Recent perspective on the potential role of phytocompounds in the prevention of gastric cancer

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used to treat human and livestock ailments in Addi Arkay district, northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Ethiopia harbors a wealth of plant biodiversity, diverse ecological zones, rich cultural heritage, and long-standing traditional knowledge and medical practices. Despite documentation of this knowledge in few regions, information remains limited for the Addi Arkay district of northwestern Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to document the indigenous and local knowledge on the use of human and livestock medicinal plants.

METHODOLOGY

Ethnobotanical data were collected between October and December 2024 through semi-structured interviews, guided field observations, focus group discussions, and ranking exercises conducted with 385 informants. Stratified sampling, random, and purposive sampling techniques were employed. A mixed-methods approach (both qualitative and quantitative) was used for data analysis. Quantitative analyses included preference ranking, Direct Matrix Ranking (DMR), Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), fidelity level (FL), Jaccard Similarity Index (JSI), and Rahman's Similarity Index (RSI). T tests and one-way ANOVA were employed to compare mean levels of indigenous and local knowledge across different socio-demographic and socio-economic factors.

RESULTS

This study documented 112 medicinal plant species (105 genera, 58 families, including four endemic and one nearly endemic) were used for human and livestock remedies in the Addi Arkay district, northwestern Ethiopia. Fabaceae was the dominant family (7.14%). The majority of plant species (75.89%) were used to treat human ailments, while a smaller proportion (5.36%) were used for livestock, and 18.75%) were used for both human and livestock ailments. The most frequently used plant parts were leaves (34.6%) followed by roots (27.9%), and grinding was the most common method of preparation (30.4%). The preference ranking exercise revealed Opuntia ficus-indica as the top choice for treating human hemorrhoids and Phytolacca dodecandra as the preferred treatment for rabies in livestock. DMR revealed Cordia africana, Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata, and Terminalia leiocarpa as the most threatened multipurpose medicinal plants. Informant Consensus Factor values ranged from 0.63 to 0.93. Fidelity level analysis revealed that Phytolacca dodecandra was most effective against rabies, followed by Rubia cordifolia for cough and Plumbago zeylanica for swelling. Agricultural expansion posed the most significant threat, followed by overgrazing and fuel (charcoal and fuel wood). The highest levels of indigenous and local medicinal plant knowledge were predominantly transmitted orally through family lines, with paternal contributions often playing a significant role. Compared to other studies conducted in Ethiopia, the Jaccard Similarity Index (JSI%) for human medicinal plants ranged in value from 6.9% to 68.92% and for veterinary plants from 10.91% to 27.91%, whereas the Rahman's Similarity Index (RSI) ranged from 0.98% to 15.63%. Ten novel medicinal plant uses, not previously documented in Ethiopia or elsewhere, were identified.

CONCLUSION

This pioneering study in Addi Arkay district, northwestern Ethiopia, documented 112 medicinal plants for the treatment of human and livestock ailments, revealing the significant array of plant resources utilized for local primary healthcare services. However, threats from agricultural expansion, overgrazing, and fuel (charcoal and fuel wood) use necessitate in situ and ex situ conservation actions. Implementing sustainable harvesting practices and community-based conservation initiatives is recommended to protect the rich medicinal plants wealth of the district for continual use across generations besides ensuring preservation of valuable ethnomedicinal knowledge.

Chinese Medicines and Natural Medicine as Immunotherapeutic Agents for Gastric Cancer: Recent Advances

BACKGROUD

According to the 2020 statistics from the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), it is projected that there will be over 1 million new cases of gastric cancer (GC) patients worldwide in 2020, resulting in approximately 770 000 deaths. Gastric cancer ranks fifth in terms of incidence rate and forth in death rate among malignant tumors. Despite advancements in early diagnostic techniques, the incidence of GC has exhibited a marginal decline; nevertheless, the mortality rate remains elevated for advanced inoperable patients with no currently available efficacious treatment options.

