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Objective. This study aims to evaluate the clinical effects of Ling Gui Zhu Gan formula (LGZG), a famous TCM formula, for the management of serum lipids and obesity and preliminarily elucidates the bioactive components and the potential mechanism. Methods. Cluster analysis was adopted to investigate the TCM herbs and their frequency of occurrence for treating hyperlipidemia and obesity in an academic experience database of Chinese famous TCM doctors (http://www.gjmlzy.com:83). Then, relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about LGZG supplementation in improving lipid levels and obesity were retrieved and analyzed. Lastly, the integration of network pharmacology, as well as greedy algorithms, which are theoretically well founded for the set cover in computer science, was exploited to identify the bioactive components of LGZG and to reveal potential mechanisms for attenuation or reversal of hyperlipidemia and obesity. Results. Based on the cluster analysis of 104 cases in TCM academic experience database, four TCM herbs in LGZG showed high-use frequency for treating hyperlipidemia and obesity. Meta-analysis on 19 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with 1716 participants indicated that LGZG supplementation significantly decreased the serum levels of total triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, BMI, and body weight and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, compared with clinical control groups. No serious adverse effect was detected in all studies. Twenty-one bioactive components of LGZG, mainly flavonoids (i.e., naringenin, kaempferol, and kumatakenin), saponins (i.e., hederagenin), and fatty acids (i.e., eicosenoic acid), had the potential benefits possibly by regulating multiple targets such as PTPN1, CYP19A1, and ESR2, as well as a few complex pathways including the TNF signaling pathway, PPAR signaling pathway, arachidonic acid metabolism, fat digestion, and absorption. Conclusion. The present study has proved the clinical value of LGZG as a complementary treatment for attenuation or reversal of hyperlipidemia and obesity. More high-quality clinical and experimental studies in the future are demanded to verify its effects and the precise mechanism of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Huo-Xue-Qu-Yu formula (HXQYF) is a prescription consisting of Ginkgo biloba leaf and Paeonia lactiflora Pall. for treating hyperlipidemia and NAFLD in China. Here, we investigated the hepatic and renal function, oxidative stress and lipid metabolism, and potential mechanisms of HXQYF on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) rat models. NAFLD rat models were induced with high-fat diet (HFD) and 10% fructose water for 18 weeks and orally administered with or without HXQYF simultaneously. The results showed that HXQYF (22.5, 45, 90 mg/kg) significantly improved blood lipid levels via reducing serum TC, TG, LDL-C, and APOB values and elevating HDL-C and APOA1 levels in NAFLD rats. The higher levels of ALT, AST, CR, and BUN in serum induced by HFD were reduced by HXQYF. HE staining showed that HXQYF (90 mg/kg) reduced the accumulation of fat droplets and alleviated inflammatory response in liver cells. Three doses of HXQYF exhibited notable antioxidant effects by elevating SOD, GSH, and CAT activities and decreasing MDA and OH-1 levels in the liver. Furthermore, abnormal lipid metabolism caused by HFD was alleviated by HXQYF, which was associated with the upregulation of PPAR-α, AdipoR2, and CPT1 mRNAs as well as the downregulation of CYP2E1 and SREBP-1c mRNAs in liver tissue. In conclusion, our work verified that HXQYF could reduce the degree of hepatic steatosis, suppress oxidative stress, and attenuate lipid metabolism, thus preventing NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim was to study whether radial pulse wave signals can improve the risk prediction of incident hypertension and are associated with its concomitant metabolic risk factors beyond the traditional cardiovascular risk factor Ba-PWV. By enrolling 523 Chinese subjects in this study, linear and stepwise regression analysis was performed to assess the association of radial artery pulse wave signals and Ba-PWV with blood pressure and its related metabolic risk factors such as fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and uric acid (UA). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC), net reclassification improvement (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) were calculated by risk assessment plot to compare the discriminative ability among models with and without radial artery pulse wave signals. After adjusting related confounding factors, radial artery pulse wave variable h3/h1 was selected as the sensitive influential factor for blood pressure. Moreover, a new model with h3/h1 had a higher AUC than the reference model without it (0.86 vs 0.84; P = 0.030). And the NRI and IDI for the new model was 50.0% (P = 0.017) and 3.16% (P = 0.044), respectively. In addition to Ba-PWV, we found that the decrease of t4, t5, and h5 might be associated with higher FPG, TC, LDL-C, and UA and lower HDL-C. This research might provide a valuable additional tool for remote wearable monitoring of radial artery pulse wave signals in hypertension risk evaluation and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protein-enriched extracts of housefly larvae were segregated by gel-filtration chromatography (GFC) and then anti-inflammatory activity screening in RAW264.7 (induced by LPS) was carried out. After acquire the anti-inflammatory effective parts, its anti-atherosclerotic properties in vivo were then evaluated. Results showed that the anti-inflammatory effective parts of housefly larvae were low-molecular-weight parts. After treated with the effective parts oral gavaged for 4 weeks, the atherosclerotic lesions of the mouse were significantly decreased. The inflammatory and lipid parameters were also reduced (except HDL which was increased). Western blot analysis demonstrated that the effective parts exerted potent inhibitory effect on expression of p65 in nucleus and cytoplasm. The results of immunofluorescence microscopy analysis also showed that the expressions of p65 both in cytoplasm and nucleus were significantly reduced. The hypothesis that the anti-inflammatory effective parts of housefly larvae possessed anti-atherosclerosis activity in mouse and the possible mechanism could be associated with the inhibition of expression and nuclear transfer of NF-κB p65 could be derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]