Chinese Medicine最新文献

{"title":"The bidirectional immunoregulatory effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine on the cGAS-STING signaling pathway and their translational prospects.","authors":"Yi Yang, Yiheng Sun, Yuxiang Cheng, Ziteng Pan, Jing Zhou","doi":"10.1186/s13020-026-01494-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13020-026-01494-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The cyclic GMP-AMP synthase-stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING) pathway is a central component of innate immunity, mediating host defense against pathogens, antitumor responses, and inflammation. Aberrant activation of this pathway is implicated in a spectrum of diseases, including autoimmune disorders, chronic inflammation, organ injury, and metabolic dysregulation. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), with its multi-component and multi-target characteristics, presents a promising strategy for modulating cGAS-STING signaling. Emerging evidence indicates that bioactive compounds, single herbs, herbal formulas, and related nanomedicines can bidirectionally regulate this pathway, either by directly targeting cGAS or STING or by influencing upstream processes such as DNA damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) release. These interventions modulate inflammatory responses, immune cell activity, and disease progression. TCM does not regulate cGAS-STING signaling through a single pathway alone. The cGAS-STING pathway interacts with NF-κB signaling, NLRP3 inflammasome activation, MAPK pathways, oxidative stress, autophagy, ferroptosis, and pyroptosis. These interactions may help explain the multi-target and multi-pathway effects of TCM in immune regulation. Here, we review recent advances in understanding TCM-cGAS-STING interactions, highlighting their roles in infection, cancer, autoimmune disorders, and other complex diseases, and discuss the mechanistic insights and translational potential of TCM in immune modulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":10266,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Medicine","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13579896/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148976036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The potential effects, mechanisms and translational perspectives of natural products in the treatment of atopic dermatitis.","authors":"Changyu Shao, Yuhao Zhang, Yining Bai, Yan Wu, Lin Cong, Mingming Zhao, Tianyang Ren","doi":"10.1186/s13020-026-01497-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13020-026-01497-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common chronic inflammatory skin disorder with a continuously increasing global incidence. Current therapeutic options are often associated with adverse effects. In recent years, natural products have attracted considerable attention due to their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which can effectively alleviate the symptoms of AD.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study provides a comprehensive review of the research progress on the use of natural ingredients for the treatment of AD both domestically and internationally, with an emphasis on their efficacy and advantages in the context of AD pathogenesis. The aim is to offer a reference for the development of herbal ingredients as safer complementary or alternative therapeutic agents for AD.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A comprehensive literature search was performed using key terms such as \"atopic dermatitis\", \"natural products\", \"anti-inflammatory\", \"skin barrier dysfunction\", \"anti-pruritic\", \"antimicrobial\", \"antioxidant\", \"gut microbiota\", and their combinations in databases including CNKI, PubMed, and Google Scholar. We systematically evaluated the pathogenesis and therapeutic mechanisms of AD, with a particular emphasis on in vivo studies.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Research has demonstrated that natural ingredients exhibit multifaceted advantages in the treatment of AD, including anti-inflammatory effects, skin barrier repair, anti-pruritic activity, modulation of the skin microbiota, alleviation of oxidative stress, and regulation of gut microbiota.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We discuss and analyze various bioactive natural ingredients capable of modulating cytokines and signaling pathways, while also identifying their major translational limitations, such as standardization and safety issues. This review provides a mechanistic and evidence-based reference for developing natural products as safe, adjunctive therapies for AD.</p>","PeriodicalId":10266,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Medicine","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13580012/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148975947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ivangustin, a sesquiterpene lactone from Inula japonica Thunb., attenuates neuroinflammation through covalent inhibition of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme UBE2L3.","authors":"Mengyuan Qiao, Hanyue Gan, Yuying Shi, Shan Yang, Ting Liu, Xiaofei Shen, Wenbin Wu","doi":"10.1186/s13020-026-01488-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13020-026-01488-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Neuroinflammation is a key driver and an important therapeutic target of neurodegeneration. Dysregulated nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling plays a central role in neuroinflammation and depends on M1 and K63 ubiquitination of NF-κB essential modulator (NEMO). Ivangustin (IVA) is a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from Inula japonica Thunb., a traditional Chinese medicine has been used to treat inflammatory diseases. But its anti-neuroinflammatory effects and molecular targets remain unclear.