKT/AKT), and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) protein expression levels, and increased phospho-PI3 kinase (p-PI3K) protein expression levels. When the ratios of BA and MS were 10:1, 5:1, and 20:1, better effective efficacy was exhibited. According to the correlation analysis between the effect index and bioactive substances, it was suggested that 2-methoxy-5-acetoxy -fruranogermacr-1(10)-en-6-one (Compound 1), 3α-acetyloxylanosta-8,24-dien-21-oic acid (Compound 2), 11-keto-boswellic acid (Compound 3), and 3-acetyl-11-keto-β -boswellic acid (Compound 4) made important contributions to the treatment of neuroinflammation. Furthermore, based on the network pharmacological analysis, it was found that these four active compounds acted on 31 targets related to neuroinflammation and were involved in 32 signaling pathways which mainly related to the immune system, cardiovascular system, and nervous system, suggesting that BA and MS could be used to treat neuroinflammation.
Background: Frankincense and myrrh are used as traditional anti-inflammatory and analgesic medicines in China. It has been reported that frankincense and myrrh have significant anti-tumor activities. The present study was designed to investigate the inhibitory efficacy of frankincense ethanol extracts (RXC), myrrh ethanol extracts (MYC), frankincense-myrrh ethanol extracts (YDC), frankincense-myrrh water extracts (YDS) and their main compounds on U266 human multiple myeloma cell line. Methods: The inhibition effects of cell proliferation was evaluated by MTT assays. Cell culture supernatant was collected for estimation of cytokines. Western blot analysis was designed to investigate the regulatory of JAK/STAT signal pathway. In addition, cell metabolomics based on the ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-offlight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS) had been established to investigate the holistic efficacy of frankincense and myrrh on U266 cells. Acquired data were processed by partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and orthogonal projection to latent structures squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) to identify potential biomarkers.
Background: The frankincense and myrrh can be used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinic with the treatment of stroke, while its mechanism is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of boswellic acid (BA) and myrrh sesquiterpene (MS) compositions on ischemic stroke in rats. Methods: The ischemic stroke rat model induced by ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was adopted and treated with boswellic acid and myrrh sesquiterpenes with proportions compatibility (BA-MS) of 10:1, 5:1 and 20:1. Biochemical indexes, histopathological analysis, metabolomics analysis of plasma and urine, as well as 16S rDNA sequencing of gut microbiota and short chain fatty acids were investigated. Results: BA and MS could obviously significantly ameliorated neurological deficits scores, reduced cerebral infarction area in I/R, and improve the damage of brains and lungs of MCAO rats. Additionally, it could significantly reduce the expression of neuroinflammatory factors (IL-1β, nNOS, BDNF, NGF) and angiogenic growth factors (ET-1, PAI-1, PDGF, VEGF, VWF), and significantly increase the expression of nerve indicators (TDP-43, NeuN) and angiogenic growth factors (Ang Ⅱ, TGF-β1, bFGF). After the administration of BA-MS, the metabolites of ischemic stroke in plasma and urine of ischemic stroke of rats were reversed, mainly correlated with the metabolic pathway of linoleic acid metabolism (impact value =1), and the gut microbiota and SCFAs metabolism of cecal contents were also improved. Conclusions: BA-MS can improve brain injury of MCAO rats via Ang/Tie and TLR4 signaling pathway, improve metabolism disorder by regulating linoleic acid metabolism pathway, and ameliorate gut microbes and their metabolic disorders.
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