Nymphaea candida was used to treat hepatitis in Ugyhur medicine, and nicotiflorin (kaempferol 3-O-β-rutinoside) is the main characteristic component in this plant. In this study, The the hepatoprotective activities of nicotiflorin from N. candida were investigated by Concanavalin A (Con A, 20 mg/kg bw)- and d-Galactosamine (d-GalN, 800 mg/kg bw)-induced acute liver injury in mice. Pretreatment with nicotiflorin (25, 50, 100 mg/kg bw/day, p.o.) for ten days significantly reduced the impact of Con A toxicity (20 mg/kg bw) on the serum markers of liver injury, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). The hepatic anti-oxidant parameters (malondialdehyde, MDA; superoxide dismutase, SOD; glutathione, GSH; and nitric oxide, NO) in mice with nicotiflorin treatment were significantly antagonized for the pro-oxidant effects of Con A. Moreover, pretreatment with nicotiflorin (100 mg/kg bw) significantly decreased Con A-induced elevation in the serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) (p < 0.05). A protective effect was reconfirmed against d-GalN-induced chemical liver injury, elevated serum enzymatic and cytokines levels were significantly decreased by nicotiflorin, and liver homogenate antioxidant indicators were significantly restored toward normal levels. Both histopathological studies also supported the protective effects of nicotiflorin. Therefore, the presented results suggest that nicotiflorin is the potent hepatoprotective agent that could protect the liver against acute immunological and chemical injury; this ability might be attributed to its antioxidant and immunoregulation potential.

Hepatitis B is the most common serious liver infection in the world. To date, there is still no complete cure for chronic hepatitis B. Natural caffeic acid analogues possess prominent antiviral activity, especially anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) and anti-human immunodeficiency virus effects. Cichoric acid is a caffeic acid derivative from Cichorium intybus. In the study, the anti-hepatitis B property of cichoric acid was evaluated by the D-galactosamine (D-GalN)-induced normal human HL-7702 hepatocyte injury model, the duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV)-infected duck fetal hepatocytes and the HBV-transfected cell line HepG2.2.15 cells, respectively. The results showed that cichoric acid attenuated significantly D-GalN-induced HL-7702 hepatocyte injury at 10–100 µg/mL and produced a maximum protection rate of 56.26%. Moreover, cichoric acid at 1–100 µg/mL inhibited markedly DHBV DNA replication in infected duck fetal hepatocytes. Also, cichoric acid at 10–100 µg/mL reduced significantly the hepatitis B surface and envelope antigen levels in HepG2.2.15 cells and produced the maximum inhibition rates of 79.94% and 76.41%, respectively. Meanwhile, test compound at 50–100 µg/mL inhibited markedly HBV DNA replication. In conclusion, this study verifies the anti-hepatitis B effect of cichoric acid from Cichorium intybus leaves. In addition, cichoric acid could be used to design the antiviral agents.

Cistanche tubulosa is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine widely used for regulating immunity and phenylethanol glycosides (CPhGs) are among the primary components responsible for this activity. Previous studies have indicated the preventive and therapeutic effects of CPhGs on bovine serum albumin (BSA)-induced hepatic fibrosis in rats. The aim of the study was to evaluate the anti-hepatic fibrosis effect of CPhGs and the monomers echinacoside and acteoside by inhibiting hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation, blocking the conduction of signaling pathways in transforming growth factor-β₁ (TGF-β₁)/smad, and determine their in vitro hepatoprotective activity. HSC proliferation was obviously inhibited after treatment with CPhGs (100, 50 μg/mL)/echinacoside (500, 250, 125 μg/mL)/acteoside (6, 3 μg/mL), with IC₅₀ values of 119.125, 520.345 and 6.999 μg/mL, respectively, in the MTT assay. Different concentrations of CPhGs/echinacoside/acteoside did not affect the cellular toxicity on HSC according to lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) measurements. Different concentrations of CPhGs/echinacoside/acteoside increased the mRNA level and protein expression of smad7, and decreased the mRNA levels of smad2, smad3 and the protein expression of smad2, phospho-smad2 (p-smad2), smad3, phospho-smad3 (p-smad3) in HSC. In summary, these results demonstrate that CPhGs/echinacoside/acteoside can block the conduction of the signaling pathways in TGF-β₁/smad, and inhibit the activation of HSC, suggesting that C. tubulosa may thus be a potential herbal medicine for the treatment of liver fibrosis.