</p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study aimed to evaluate the anti-neuroinflammatory effects of IVA and elucidate its direct functional target and underlying mechanism.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Integrated in vitro, in vivo, and in silico/bioinformatics approaches were employed. The anti-neuroinflammatory activity of IVA was evaluated in LPS-stimulated BV2 cells, primary microglia, and an LPS-induced acute cognitive impairment mouse model. Mechanistic studies were performed using pull-down, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA), drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS), gene knockdown, point mutation and bioinformatics analyses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In vitro, IVA significantly inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production and mRNA and protein expression of pro-inflammatory factors in LPS-stimulated microglia. Furthermore, IVA significantly suppressed inhibitor of NF-κB kinase α/β (IKKα/β) and inhibitory subunit of NF-κB alpha (IκBα) phosphorylation, IκBα degradation, and NF-κB p65 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation, thereby blocking the expression of NF-κB-targeted genes. Its anti-neuroinflammatory activity was attenuated by thiol donors, indicating the importance of its electrophilic lactone moiety. Furthermore, ubiquitin conjugating enzyme E2L3 (UBE2L3) was identified as the functional target of IVA in BV2 cells, whereas UBE2L3 knockdown markedly attenuated IVA-mediated anti-neuroinflammatory action. Bioinformatics analysis suggests UBE2L3 overexpression as a potential risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases. Mechanistically, IVA covalently bound to the catalytic cysteine 86 of UBE2L3, thereby inhibiting UBE2L3-mediated M1 and K63 ubiquitination of NEMO, which is crucial for NF-κB activation. In vivo, IVA ameliorated LPS-induced cognitive impairment and neuroinflammation in mice via inhibiting Iba1 expression and suppressing NF-κB activation.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>IVA exerts anti-neuroinflammatory effects by covalently targeting UBE2L3 and suppressing NF-κB signaling. These findings also identify UBE2L3 as a potential therapeutic target for neuroinflammation and support IVA as a promising lead compound for further preclinical investigation of neuroinflammatory disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":10266,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Medicine","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13536563/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148879418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"DFGLM-TCM: an integrated knowledge-and experience-driven large language model system for Traditional Chinese Medicine practice.","authors":"Ruikang Zhong, Dianna Liu, Yuewen Dai, Zexing Li, Zilin Song, Zhixing Li, Le Zhang, Siyi Chen, Yisha Su, Yue Sun, Wenzheng Zhang, Pengfei Jia, Min Jiang, Lei Gao, Kaiwen Hu","doi":"10.1186/s13020-026-01512-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13020-026-01512-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) clinical practice depends on both codified theoretical knowledge and practitioner-specific experience, which differ in their data sources, reasoning patterns, and scope of generalization. We developed DFGLM-TCM, a modular large language model-based service system that separately models these two knowledge types through task-oriented components and coordinates them within a unified multi-task architecture. The knowledge-oriented component integrated a curated 22-GB TCM corpus containing approximately 3 million structured entries, a manually validated knowledge graph with more than 200,000 entities, and retrieval-augmented generation for literature retrieval and general TCM question answering. The experience-oriented component was trained using approximately 5000 authentic outpatient records from a senior TCM practitioner and 2000 expert-reviewed augmented cases to provide practitioner-specific diagnostic and prescription references. Through standardized interfaces and role-based access, the system supports knowledge retrieval, question answering, structured consultation, and prescription reference for clinicians, patients, and students. In an expert-rated evaluation of 100 TCM knowledge questions, DFGLM-TCM achieved the highest descriptive mean score among the evaluated models (4.48 ± 0.76). In 454 independent pulmonary-nodule cases, the experience-oriented component achieved a prescription-consistency score of 8.95 ± 0.63, exceeding that of the model additionally trained with general TCM knowledge (7.52 ± 0.44). A one-month assessment involving 35 physicians at three primary-care institutions suggested favorable short-term usability and acceptance. These findings highlight the value of separating general TCM knowledge from practitioner-specific experience while coordinating task-oriented training