The promotion of liver regeneration is crucial to avoid liver failure after hepatectomy. Angelica sinensis polysaccharide (ASP) and Astragalus membranaceus polysaccharide (AMP) have been identified as being associated with hepatoprotective effects. However, their roles and specific mechanisms in liver regeneration remain to be elucidated. In the present study, it suggested that the respective use of ASP or AMP strikingly promoted hepatocyte proliferation in vitro with a wide range of concentrations (from 12.5 μg/mL to 3200 μg/mL), and a stronger promoting effect was observed in combined interventions. A significantly enhanced liver/body weight ratio (4.20%) on day 7 and reduced serum transaminase (ALT 243.53 IU/L and AST 423.74 IU/L) and total bilirubin (52.61 IU/L) levels on day 3 were achieved by means of ASP-AMP administration after partial hepatectomy in mice. Metabonomics showed that differential metabolites were enriched in glycolysis with high expression of beta-d-fructose 6-phosphate and lactate, followed by significantly strengthened lactate secretion in the supernatant (0.54) and serum (0.43) normalized to control. Upon ASP-AMP treatment, the knockdown of hexokinase 2 (HK2) or inhibited glycolysis caused by 2-deoxy-d-glucose decreased hepatocyte proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, pathway analysis predicted the role of JAK2/STAT3 pathway in ASP-AMP-regulated liver regeneration, and phosphorylation of JAK2 and STAT3 was proven to be elevated in this promoting process. Finally, downregulated expression of HK2, an attenuated level of lactate secretion, and reduced hepatocyte proliferation were displayed when STAT3 was knocked out in vitro. Therefore, it can be concluded that ASP-AMP accelerated liver regeneration and exerted a hepatoprotective effect after hepatectomy, in which the JAK2/STAT3/HK2 pathway was actively involved in activating glycolysis.

Clinically, antioxidant therapy is a potential strategy for myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MI/RI), a common complication of acute myocardial ischemia. The H-D-Arg-Dmt-Ly-Phe-NH₂ (SS31) peptide is shown to have amazing antioxidant properties, but its utilization is limited by the peptide characteristics, such as the destruction by proteases and rapid metabolism. Silica nanoparticles (MSNs) comprise an excellent material for peptide delivery, owing to the protection effect relating to peptides. Moreover, platelet membrane (PLTM) is shown to be advantageous as a coat for nanosystems because of its specific protein composition, such that a PLTM-coated nanosystem has a stealth effect in vivo, able to target injury in the cardiovascular system. Based on this feature, we designed and prepared a novel nanocarrier to target SS31 delivery. This carrier is encapsulated by a platelet membrane and loaded with SS31 peptide into MSNs. The results reveal that this delivery system can target SS31 to the injured cardiovascular site, exert antioxidant function, and alleviate MI/RI.

The poor prognosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its potential for complications highlight the importance of understanding factors that are associated with incidence and mortality rates. The inclusion criteria of this study were RA-related data from 1999 to 2018 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) dataset. Based on certain screening criteria, a total of 610 subjects were recruited. The Low CRP group (< 3 mg/L) and the High CRP group (> 3 mg/L) were significantly different in gender, poverty-to-income ratio, body mass index, hypertension, hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin. KM survival result revealed that male RA patients in the Low Hb group had a significantly lower survival rate than those in the High Hb group (P < 0.0001), while female RA patients in the Low Hb group showed no statistically significant difference compared with the High Hb group (P = 0.13). Importantly, there was a nonlinear relationship between Hb and all-cause mortality in RA patients. In this study, we identified Hb as a protective factor against CRP in RA patients and also observed its association with the prognosis of RA. Consequently, regulating Hb levels might be considered to be associated with the progression of RA.

Introduction: High-altitude (HA) illness threatens health after acute high-altitude exposure, but its molecular mechanisms and effective interventions remain unclear. Drug–food homologous (DFH) substances have potential for HA illness intervention, yet their active components and targets are unknown. Methods: Datasets related to HA illness, as well as 106 DFH substances and their corresponding chemical components, were obtained in this study. Differentially expressed genes were identified, and active components were screened according to the criteria of drug-likeness ≥0.18 and oral bioavailability ≥30%. The GraphBAN tool was used to predict high-confidence compound–protein interaction pairs, so as to obtain the corresponding candidate active components and candidate genes. Meanwhile, the ADMETlab3 platform was employed to evaluate the druggability and toxicity of these active components, thereby determining the core active components and core genes. Candidate genes were screened were screened out by machine learning, and relevant interaction networks were constructed. Finally, further studies such as pathway enrichment, immune infiltration, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation were carried out. Results: Of the 95 candidate active components subjected to toxicological screening, only 8 passed the safety evaluation, and 6 of these met both physicochemical and toxicological criteria; five candidate genes (DNAJC19, MRFAP1L1, TBPL1, RPS21, and NABP1) and two key active components (polyacetylene PQ-2, PQ-2) were identified, and these candidate genes corresponded to the DFH substance “ Panacis Quinquefolii Radix ”. The abovementioned candidate genes were enriched in pathways such as ribosome and oxidative phosphorylation, and they were correlated with most differential immune cells. Except for RPS21 and MRFAP1L1, the binding abilities of the other candidate genes with the key active components were good (binding energies <−5.0 kcal/mol). Molecular dynamics simulation confirmed that the interaction of their binding was stable. Discussion: Panacis Quinquefolii Radix might intervene in HA illness via active components (PQ-2) that target five candidate genes, regulating immunity and metabolism. This provided a preliminary computational basis for DFH-based HA illness prevention/treatment.