A number of dysregulated miRNAs have been identified and are proposed to have significant roles in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus or renal pathology. Alpinia oxyphylla has shown significant anti-inflammatory properties and play an anti-diabetes role. The objective of this study was to detect the alteration of miRNAs underlying the anti-diabetes effects of A. oxyphylla extract (AOE) in a type II diabetic animal model (C57BIKsj db-/db-). Treatment with AOE for 8 weeks led to lower concentrations of blood glucose, urine albumin, and urine creatinine. 17 and 13 miRNAs were statistically identified as differentially regulated in the DB/DB and db-/db- AOE mice, respectively, compared to the untreated db-/db- mice. Of these, 7 miRNAs were identified in both comparison groups, and these 7 miRNAs were verified by quantitative real-time PCR. Functional bioinformatics showed that the putative target genes of 7 miRNAs were associated with several diabetes effects and signaling pathways. These founding suggest that the potential of AOE as a medicinal anti-diabetes treatment through changes in the expressions of specific miRNAs. The results provide a useful resource for future investigation of the role of AOE-regulated miRNAs in diabetes mellitus.

Background. Clinacanthus nutans (Burm.f.) Lindau (C. nutans) has been used in the therapy of hepatitis B (HB) and is effective; however, the mechanism of action has not been elucidated. Objective. To investigate the protective effects of C. nutans aqueous extract on the hepatitis B virus (HBV) mouse model based on correlation analysis between gut microbiota and liver metabolomics. Materials and Methods. We firstly constructed the animal model by high‐pressure injection of pcDNA3.1(+)/HBV plasmid into the tail vein and treated it with C. nutans. The biomarkers and inflammatory cytokines of HB were detected by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and quantitative PCR; the Illumina‐MiSeq platform was used for investigating gut microbiota; the LC‐MS/MS method was utilized on screening liver tissue metabolites; multiomics joint analysis was performed using the R program. Results. Compared with the modeling group, C. nutans significantly decreased the expression levels of HBsAg, IL‐1β, TNF‐α (P < 0.05) in the serum, and cccDNA (P < 0.05) in the liver tissues of mice. C. nutans dramatically reduced the ratio of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes (P < 0.05) and significantly declined the proportion of Lactobacillaceae and Lactobacillus (P < 0.05), dramatically increasing the relative abundance of Bacteroidales_S24-7_group, Rikenellaceae, and Alistipes (P < 0.05); LC‐MS/MS analysis results showed that C. nutans dramatically upregulate hippuric acid, L‐histidine, trehalose, D‐threitol, and stachyose and downregulate uridine 5′‐diphosphate, cholic acid, trimethylamine N‐oxide, CDP‐ethanolamine, and phosphorylcholine (P < 0.05). The correlation analysis revealed that C. nutans affects the related metabolite levels of hippuric acid and cholic acid through the modulation of crucial bacteria (Alistipes) (P < 0.01), exerting specific anti‐inflammatory effects. Conclusion. These results suggest that C. nutans exerts protective effects in HBV model mice, showing the therapeutic potential for anti‐HBV infection.

Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is a vasculopathic disease due to lesions in blood vessels, and patients with HSP presenting with renal injury are at r