and multi-task services within a unified system, and support further evaluation of DFGLM-TCM as an auxiliary reference tool in broader clinical settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":10266,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Medicine","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13523272/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148849991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction: Brusatol ameliorates psoriatic dyslipidemia by targeting IL-1β to restore AMPK-mediated lipid homeostasis.","authors":"Yuankuan Jiang, Shumeng Zhang, Hewen Guan, Kejia Lv, Jinchao Yu, Siyi Li, Renchuan Jia, Xiujie Zhang, Shurong Ma, Jialin Qu, Jingrong Lin","doi":"10.1186/s13020-026-01493-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13020-026-01493-y","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10266,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Medicine","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13523190/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148849994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"ShenNongDiet: a medicine diet recommendation system based on graph-semantic hybrid retrieval and evidence constraint generation.","authors":"Xiangying Yan, Zhuang Guo, Na Lin, Yanqiong Zhang","doi":"10.1186/s13020-026-01505-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13020-026-01505-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Medicinal diet, a core practice in Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) rooted in the principle of \"medicine and food homology\", offers potential for chronic disease management and sub-health regulation. However, the broader adoption is constrained by fragmented knowledge, poor personalization, and safety risks arising from improper ingredient combinations or constitution-therapy mismatches.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>We developed and validated ShenNongDiet, a knowledge graph (KG) and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) system for TCM dietary recommendation that explicitly models constitution suitability and ingredient contraindications.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A Neo4j KG was constructed from the \"Guoyi Jinghua Yao Shan\" book series encompassing 3376 medicinal diets, 2110 ingredients, 1176 effects, 1122 population groups, 1078 symptoms, 459 diseases, 38,669 relationships. The system integrates dual-pathway retrieval (symbolic reasoning from KG + dense vector search using Qwen3-embedding-8B), RAG-based evidence packaging, and Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) fine-tuning of Qwen3-8B on 8509 evidence-constrained instruction samples to reduce the risk of the model generating unsupported content. A multi-scenario test set was constructed to evaluate system effectiveness and robustness.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>ShenNongDiet achieved Hit@1, Hit@3, and Hit@5 of 84.00%, 90.00%, and 92.67% respectively, with a Mean Reciprocal Rank (MRR) of 0.8778. RAGAs evaluation yielded a faithfulness score of 0.831 and context recall of 0.526. Expert human evaluation further confirmed the system's strong performance in recommendation accuracy, evidence relevance, and generation faithfulness. Ablation experiments confirmed that the hybrid architecture significantly outperformed every single retrieval channel (P < 0.001), validating the complementary benefit of the symbolic and semantic retrieval.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study systematically constructs an explicit-semantics knowledge model of TCM medicinal diet and integrates KG reasoning with language model generation under evidence constraints. ShenNongDiet offers an expandable and safety-constrained solution for intelligent dietary services, facilitating the digital preservation of traditional dietary culture and artificial intelligence-driven personalized health management.</p>","PeriodicalId":10266,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Medicine","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13508355/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148825699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Alisol A 23,24-diacetate improves LPS-induced acute lung injury through the IL-17A/NF-κB signaling pathway.","authors":"Yuhan Zhang, Pengli Guo, Mengnan Zeng, Denghui Zhu, Ziyu Zhang, Mengdie Luo, Yi Chao, Fangzhuo Chang, Weisheng Feng, Xiaoke Zheng","doi":"10.1186/s13020-026-01487-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13020-026-01487-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study utilized the multi-model validation method to confirm that Alisol A 23,24-diacetate (AAD) can improve LPS-induced acute lung injury (ALI) through the IL-17A/NF-κB signaling pathway, providing experimental data support for preclinical research.