Ginsenoside Rg1

The disruption of renal cell homeostasis caused by aging has attracted considerable attention. A traditional Chinese medicine, ginseng, is a potential drug for treating aging-related diseases. The study investigates the effect and mechanism of ginsenoside Rg1, an active component of ginseng, on renal aging and injury.

The potential targets of ginsenoside Rg1 in relieving renal aging and injury were predicted using network pharmacology. d-Galactose (d-gal) was used to induce aging and mice were randomly divided into six groups: a wild-type control group, a wild-type d-gal group, and a wild-type d-gal with Rg1 group (20 mg/kg/d), a caspase-1^-/- control group, a caspase-1^-/- d-gal group, and a caspase-1^-/- d-gal with Rg1 group (n = 5). The duration of the study was 42 days. The effect of Rg1 was assessed by hematoxylin and eosin and Masson staining, quantitative reverse transcription PCR, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and Western blotting.

Network pharmacology revealed that caspase-1 was one of the crucial targets. In vivo experiments, ginsenoside Rg1 treatment resulted in lowered levels of β-Gal, p53, p21, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, malondialdehyde, reactive oxygen species, tumor necrosis factor-α and renal fibrosis, along with a reduction of caspase-1, interleukin-1 and interleukin-18 in mice induced by d-gal. Additionally, knockout of caspase-1 can improve the above indicators and caspase-1^-/- mice treated with Rg1 showed better protective effects in alleviating renal senescence, ameliorating kidney injury, and mitigating inflammation and oxidative stress.

The findings in this study provide experimental support for the clinical application of ginsenoside Rg1 in kidney aging. The underlying mechanisms require further experimental validation.

Guishao Yigong Decoction (GYD), a classic prescription that tonifies the spleen and qi, has been used in clinical practices for thousands of years to treat spleen deficiency. However, its in vitro and in vivo metabolic characteristics are still unclear. In this study, a rapid and reliable analytical method based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) with automated data processing (MetaboLynx) was established to investigate the metabolites and metabolic pathways of GYD in vivo and in vitro. Based on the characteristics of protonated ions, eleven precursors (ginsenoside Re, ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Rb1, atractylenolide I, atractylenolide III, paeoniflorin, glycyrrhizic acid, pachymic acid, liquiritin, nobiletin, and ferulic acid) and their corresponding metabolites were detected and tentatively identified. A total of 81 metabolites were identified, including 53 metabolites in vivo, 40 metabolites of liver microsomes, and 43 metabolites of intestinal flora in vitro. Distinct metabolic patterns were observed between intestinal flora and liver microsomes - the former primarily catalyzed phase I transformations (hydroxylation, methylation, dehydroxylation, demethylation, and reduction), while the latter also executed phase II metabolism, with glucuronidation being the predominant conjugation reaction. The metabolic profiling and pathways of active components in GYD were systematically analyzed, which was helpful in clarifying its potential mechanism and clinical application.