Recent advances in the antiviral activity of Forsythiae Fructus

Forsythiae Fructus,a well-known traditional Chinese medicine preparation derived from the dried fruits of Forsythia suspensa(Thunb.)Vahl,has been historically utilized for its heat-clearing and detoxification properties.Forsythiae Fructus has been reported to exhibit antiviral activity such as against SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus.This review highlights the recent updates on the effects and underlying action mechanisms of compounds in and active fractions from Forsythiae Fructus and Chinese formulae containing Forsythiae Fructus.

Forsythiae Fructus inhibits melanoma growth through activating MAPKs/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling and modulating glycerophospholipid metabolism

OBJECTIVE Forsythiae Fructus(Lianqiao)is a typical heat-clearing and detoxicating traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)herb,which has been traditionally used for treating cancer according to TCM theory.However,the underlying mechanism has not been fully explained.METHODS In this study,we investigated the antitumor effect of Forsythiae Fructus aqueous extract(FAE)on B16-F10 melanoma.RESULTS FAE strongly inhibited the tumor growth and metastasis formation in B16-F10 melanoma transplanted mice.The survival time of tumor-bearing mice was also significantly prolonged by FAE.The levels of ROS,MDA,TNF-αand IL-6 decreased,while GSH increased in the FAE treatment group,indicating FAE possesses strong anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activity.Western blotting analysis demonstrated that antioxidant proteins Nrf2 and HO-1,tumor suppressors P53 and p-PTEN,and the MAPK pathways in tumor tissues were upregulated by FAE treatment.Serum metabolomics analysis further uncovered that 17 metabolites mostly involving in glycerophospholipid metabolism were correlated with the antitumor effect of FAE.Notably,several lysophosphatidylcholines(LysoPCs)significantly decreased in tumor model group,while FAE treatment restored the changes of these phospholipids to about normal condition.LysoPC acyltransferase 1(LPCAT1)and autotaxin(ATX)highly expressed in melanoma and markedly downregulated by FAE were believed to be responsible for this modulation.CONCLUSION FAE exhibites strong antitumor activity against B16-F10 melanoma through activating MAPKs/Nrf2/HO-1 mediated anti-oxidation and anti-inflammation and modulating glycerophospholipid metabolism via downregulating LPCAT1 and ATX.Besides,it is suggested that serum LysoPCs could be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of melanoma.

Microwave assisted-semi bionic extraction of lignan compounds from Fructus Forsythiae by orthogonal design

Microwave assisted-semi bionic extraction (MASBE) process for lignans from Fructus Forsythiae was studied. The influences of solvent pH value, microwave power, dosage of solvent and irradiation time were investigated. Optimum extracting parameters were determined by orthogonal experiments as follows: pH value of solvent at first extraction is 5.5-6.0, that at the second extraction is 7-8; microwave power is 700 W; mass ratio of Fructus Forsythiae to water is 1-12; irradiation time is 10 min, and extracting times is two. Under these optimal conditions, the yield of lignans reaches 0.364%. Compared with the conventional extraction methods, the MASBE process has the advantages of high extraction rate, high extraction selectivity.

Study on the mechanism of Fructus Forsythiae and Folium Nelumbinis on acute pharyngitis based on network pharmacology

Objective:To explore the mechanism of Lianqiao-Heye(Fructus Forsythiae and Folium Nelumbinis,FF-FN)drug pair in treating acute pharyngitis(AP)by network pharmacology.Methods:The chemical components and potential therapeutic targets of FF-FN drug pair were obtained from TCMSP firstly,and databases GeneCards,DrugBank,OMIM and PharmGKB were utilized to get the genes related to AP and the intersection of the results was obtained.Then Cytoscape software was used to construct drug-component-target network diagram to screen out the key compounds.Protein interaction network(PPI)was established using String database,and the core targets were screened by CytoNCA topology analysis.R language software was used for GO biological function analysis and KEGG pathway analysis.Finally,the docking verification of key compounds and core target molecules was carried out by AutoDock software.Results:A total of 38 active compounds and 917 potential therapeutic targets were obtained from FF-FN drug pair,while a total of 1534 targets were screened out for AP,among which,the number of intersection targets was 117.7 core targets were screened out from PPI core network,with JUN,TP53,CXCL8 and RELA included.A total of 2487 biological processes were involved in GO enrichment analysis,and 157 related pathways were screened out by KEGG.Based on results of molecular docking verification,the key compounds such as quercetin,luteolin and wogonin in FF-FN drug pair were proved capable of binding to the core targets and a good affinity was shown.Conclusion:FF-FN pair can intervene AP through multiple targets and multiple pathways,including PI3KAkts signaling pathway,AGE-RAGE signaling pathway and IL-17 signaling pathway.The combination of quercetin,luteolin,wogonin,kaempferol andβ-sitosterol with JUN,RELA,MAPK1,TNF and MYC can possibly be one of the mechanisms regarding to the therapeutic effect.

Metabolomics Analysis of Metabolites in Forsythia suspense Fruit Using UPLC/ESI-Q TRAP-MS/MS

Forsythiae Fructus,the fruit of Forsythia suspense is a traditional Chinese hebal medicine that has the antiviral and antioxidant effects in China.Modern analytical chemistry studies showed that the extracts of Forsythiae Fructus contain many bioactive components,such as flavonoids,lignans,phenolic acids,and terpenoids,which can be used to anti-inflammatory and treat toxicity,tonsillitis,ulcers,pharyngitis and acute nephritis.In order to study the types and quantities of metabolites in Forsythiae Fructus,we isolated,identified and analysed metabolites between two varieties of Forsythiae Fructus using UPLC/ESI-Q TRAP-MS/MS.The results showed that a total of 407 metabolites were identified in Forsythiae Fructus using UPLC/ESI-Q TRAP-MS/MS,including 21 terpenoids,68 phenolic acids,63 flavonoids,43 amino acids and derivatives,22 alkaloids,55 lipids,24 lignans and coumarins,31 nucleotides and derivatives,29 organic acids,and 51 other metabolites.Among,lignans and coumarins,terpenoids,organic acids,lipids,and phenolic acids were rich in Forsythiae Fructus,which accounted for more than 60%of the total metabolite content.Differential metabolite analysis revealed that 80 metabolites differed significantly between the two types of Forsythiae Fructus.Our results greatly enrich the Forsythiae Fructus phytochemical composition database and provide valuable information for further study of the metabolites of Forsythiae Fructus.