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Mice were given drugs by gavage continuously for 3 days, and then LPS was instilled into trachea to establish the model of acute lung injury. Subsequently, the lung pathological sections, lung function, the levels of oxidative stress and apoptosis, the metabolic levels in lung tissue and serum, and the levels of immune cells and inflammatory factors in each group of mice were detected. Then, the differentially expressed genes were screened based on the GEO database, and molecular docking combined with PCR technology was employed to investigate the potential pathogenesis of acute lung injury. Next, in vivo mouse models and in vitro lung organoid models were utilized, combined with Western blot and immunofluorescence techniques, to validate the proteins associated with the IL-17A/NF-κB signaling pathway. The binding of AAD to IL-17A protein was detected by cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA). Finally, the Beas-2B cell model combined with IL-17 agonist (SR0987) and IL-17 antagonist (Brodalumab), as well as the zebrafish model coupled with the methods of IL-17A gene silencing and overexpression, were employed to validate the mechanism of action underlying the intervention of AAD in LPS-induced ALI.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>AAD significantly ameliorated lung injury and lung function in a mouse model of LPS-induced ALI, modulated metabolic and immune disorders in ALI mice, and suppressed the release of inflammatory factors. The results from GEO database analysis, molecular docking, PCR, WB, immunofluorescence and CETSA, demonstrated that AAD ameliorates LPS-induced ALI via the IL-17A/NF-κB signaling pathway. In Beas-2B cells, AAD significantly suppressed the LPS-induced elevation of ROS and apoptosis levels, reduced the protein expression of IL-17A and p-NF-κB p65, and decreased the levels of inflammatory factors, exerting a comparable therapeutic effect to that of the IL-17 antagonist. However, the therapeutic efficacy of AAD was abrogated following the addition of an IL-17 agonist. In the experiment of zebrafish, AAD significantly enhanced the sports activity of zebrafish and inhibited the levels of IL-17A and inflammatory factor RNA. However, the therapeutic efficacy of AAD was abrogated following IL-17A gene overexpression.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>AAD improves LPS-induced ALI through the IL-17A/NF-κB signaling pathway.</p>","PeriodicalId":10266,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Medicine","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13501606/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148812369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ziyuglycoside I promotes wound healing via GPR34-mediated activation of group 3 innate lymphoid cells.","authors":"Kewei Wang, Qingya Sun, Gang Wang, Jiayan Zhang, Yehuang Wang, Bin Jiang, Yang Zhang","doi":"10.1186/s13020-026-01483-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13020-026-01483-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Sanguisorba officinalis L., a traditional Chinese medicine, has been frequently utilized to promote the healing of burns and scalds. Ziyuglycoside I (ZG-I), a bioactive compound isolated from the roots of S. officinalis L., exhibits significant properties for wrinkle care, antioxidant activity, and antiviral effects. This study aims to explore the underlying mechanisms by which ZG-I promotes wound healing.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The efficacy of the treatment was evaluated by monitoring wound closure rates and conducting histological analyses to assess inflammation and re-epithelialization. Immunohistochemistry, utilizing Ki67, α-SMA, and Vimentin antibodies, further characterized the epidermal and dermal repair processes. In vitro, Group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) were co-cultured with primary mouse skin fibroblasts, and their proliferation and migration were assessed. The expression of GPR34, secretion of IL-22, and downstream pathways were evaluated. The mechanism was confirmed by knocking down GPR34 in ILC3s. Finally, molecular docking studies, CETSA, and MST experiments validated the interaction between ZG-I and GPR34.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>ZG-I significantly accelerated wound closure in vivo, accompanied by reduced inflammation and immune cell infiltration, enhanced re-epithelialization, and improved collagen fiber organization. Mechanistically, ZG-I upregulated the expression of GPR34 in ILC3s within the wound tissues and elevated the secretion of IL-22. Furthermore, ZG-I dose-dependently enhanced fibroblast viability, proliferation, and migration, while promoting GPR34 and IL-22 expression in ILC3s in vitro. The knockdown of GPR34 in ILC3s reversed these effects and inhibited downstream signaling pathways, including STAT3, AKT, and MAPK. These results establish that ZG-I promotes wound healing by activating GPR34 in ILC3s, which triggers the AKT and MAPK pathways to enhance STAT3 phosphorylation and IL-22 production.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our results indicate that ZG-I has the activity of promoting wound healing, and GPR34 can serve as a therapeutic target for ZG-I in the treatment of skin injury-related diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":10266,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Medicine","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13505152/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148812411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A systematic review on the application, phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of the genus Atractylodes.","authors":"Siwei Luo, Jiameng Jiang, Dongmei Zhang, Ligen Lin, Qingwen Zhang","doi":"10.1186/s13020-026-01473-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13020-026-01473-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The genus Atractylodes (Asteraceae) is widely