RECENT FINDING

Chinese medicine (CM) has emerged as an efficacious treatment for GC, gradually gaining acceptance and widespread usage in China. It exhibits distinctive advantages in the prevention and treatment of metastasis. CM and natural medicine possess the ability to elicit antitumor effects by augmenting immune cell population, enhancing immune cell activity, and improving the tumor immune microenvironment. CMs and natural remedies encompass a diverse range of types, characterized by multiple targets, pathways, and extensive pharmacological effects. Consequently, they have become a prominent research area among oncologists worldwide. Numerous studies have demonstrated that CM and natural medicine can directly or indirectly enhance innate immune system components (including macrophages, natural killer cells, and myeloid suppressor cells), adaptive immune system elements (such as T lymphocytes and regulatory T cells), relevant cytokines (e.g., IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, TNF-α), and PD-1/PD-L1 axis regulation, thereby bolstering the cytotoxicity of immune cells against tumor cells.

CONCLUSIONS

This ultimately leads to an improved tumor immune microenvironment facilitating superior antitumor efficacy. This paper critically examines the role of CM and natural medicine in regulating immunotherapy for GC, aiming to establish a new theoretical framework for the clinical treatment and prevention of gastric cancer within the realm of CM.

Akkermansia muciniphila-derived pentadecanoic acid enhances oxaliplatin sensitivity in gastric cancer by modulating glycolysis

Accumulating evidence has proved the close association between alterations in gut microbiota and resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. However, the potential roles of gut microbiota in regulating oxaliplatin sensitivity in gastric cancer (GC) have not been investigated before. We first found that antibiotic treatment diminished the therapeutic efficacy of oxaliplatin in a GC mouse model. Importantly, this effect could be transmitted to germ-free mice via fecal microbiota transplantation, indicating a potential role of gut microbiota modulation in oxaliplatin efficacy. Further, metagenomics data showed that Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) ranked first among the bacterial species with decreased relative abundances after antibiotic treatment. Metabolically active A. muciniphila promotes oxaliplatin efficacy. As shown by metabolomics analysis, the metabolic pattern of gut microbiota was disrupted with significantly downregulated levels of pentadecanoic acid (PEA), and the use of PEA significantly promoted oxaliplatin efficacy. Mechanistically, FUBP1 positively regulated aerobic glycolysis of GC cells to hinder the therapeutic efficacy of oxaliplatin. A. muciniphila-derived PEA functioned as an inhibitory factor of glycolysis by directly antagonizing the activity of FUBP1, which potentiated GC responses to oxaliplatin. Our research suggested a key role for intestinal A. muciniphila and its metabolite PEA in promoting oxaliplatin efficacy, thus providing a new perspective for probiotic and prebiotic intervention in GC patients during chemotherapy.

Increased co-expression of ICOS and PD-1 predicts poor overall survival in patients with acute myeloid leukemia

BACKGROUND

Inducible co-stimulatory factor (ICOS) has a dual role: activating cytotoxic T cells against tumors or exacerbating immunosuppression of regulatory T cells (Tregs) to participate in immune evasion. However, the correlation between ICOS and its co-expression with inhibitory immune checkpoints (IICs) and prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is little known.

METHODS

The prognostic importance of ICOS and IICs in 62 bone marrow (BM) samples of de novo AML patients from our clinical center (GZFPH) was explored and then the RNA sequencing data of 155 AML patients from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used for validation.

RESULTS

In both GZFPH and TCGA cohorts, high expression of ICOS was significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) in patients with AML (P < 0.05). Importantly, co-expression of ICOS and PD-1, PD-L1, PD-L2, CTLA-4, and LAG-3 predicted poor OS in AML; among them, ICOS/PD-1 was the optimal combination of immune checkpoints (ICs). The co-expression of ICOS and PD-1 was correlated with poor OS in non-acute promyelocytic leukemia (non-APL) patients following chemotherapy. Additionally, ICOS/PD-1 was an independent OS-predicting factor (P < 0.05). Notably, a nomogram model was constructed by combining ICOS/PD-1, age, European Leukemia Net (ELN) risk stratification, and therapy to visually and personalized predict the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS of patients with non-APL.

CONCLUSION

Increased expression of ICOS predicted poor outcomes, and ICOS/PD-1 was the optimal combination of ICs to predict outcomes in patients with AML, which might be a potential immune biomarker for designing novel AML therapy.