Poria cocos, Bai Fu Ling in Chinese, is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat diabetes. However, its claimed benefits and mechanism are not fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the effect and action of P. cocos on type 2 diabetes. We first performed phytochemical analysis on the crude extract and factions of P. cocos. P. cocos crude extract at 50 mg/kg body weight or more significantly decreased blood glucose levels in db/db mice. Based on a bioactivity‐directed fractionation and isolation (BDFI) strategy, chloroform fraction and subfractions 4 and 6 of the P. cocos crude extract possessed a blood glucose‐lowering effect. Dehydrotumulosic acid, dehydrotrametenolic acid, and pachymic acid were identified from the chloroform sub‐fractions 4, 3, and 2, respectively. Dehydrotumulosic acid had anti‐hyperglycemic effect to a greater extent than dehydrotrametenolic acid and pachymic acid. Mechanistic study on streptozocin‐ (STZ‐) treated mice showed that the crude extract, dehydrotumulosic acid, dehydrotrametenolic acid, and pachymic acid of P. cocos exhibited different levels of insulin sensitizer activity. However, the P. cocos crude extract and triterpenes appeared not to activate PPAR‐γ pathway. Overall, the data suggest that the P. cocos extract and its triterpenes reduce postprandial blood glucose levels in db/db mice via enhanced insulin sensitivity irrespective of PPAR‐γ.

Avian coccidiosis is an economically important disease in the poultry industry. In view of the disadvantages of anti-coccidial drugs in chickens, edible plants and their compounds are re-emerging as an alternative strategy to combat this disease. A previous publication reported that the edible plant B. pilosa showed promise for use against coccidiosis. Here, we first investigated into the anti-coccidial effects of B. pilosa. We found that B. pilosa at 100 ppm or more significantly suppressed E. tenella as evidenced by reduction in mortality rate, oocyst excretion and gut pathological severity in chickens and its minimum prophylactic duration was 3 days. Next, we explored the mode of action of anti-coccidial mechanism of B. pilosa. The E. tenella oocysts were not directly killed by B. pilosa; however, administration of the plant suppressed oocyst sporulation, sporozoite invasion, and schizonts in the life cycle of E. tenella. Besides, B. pilosa boosted T cell-mediated immunity. Finally, we characterized the related anti-coccidial phytochemicals and their mode of action. One of three potent polyynes present in B. pilsoa, Compound 1 (cytopiloyne), acted against coccidiosis in chickens in a similar manner to B. pilosa. These data illustrate the anti-coccidial potency and mechanism of B. pilosa and one of its active compounds, and provide a cornerstone for development of novel herbal remedies for avian coccidiosis.

Obesity and its complications are a major global health problem. In this study, we investigated the anti-obesity effect and mechanism of an edible plant, Bidens pilosa and its active constituent. We first assessed the long-term effect of B. pilosa on body composition, body weight, blood parameters in ICR mice. We observed that it significantly decreased fat content and increased protein content in ICR mice. Next, we verified the anti-obesity effect of B. pilosa in ob/ob mice. It effectively and dose-dependently reduced fat content, adipocyte size and/or body weight in mice. Moreover, mechanistic studies showed that B. pilosa inhibited the expression of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPARγ), CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins (C/EBPs) and Egr2 in adipose tissue. Finally, we examined the effect of 2-β-_D-glucopyranosyloxy-1-hydroxytrideca-5,7,9,11-tetrayne (GHT) on adipogenesis in adipocytes. We found that B. pilosa significantly decreased the adipogenesis and lipid accumulation. This decrease was associated with the down-regulation of expression of Egr2, C/EBPs, PPARγ, adipocyte Protein 2 (aP2) and adiponectin. In summary, this work demonstrated that B. pilosa and GHT suppressed adipogenesis and lipid content in adipocytes and/or animals via the down-regulation of the Egr2, C/EBPs and PPARγ pathways, suggesting a novel application of B. pilosa and GHT against obesity.

Bidens pilosa (BP) is an edible Asteraceae plant found worldwide that has traditionally been used as food without noticeable side effects. BP has also been used as an herbal medicine to treat over 41 categories of disease in humans and animals. However, to date no long-term toxicity study of BP has been conducted in animals. In this study, 24-week oral toxicity of BP at doses of 0%, 0.5%, 2.5%, 5% and 10% of food was investigated in mice. Mortality, body weight, organ weight, food intake, water consumption, hematology, serum biochemistry, urinalysis, genotoxicity and organ histopathology of animals of both sexes were analyzed. No significant difference in the above parameters was observed between control and BP-fed mice except that body weight and food intake in those fed with 10% BP were significantly less than controls. In addition, similar results were seen in chickens fed with BP for 28 days. Collectively, the data demonstrate that BP has no adverse effects in mice and chickens at dose of 5% or less of food.

Plants provide a rich source of lead compounds for a variety of diseases. A novel approach combining phytochemistry and chemotaxis assays was developed and used to identify and study the mechanisms of action of the active compounds in F. japonica, a medicinal herb traditionally used to treat inflammation. Based on a bioactivity-guided purification strategy, two anthranoids, emodin and physcion, were identified from F. japonica. Spectroscopic techniques were used to characterize its crude extract, fractions and phytochemicals. The crude extract, chloroform fraction, and anthranoids of F. japonica significantly inhibited CXCR4-mediated chemotaxis. Mechanistic studies showed that emodin and physcion inhibited chemotaxis via inactivating the MEK/ERK pathway. Moreover, the crude extract and emodin could prevent or treat type 1 diabetes in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. This study illustrates the applicability of a combinational approach for the study of anti-inflammatory medicine and shows the potential of F. japonica and its anthranoids for anti-inflammatory therapy.