Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis Articles Reveal the Importance of Phytocompounds and Metabolomics Analysis

Researchers address drug-related toxicity in chemotherapy and explore alternatives from traditional Chinese medicine to treat diabetic neuropathy

XI'AN, China, April 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a common chronic gastrointestinal disorder and current treatment strategies can cause adverse effects. Thus, there is a need to identify alternative compounds to treat IBD. Similarly, the dose-related toxicity and efficacy of anticancer drugs must be monitored accurately to improve the treatment outcomes. Moreover, over the years, plant-based therapeutic compounds and traditional Chinese medicine formulae have gained attention for their enhanced healing effects. Volume 14, Issue 2 of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis (JPA), published in February 2024, addresses these issues in three different studies, respectively.

The first study, published in Volume 14, Issue 2 of JPA, identified and extracted a plant-based, acidic polysaccharide named SUSP-4 from the herb Selaginella uncinata (Desv.) Spring. This phytocompound significantly improved the symptoms of IBD such as low body weight and high disease activity index during animal experiments. It inhibited the immune response of macrophage activation by altering the chemokine levels in treated animals and ultimately affected the thiamine metabolic pathway and protected against IBD. The corresponding author, Dr. Jinyong Peng states, "IBD reduces the level of vitamin B1 (thiamine), which itself has an inhibitory effect on inflammation, so a moderate supplementation of vitamin B1 may go a long way towards preventing IBD in people."

In the second study, published in Volume 14, Issue 2 of JPA, scientists employed spatiotemporal metabolomics to closely monitor the administration of chemotherapeutic drug oxaliplatin in animal models. They used biocompatible microprobes to gather information about the efficacy and dose-related toxicity of the drug, locally administered via in vivo lung perfusion. The study identified a total of 139 specific compounds that indicated acute lung injury. The corresponding author, Prof. Janusz Pawliszyn shares, "This study might be a starting point for future developments of tools that might be applied to prognosticate the patient's pathological response to the selected chemotherapy treatment."

In the third study, published in Volume 14, Issue 2 of JPA, researchers studied diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), a condition where the blood vessels and nerves are damaged due to improperly regulated metabolic pathways. They specifically targeted carbohydrate metabolism and developed a metabolomics approach using a high-performance ion chromatography technique and studied DPN in rats and humans. The researchers found that JinMaiTong (JMT), a traditional Chinese medicine supplement, effectively treated DPN by inducing the activation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase and other downstream proteins involved in energy profile regulation. The corresponding author, Prof. Xiaochun Liang concludes by saying, "Our study proved that the TCM formula JMT improved the neurological functions and attenuated the pathological damages of peripheral nerve in the progress phase of DPN rats. In-vivo and in-vitro studies demonstrated that the neuroprotective capacities of JMT should be attributed to the improved energy status with the vital role of the activated AMPK signaling, which is crucial for a better understanding of the clinical effect of JMT and proposes a promising treatment strategy for DPN for decades."

Overall, these articles together underscore the importance of metabolomics analysis.

Reference

Title of original paper: Gut microbiome-based thiamine metabolism contributes to the protective effect of one acidic polysaccharide from Selaginella uncinata (Desv.) Spring against inflammatory bowel disease

Journal: Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2023.08.003

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SOURCE Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis