COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread across the globe, posing an enormous threat to public health and safety. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), in combination with Western medicine (WM), has made important and lasting contributions in the battle against COVID-19. In this review, updated clinical effects and potential mechanisms of TCM, presented in newly recognized three distinct phases of the disease, are summarized and discussed. By integrating the available clinical and preclinical evidence, the efficacies and underlying mechanisms of TCM on COVID-19, including the highly recommended three Chinese patent medicines and three Chinese medicine formulas, are described in a panorama. We hope that this comprehensive review not only provides a reference for health care professionals and the public to recognize the significant contributions of TCM for COVID-19, but also serves as an evidence-based in-depth summary and analysis to facilitate understanding the true scientific value of TCM.

It has become apparent that gut microbiota is closely associated with cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs), and alteration in microbiome compositions is also linked to the host environment. Next generation sequencing (NGS) has facilitated in-depth studies on the effects of herbal medicine and functional food on gut microbiota. Both herbal medicine and functional food contain fiber, polyphenols and polysaccharides exert prebiotic-like activities in the prevention and treatment of CMDs. The administration of herbal medicine and functional food lead to increased abundance of phylum Bacteroidetes, and genus Akkermansia, Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Prevotella in the gut, while reducing phylum Firmicutes and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. Both herbals and foods interact with gut microbiome point to the microbial metabolites of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bile acids (BAs) and lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which are the preferred mechanisms correlated with metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D), obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In addition, trimethylamine (TMA)-N-oxide (TMAO) is recently linked to atherosclerosis (AS) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks. Moreover, gut-organ axes may serve as the potential strategy for treating CMDs with the intervention of herbal medicine and functional food. In summary, the overlap between herbal medicine and functional food rich in fiber, polyphenols and polysaccharides play a vital role in modulating gut microbiota (phylum Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, and genus Akkermansia, Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Prevotella) through SCFAs, BAs, LPS and TMAO signaling regarding CMDs. Targeting gut-organs axas may serve as a new therapeutic strategy for CMDs by herbal medicine and functional food in the future. This review aims to summarize the overlap between herbal medicine and functional food used for the prevention and treatment of CMDs through modulation of gut microbiota.

Rationale:: Angiogenesis is a complex process regulating endothelial cell (EC) functions. Emerging lines of evidence support that YAP (Yes-associated protein) plays an important role in regulating the angiogenic activity of ECs. Objective:: The objective of this study was to specify the effect of EC YAP on angiogenesis and its underlying mechanisms. Method and Results:: In ECs, vascular endothelial growth factor reduced YAP phosphorylation time and dose dependently and increased its nuclear accumulation. Using Tie2Cre-mediated YAP transgenic mice, we found that YAP promoted angiogenesis in the postnatal retina and tumor tissues. Mass spectrometry revealed signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) as a potential binding partner of YAP in ECs. Western blot and immunoprecipitation assays indicated that binding with YAP prolonged interleukin 6–induced STAT3 nuclear accumulation by blocking chromosomal maintenance 1–mediated STAT3 nuclear export without affecting its phosphorylation. Moreover, angiopoietin-2 expression induced by STAT3 was enhanced by YAP overexpression in ECs. Finally, a selective STAT3 inhibitor or angiopoietin-2 blockage partly attenuated retinal angiogenesis in Tie2Cre-mediated YAP transgenic mice. Conclusions:: YAP binding sustained STAT3 in the nucleus to enhance the latter’s transcriptional activity and promote angiogenesis via regulation of angiopoietin-2.

Although Danhong injection (DHI) is the most widely prescribed Chinese medicine for both stroke and coronary artery disease (CAD), its underlying common molecular mechanisms remain unclear. An integrated network pharmacology and experimental verification approach was used to decipher common pharmacological mechanisms of DHI on stroke and CAD treatment. A compound-target-disease & function-pathway network was constructed and analyzed, indicating that 37 ingredients derived from DH (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge., Flos Carthami tinctorii and DHI) modulated 68 common targets shared by stroke and CAD. In-depth network analysis results of the top diseases, functions, pathways and upstream regulators implied that a common underlying mechanism linking DHI’s role in stroke and CAD treatment was inflammatory response in the process of atherosclerosis. Experimentally, DHI exerted comprehensive anti-inflammatory effects on LPS, ox-LDL or cholesterol crystal-induced NF-κB, c-jun and p38 activation, as well as IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-10 secretion in vascular endothelial cells. Ten of 14 predicted ingredients were verified to have significant anti-inflammatory activities on LPS-induced endothelial inflammation. DHI exerts pharmacological efficacies on both stroke and CAD through multi-ingredient, multi-target, multi-function and multi-pathway mode. Anti-endothelial inflammation therapy serves as a common underlying mechanism. This study provides a new understanding of DHI in clinical application on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.