The leaves of Juniperus sabina (Cupressaceae) are used in traditional Uygur medicine for the treatment of rheumatism and arthritic pain. This study aimed to investigate the analgesic and anti‐inflammatory effects of total flavonoids from leaves of Juniperus sabina (JSTF) on rodents. The anti‐inflammatory activity was investigated using the carrageenan, egg albumin, or histamine‐induced rat paw edema as well as xylene‐induced ear edema, capillary permeability, and cotton pellet granuloma while the antinociceptive activity was evaluated using the mouse writhing, formalin, and hot‐plate tests. JSTF (125, 250, 500 mg/kg) significantly inhibited xylene‐induced ear edema in mice (inhibition ratio as 16.22%, 40.67%, and 51.78%, respectively) and also significantly ameliorated acetic acid increased vascular permeability in mice (inhibition ratio as 11.63%, 32.56%, and 53.49%, respectively). JSTF (250 and 500 mg/kg) gave significant reduction of carrageenin‐induced paw oedema at the interval of 1 h and 5 h. Administration of JSTF (500 mg/kg) caused a significant anti‐inflammatory effect against oedema induced by egg albumin or histamine at the interval of 0.5 h and 4 h, and both which induced the paw oedema were also inhibited by JSTF (250 mg/kg) at a point in 1, 2, or 3 h after the inflammation. Furthermore, JSTF (125, 250, and 500 mg/kg) produced time‐course increase in pain threshold in hot‐plate test also. JSTF produced concentration‐dependent inhibition on cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) or 5‐lipoxygenase (5‐LO) activities in vitro, and their IC₅₀ values were 31.92 and 129.26 μg/mL, respectively. Moreover, JSTF significantly caused a significant dose‐dependent inhibition on acetic acid induced writhing response in mice (inhibition ratio as 23.27%, 36.91%, and 50.76%, respectively). JSTF also significantly ameliorated formalin‐induced pain in mice in the late phase on dose‐dependent way. These results confirms the clinical use of J. sabina for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in ethnomedicine, and its effective mechanism will be further studied in the future.

This study aimed to investigate the preventive effects of the total polyphenols from Nymphaea candida (NCTP) on LPS-induced septic acute lung injury (ALI) in mice and its mechanisms. NCTP could significantly ameliorate LPS-induced lung tissue pathological injury in mice as well as lung wet/dry ratio and MPO activities (p < 0.05). NCTP could significantly decrease the blood leukocyte, neutrophil, monocyte, basophil, and eosinophil amounts and LPS contents in ALI mice compared with the model group (p < 0.05), improving lymphocyte amounts (p < 0.05). Moreover, compared with the model group, NCTP could decrease lung tissue TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β levels (p < 0.05) and downregulate the protein expression of TLR4, MyD88, TRAF6, IKKβ, IκB-α, p-IκB-α, NF-κB p65, p-NF-κB p65, NLRP3, ASC, and Caspase1 in lung tissues (p < 0.05). Furthermore, NCTP could inhibit ileum histopathological injuries, restoring the ileum tight junctions by increasing the expression of ZO-1 and occludin. Simultaneously, NCTP could reverse the gut microbiota disorder, restore the diversity of gut microbiota, increase the relative abundance of Clostridiales and Lachnospiraceae, and enhance the content of SCFAs (acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid) in feces. These results suggested that NCTP has preventive effects on septic ALI, and its mechanism is related to the regulation of gut microbiota, SCFA metabolism, and the TLR-4/NF-κB and NLRP3 pathways.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has increased the physical and psychological stress of medical workers. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of job burnout and its impact on work ability among Biosafety Laboratory (BSL) staffs during the COVID-19 epidemic in Xinjiang. Methods: A total of 7911 qualified BSL staffs in Xinjiang were investigated by electronic questionnaires. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) was used for job burnout survey. Work Ability Index (WAI) was used for work ability survey. The prevalence and risk factors of job burnout in BSL staffs were analyzed through chi square test, t-test and one-way ANOVA. And then, the influence of demographic and job-related variables, i.e., confounding factors, were eliminated to the greatest extent by the propensity score analysis (PSA) method, to investigate the impact of job burnout on work ability in BSL staffs. Results: A total of 67.6% BSL staffs experienced job burnout. There were significant differences in the detection rate of job burnout among demographic and job-related variables, including gender, age, ethnicity, education, working years, professional title, marital status, number of night shift per month and overall sleep condition (all P < 0.05). The detection rate of job burnout in female was higher than that in male. The detection rates of job burnout in 45–50 years old, Han ethnicity, education of postgraduate or above, 11–20 years of working, intermediate professional title, married, staff with many night shifts per month and poor overall sleep condition were higher than that of other groups. The average burnout scores of the Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Cynicism (CY), Reduced Personal Accomplishment (PA) scale were 10.00 ± 5.99, 4.64 ± 4.59 and 15.25 ± 8.16, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the three dimensions of job burnout, i.e., EE, CY, PE, were negatively correlated with work ability and significantly affected the work ability of BSL staffs (all P < 0.001). Conclusions: Our results suggest that the prevalence of job burnout is extremely common among BSL staffs. In addition, the work ability decreases with the increase of job burnout and the improvement of job burnout can enhance work ability among BSL staffs.