Background and Purpose IL‐1β produced by macrophages via the NOD‐, LRR‐ and pyrin domain‐containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, mediates the inflammatory crosstalk between macrophages and adipocytes. In our previous study, (16S,20S,24R)‐12β‐acetoxy‐16,23‐epoxy‐24,25‐dihydroxy‐3β‐(β‐D‐xylopyranosyloxy)‐9,19‐cyclolanost‐22(23)‐ene (AEDC), a cycloartane triterpenoid isolated from Actaea vaginata (Ranunculaceae), was found to possess anti‐inflammatory effect on LPS‐treated RAW264.7 macrophages. This study was designed to investigate whether AEDC modulates macrophage–adipocyte crosstalk to alleviate adipose tissue inflammation. Experimental Approach The anti‐inflammatory effect of AEDC was evaluated on LPS plus ATP‐induced THP‐1 macrophages and C57BL/6J mice. The expression of autophagy‐related and NLRP3 inflammasome complex proteins was analysed by western blots, immunofluorescence staining and co‐immunoprecipitation. The pro‐inflammatory cytokines levels were determined by ELISA kits. The adipose tissue inflammation was evaluated by histological analysis and immunohistochemical staining. Key Results AEDC (5 and 10 μM) activated autophagy, which in turn suppressed the NLRP3 inflammasome activation and IL‐1β secretion in THP‐1 macrophages. AEDC increased the expression of SIRT3 deacetylase and enhanced its deacetylating activity to reverse mitochondrial dysfunction and activate AMP‐activated protein kinase, which together induced autophagy. Moreover, AEDC (10 μM) attenuated macrophage conditioned medium‐induced inflammatory responses in adipocytes and blocked THP‐1 macrophages migration towards 3T3‐L1 adipocytes. In inflammation mice, AEDC (5 and 20 mg·kg−1) treatment reduced the levels of pro‐inflammatory cytokines in serum and epididymal adipose tissue and reduced macrophage infiltration to alleviate adipose tissue inflammation. Conclusion and Implications AEDC attenuated the inflammatory crosstalk between macrophages and adipocytes through SIRT3‐autophagy‐mediated NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition, which might used for the treatment of adipose tissue inflammation‐related metabolic disorders.

A proportion of patients experience acute or even prolonged cognitive impairment after surgery, a condition known as postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). It is characterized by impairment in different cognitive domains and neuroinflammation has been implicated as one of the inciting factors as strategies targeting inflammation tend to improve cognitive performance. Siegesbeckia Orientails L. (S. Orientails) is a common Chinese medicinal herb used for managing chronic inflammatory diseases. We investigated if pretreatment with S. Orientails before surgery confers any neuroprotective effects in postoperative animals in terms of reducing inflammation and mitigating cognitive impairment. Three-month-old male C57BL/6N mice were fed different doses of S. Orientails extract for 14 days before they underwent a laparotomy. After cognitive testing they were sacrificed on postoperative day (POD) 3. Our results showed that animals with extract pretreatment demonstrated memory improvement in a dose-dependent manner compared with control. Further, evidence for the attenuation of systemic and neuroinflammation was found in the pretreated animals, along with the inhibition of inflammatory pathways and significantly reduced tau phosphorylation in the hippocampus. Taken together, these results demonstrated a neuroprotective effect of S. Orientails in postoperative animals, indicating a therapeutic potential of S. Orientails in minimizing POCD and the possibility of utilizing this traditional Chinese medicine perioperatively.

Excessive proliferation and inflammation of synovial fibroblasts accelerate and decorate the pathological process of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Sigesbeckia orientalis L. (SO) is one of the main plant sources for Sigesbeckiae Herba (SH) which has been used traditionally in treating various forms of arthritis and rheumatic pain. However, the anti-arthritic mechanisms of SO are still not clearly understood. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effects and the underlying mechanisms of SO against collagen type II (C II)-induced RA in rats as well as the interleukin (IL)-1β–induced human synovial SW982 and MH7A cells. For the in vivo studies, thirty-six Wistar male rats were randomly arranged to six groups based on the body weight, and then C II-induced to RA model for 15 days, followed by treatment with the 50% ethanolic extract of SO (SOE, 0.16, 0.78, and 1.56 g/kg) for 35 days. The results suggested that SOE significantly inhibited the formation of pannus (synovial hyperplasia to the articular cavity) and attenuated the cartilage damaging and bone erosion in the CIA-induced rats’ hind paw joints. Moreover, SOE decreased the production of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the serum and the expression of IL-6 and IL-1β in the joint muscles, as well as recovered the decreased regulatory T lymphocytes. The results obtained from the in vitro studies showed that SOE (50, 100, and 200 µg/ml) not only inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of human synovial SW982 cells but also decreased the IL-1β–induced expression of IL-6 and IL-8 both in SW982 and MH7A cells. Besides, SOE reduced the expression of COX-2, NLRP3, and MMP9, and increased the expression of MMP2 in the IL-1β–induced SW982 cells. Furthermore, SOE blocked the activation of NF-κB and reduced the phosphorylation of MAPKs and the expression of AP-1. In conclusion, SOE attenuated the C II-induced RA through inhibiting of MAPKs/NF-κB/AP-1–mediated synovial hyperplasia and inflammation.

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Background Water extract (WAE) and ultrafine powder (UFP) are two types of commonly used supplements in preparing various pharmaceutical products and functional foods. However, the correlations of the chemical compositions with the traditional functions between WAE and the herb itself, as well as the potential problems of safety for UFP have been more and more concerned by many doctors and customers. Methods In this study, a new whole ingredients extract of Astragalus (WIE) was prepared using the gradient solvent extraction method. The chemical compositions of WIE and WAE were comparatively analysed using spectrophotometric and chromatographic approaches. In addition, the in vivo immunomodulatory effect of WIE, WAE and UFP of Astragalus were comprehensively compared in cyclophosphamide (Cy)-induced immunosuppressive mice. Results The compositions and contents of main active ingredients (polysaccharides, saponins and flavonoids) in WIE were determined to be more abundant than those in WAE. In Cy-induced immunosuppressive mice, oral administered with low dosage of WIE (equalled to 1.0 g herb/kg/day) for 18 consecutive days significantly improved the immune-related responses (body weight, number of peripheral white blood cells, thymus and spleen indexes, splenocyte proliferations, natural killer cell activity, splenic lymphocyte subset, and serum levels of immunoglobulins G and M). The potency of three Astragalus preparations on immunomodulation was observed to be WIE ≥ UFP > WAE. Conclusions WIE maximally retained the chemical integrity of astragalus, and presented better therapeutic effectiveness than UFP and WAE. It can be further developed as new strategy for reasonable use of medicinal/edible herb-derived supplement (extract) for pharmaceutical and healthcare applications. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13020-019-0234-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.