6-Aldehydo-7-methoxyiso-ophiopogonanone B

Ophiopogonin D modulates multiple oncogenic signaling pathways, leading to suppression of proliferation and chemosensitization of human lung cancer cells.[Pubmed:29496169]

Phytomedicine. 2018 Feb 1;40:165-175.

BACKGROUND: Ophiopogonin D (OP-D), a steroidal glycoside obtained from the Chinese medicinal plant Ophiopogonin japonicas (the root portion), has been traditionally used to treat fever, inflammation, cough, sputum etc. However, the detailed molecular mechanism(s) underlying its therapeutic actions is still unknown. HYPOTHESIS: Because nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), PI3K/AKT, and activator protein-1 (AP-1) signaling cascades have significant functions in cell proliferation, inflammation, and angiogenesis in tumor cells, we hypothesized that OP-D may disrupt these signaling cascades to exert its anticancer effects in human lung-cancer cells. METHODS: We evaluated the effect of OP-D on multiple signaling cascades and its regulated functional responses in lung cancer cells. RESULTS: OP-D blocked both basal and cytokine-induced proliferation of human lung-cancer cells and caused down-regulation of the expression of diverse oncogenic gene products through the suppression of NF-kappaB, PI3K/AKT, and AP-1 pathways; but did not affect JNK, p38 and ERK MAP kinases. Interestingly, OP-D suppressed constitutive NF-kappaB activation in lung cancer cells via interfering with the IkappaB kinase activation, which inhibited phosphorylation and caused degradation of IkappaB-alpha. OP-D also blocked phosphorylation and the nuclear translocation of p65, thereby suppressing NF-kappaB reporter activity in lung cancer cells. Besides, OP-D could augment cell death induced by paclitaxel in lung-cancer cells. CONCLUSION: Overall, the data indicates that OP-D may abrogate diverse signaling cascades linked to tumorigenesis, and can be used in combination with chemotherapeutic agents for cancer therapy.

Ophiopogonin D alleviates cardiac hypertrophy in rat by upregulating CYP2J3 in vitro and suppressing inflammation in vivo.[Pubmed:29935180]

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2018 Sep 5;503(2):1011-1019.

Ophiopogonin D (OPD) is the chief pharmacological active component of the traditional Chinese herbal prescription drug-Shenmai injection (SMI), which has been used to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases. In the present study, we investigated whether OPD protectively relieve cardiac hypertrophy against inflammation via inhibiting the expression of NF-kappaB and examined whether cytochrome P450 2J3 (CYP2J3)was involved in this pathway. H9c2 cells were treated with Angiotensin II (Ang II). Hypertrophy in rat was induced by administration of Ang II infusion. To evaluate the effect of OPD on disease progression and the role of CYP2J3 in this way, inflammatory mediators (NF-kappaB), specific hypertrophic factors and pathological change were determined in this experiment. Ang II induced hypertrophy with the elevated expression of specific hypertrophy genes and NF-kappaB signaling molecules. However, these inductive effects were reversed by OPD in conjunction with Ang II. Overexpression of CYP2J3 prevented the excessive expression of NF-kappaB. In vivo, partial pathological cardiac hypertrophy injuries were relieved after OPD treatment. OPD exerts a positive effect on alleviating cardiac hypertrophy. The mechanism is probably through inhibiting the expression of NF-kappaB by upregulating CYP2J3 to suppress inflammation.

Ophiopogonin D and EETs ameliorate Ang II-induced inflammatory responses via activating PPARalpha in HUVECs.[Pubmed:28587983]

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2017 Aug 19;490(2):123-133.

CYP2J2 is highly expressed in cardiovascular tissue including the heart and vascular endothelial cells. CYP2J2 and the EETs have been shown owning diverse biological effects. Our previous study found that ophiopogonin D (OP-D) suppressed drug-induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress by upregulating the levels of CYP2J3/EETs in cardiomyocytes. The aim of this research was to investigate whether CYP2J2/EETs-PPARalpha pathway involved in endothelium protective effects of OP-D in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The results showed that OP-D significantly inhibited Ang II induced NF-kappaB nuclear translocation, IkappaBalpha down-regulation and activation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-6 and VCAM-1) by increasing the expression of CYP2J2/EETs and PPARalpha in HUVECs. Furthermore, treatment with exogenous 11,12-EET attenuated endothelial inflammation induced by Ang II as evidenced by inhibited NF-kappaB nuclear translocation, increased IkappaBalpha expression and decreased inflammation factor level. Finally, the activation of NF-kappaB nuclear translocation induced by Ang II was also markedly suppressed by fenofibrate. Co-incubation with 6-(2-proparglyloxyphenyl) hexanoic acid (PPOH) and PPARalpha inhibitor GW6471 before drug treatment abolished the endothelium protective effects of OP-D. Taken together, these data suggest that OP-D has the endothelial protective effect through activation of CYP2J and increasing EETs, and PPARalpha involves in this process.

Ophiopogonin D alleviates high-fat diet-induced metabolic syndrome and changes the structure of gut microbiota in mice.[Pubmed:29084766]

FASEB J. 2018 Mar;32(3):1139-1153.

Gut dysbiosis is believed to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases, including obesity. Ophiopogonin D (OP-D), a steroidal glycoside and an active component extracted from the root of the plant Ophiopogon japonicus (also known as radix ophiopogonis), can regulate multiple physiologic processes. Here we show that OP-D administration reduces body weight, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and insulin resistance in male mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Pyrosequencing of the V4 regions of 16S rRNA genes in mouse feces revealed a deviation of the gut microbiota in response to OP-D treatment. In particular, the decreased Firmicutes-to- Bacteroidetes ratios and endotoxin-bearing Proteobacteria levels indicated that OP-D reversed HFD-induced gut dysbiosis. More importantly, the effects of OP-D on modulation of obesity and microbiota were transferable via horizontal feces transfer from OP-D-treated mice to HFD-fed mice. Taken together, our results suggest that OP-D may be used as a prebiotic agent to treat obesity-associated gut dysbiosis and metabolic syndrome.-Chen, S., Li, X., Liu, L., Liu, C., Han, X. Ophiopogonin D alleviates high-fat diet-induced metabolic syndrome and changes the structure of gut microbiota in mice.