distributed and utilized in East and Southeast Asia, particularly in China, Japan, Korea and Thailand. In traditional Chinese medicine, representative species such as A. lancea and A. macrocephala have historically been employed to strengthen the spleen and eliminate dampness. Phytochemical investigations have led to the isolation and identification of 371 compounds from this genus, primarily encompassing polyacetylenes, terpenoids, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, lignans, and their corresponding glycosides. In recent decades, extensive research has been conducted on the chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of plants within the genus Atractylodes. Concurrently, these crude extracts and isolated compounds have been demonstrated to exhibit diverse pharmacological activities, including anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, gastrointestinal-regulatory, neuroprotective, hepatoprotective, and lung-protective activities. Regarding safety, their potential toxicity is closely tied to the traditional \"dryness\" property, which can be effectively mitigated through specialized processing methods such as bran-frying. However, rapidly accumulating data since 2021 has created a critical gap, rendering previous reviews insufficient to reflect the current research landscape. To address these emerging updates, this review systematically organizes recent advances in the traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and safety profiles of the genus Atractylodes. Crucially, a critical analysis of structure-activity relationships is integrated to provide concrete, structured guidelines for future mechanistic exploration and rational drug development.</p>","PeriodicalId":10266,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Medicine","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13495492/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148788860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modified Gan-Mai-Da-Zao decoction for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: preclinical efficacy and molecular mechanisms.","authors":"Qing-Qing Xu, Le-Ran Xue, Zhen Hu, Shiyan Qian, Yan-Fang Xian, Zhi-Xiu Lin","doi":"10.1186/s13020-026-01415-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13020-026-01415-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) affect over 90% of dementia patients with no effective therapeutic interventions. The Modified Gan-Mai-Da-Zao Decoction (M-GMDZD) is an innovative formula derived from GMDZD, a classical herbal formula commonly prescribed by Chinese medicine (CM) practitioners for psychiatric conditions.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>This study aimed to investigate the anti-BPSD effects such as sedative-hypnotic, anxiolytic, and antidepressant-like actions of M-GMDZD in animal models of BPSD.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>M-GMDZD was subjected to the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for chemical characterization. To investigate the sedative-hypnotic effect of M-GMDZD, ICR mice were intragastrically administered with M-GMDZD for 14 days, followed by intraperitoneal pentobarbital injections. The pentobarbital-induced sleep test was performed to assess the sleep-improving properties of M-GMDZD in mice, while the monoamine neurotransmitter levels in the pentobarbital-treated mouse brains were measured by ELISA. To evaluate anxiolytic and anti-depressant-like effects of M-GMDZD, the bilateral common carotid arteries occlusion combined with chronic restraint stress (BCCAO/CRS) model in rats was established. After drug treatment for 21 days, rats were subjected to behavioral tests, including open field test (OFT), novel recognition test (NORT), sucrose preference test (SPT), forced swim test (FST), and social interaction test (SIT). The brain tissues from BCCAO/CRS rats were collected for biochemical analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>M-GMDZD significantly prolonged the pentobarbital-induced sleep duration, increased the cerebral 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) level and decreased the cerebral dopamine (DA) level in the pentobarbital-treated mice, showing promising sedative-hypnotic and sleep-improving effects. Moreover, M-GMDZD treatment markedly alleviated the anxiety-related behavioral impairments, ameliorated depression-like deficits, attenuated recognition memory impairments and improved social interaction in the BCCAO/CRS rats, as assessed by a battery of behavioral tests. The anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects of M-GMDZD were partly attributed to the neurotrophin-3 (NT-3)-mediated neurotrophic mechanisms. We also found that M-GMDZD alleviated BPSD symptoms in BCCAO/CRS rats by restoring synaptic plasticity via the activation of TrkB/ERK/CREB pathway.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study has demonstrated for the first time that M-GMDZD exhibits potent anti-BPSD properties, including sedative, anxiolytic, and antidepressant-like effects in preclinical models, highlighting its potential as a promising, multi-target therapeutic intervention for the BPSD management.</p>","PeriodicalId":10266,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Medicine","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13491767/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148788926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}