A high concentration of homocysteine (Hcy) in plasma induces vascular endothelial dysfunction, and it may ultimately accelerate the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Although several B vitamins have been clinically applied for hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) treatment, the outcomes are not satisfied due to their limited therapeutic mechanism. Hence, in order to improve the curative effect, development of new effective therapeutic strategies should be put on the agenda. Total phenolic extracts of Citrus aurantium L. (TPE-CA) is a naturally obtained phenolic mixture, mainly containing flavones, flavanones and their glycosyl derivatives, flavonols, polymethoxyflavones and coumarins. Previous reports indicated that bioactive phenolic compounds possessed potent vascular protective effects and regarded as a protective agent against CVDs. Intriguingly, the exact mechanism underlying the suppressed effects of TPE-CA on HHcy could assist in revealing their therapy on CVDs. Here, the multi-targeted synergistic mechanism of TPE-CA on HHcy-induced vascular endothelial dysfunction was uncovered in a deduced manner. TPE-CA treatment exhibited an obvious superiority than that of B vitamins treatment. Network pharmacology was employed to identify the interrelationships among compounds, potential targets and putative pathways. Further experimental validation suggested that the treatment of TPE-CA for HHcy could not only effectively reduce the Hcy level in plasma through up-regulating transsulfuration pathway in Hcy metabolism, but also restore the HHcy-induced vascular endothelial dysfunction by activating cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) epoxygenase signal cascades and inhibiting CYPs hydroxylase signal cascades in arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism.

In this study we successfully constructed a full-length cDNA library from Chinese oak silkworm, Antheraea pernyi, the most well-known wild silkworm used for silk production and insect food. Total RNA was extracted from a single fresh female pupa at the diapause stage. The titer of the library was 5 x 10(5) cfu/ml and the proportion of recombinant clones was approximately 95%. Expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis was used to characterize the library. A total of 175 clustered ESTs consisting of 24 contigs and 151 singlets were generated from 250 effective sequences. Of the 175 unigenes, 97 (55.4%) were known genes but only five from A. pernyi, 37 (21.2%) were known ESTs without function annotation, and 41 (23.4%) were novel ESTs. By EST sequencing, a gene coding KK-42-binding protein in A. pernyi (named as ApKK42-BP; GenBank accession no. FJ744151) was identified and characterized. Protein sequence analysis showed that ApKK42-BP was not a membrane protein but an extracellular protein with a signal peptide at position 1-18, and contained two putative conserved domains, abhydro_lipase and abhydrolase_1, suggesting it may be a member of lipase superfamily. Expression analysis based on number of ESTs showed that ApKK42-BP was an abundant gene in the period of diapause stage, suggesting it may also be involved in pupa-diapause termination.

Acetaminophen (APAP) refers to a medication used to manage pain and fever symptoms, but it always causes liver injury when overdosed. Zhishi, dried young fruit of Citrus aurantium L., is a famous Citrus herbal medicine in Asian countries which is rich in dietary phenolic substances. In this study, the mechanism of Zhishi protected against APAP-induced liver injury was studied more deeply by metabolomic strategy and pharmacological study. The metabolomics results demonstrated that Zhishi can prevent the APAP-induced liver injury model by regulating liver metabolic disorders in glycerophospholipid metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis and glycerolipid metabolism. Moreover, it is confirmed that Zhishi blocked apoptosis of APAP-induced BRL-3A cell by simultaneously regulating p53 up-regulated apoptosis regulator (PUMA), AMPK-SIRT1 and JNK1 signaling pathways. Our findings indicated that Zhishi exhibited a hepaprotective effect against APAP-induced liver necrosis by inhibiting the PUMA and reversing disorder of liver lipid metabolism which could assist in improving the clinical outcomes of chemical-induced liver injury.