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Gao Q, Wu H, Chen M, Gu X, Wu Q, Xie T, Sui X. Active metabolites combination therapies: towards the next paradigm for more efficient and more scientific Chinese medicine. Front Pharmacol 2024; 15:1392196. [PMID: 38698817 PMCID: PMC11063311 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1392196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulae have been studied extensively in various human diseases and have proven to be effective due to their multi-component, multi-target advantage. However, its active metabolites are not clear and the specific mechanisms are not well established, which limits its scientific application. Recently, combination therapies are attracting increasing attention from the scientific community in the past few years and are considered as the next paradigm in drug discovery. Here, we tried to define a new concept of "active metabolites combination therapies (AMCT)" rules to elucidate how the bioactive metabolites from TCMs to produce their synergistic effects in this review. The AMCT rules integrate multidisciplinary technologies like molecular biology, biochemistry, pharmacology, analytical chemistry and pharmacodynamics, etc. Meanwhile, emerging technologies such as multi-omics combined analysis, network analysis, artificial intelligence conduce to better elucidate the mechanisms of these combination therapies in disease treatment, which provides new insights for the development of novel active metabolites combination drugs. AMCT rules will hopefully further guide the development of novel combination drugs that will promote the modernization and international needs of TCM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quan Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Faculty of Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, China
- College of Pharmacy, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hao Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Faculty of Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, China
- College of Pharmacy, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Min Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Faculty of Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, China
| | - Xidong Gu
- Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Qibiao Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Faculty of Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, China
| | - Tian Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Faculty of Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, China
- College of Pharmacy, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xinbing Sui
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Faculty of Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, China
- College of Pharmacy, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
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Mostafa S, El-Bolok AHM, Fahmi AN, Alaaeldin E. An Ex vivo Apoptotic and Cytotoxic Effects of Frankincense on Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Line. Open Access Maced J Med Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.3889/oamjms.2022.9979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Oral squamous cell carcinoma is accounting for almost 90% of oropharyngeal cancer diagnoses. Natural herbal medicine can use as an alternative, or complementary, or adjunctive for cancer treatment. Frankincense and its combination with myrrh have anticancer effects on different cancer types.
METHODS: In this research, aqueous and methanolic extracts of frankincense and the combination of aqueous extract of frankincense and myrrh were applied on tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell line to study their cytotoxic and apoptotic effect by the assessment of cell viability and cytotoxicity, caspase 3 and 8 activation, reactive oxygen species activity, mitochondrial membrane potential, morphological changes, and nuclear area factor measurements.
RESULTS: The result showed that aqueous and methanolic extracts of frankincense have cytotoxic and apoptotic effects in a concentration-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 21.05 ± 1.27 μM for aqueous extract, 36.72 ± 2.07 μM for methanolic extract, and IC50 value of 1.31 ± 0.04 μM for combination of aqueous extract of frankincense and myrrh extract after 24 h.
CONCLUSION: Different extracts of frankincense and the combination of aqueous extract of frankincense and myrrh extract exhibited cytotoxic and apoptotic effects by reducing the cell viability and activating caspases 3 and 8 causing intrinsic- and extrinsic-mediated apoptosis pathways activation with the involvement of oxidative stress that was conceivable with cytonuclear morphological alterations results.
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