Journal: Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica

Article Title: Germacrone ameliorates acute lung injury induced by intestinal ischemia-reperfusion by regulating macrophage M1 polarization and mitochondrial defects.

doi: 10.3724/abbs.2024164

Figure Lengend Snippet: Figure 1. Germacrone improved I/R-ALI in mice (A) Photographs showing the appearance of the lungs in each group. (B) HE staining of lung tissues from each group. Scale bar: 50 μm. (C) Masson staining of lung tissues from each group. Scale bar: 1000 μm. (D–F) Immunofluorescence staining of collagen III, vimentin, and α-SMA in lung tissues from each group. Scale bar: 50 μm. Red: collagen III-, vimentin-, and α-SMA-positive cells. Blue: DAPI. Sham: control group; I/RI: mice whose superior mesenteric artery was completely clamped; I/RI+Ger: I/RI group administered with germacrone.

Article Snippet: The mice in the Sham+Ger and I/RI+Ger groups were intraperitoneally injected with Ger (T2945; Topscience, Shanghai, China) at a dosage of 10 mg/kg/day for 5 consecutive days before intestinal I/R.

Techniques: Staining, Immunofluorescence, Control

Journal: Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica

Article Title: Germacrone ameliorates acute lung injury induced by intestinal ischemia-reperfusion by regulating macrophage M1 polarization and mitochondrial defects.

doi: 10.3724/abbs.2024164

Figure Lengend Snippet: Figure 2. Germacrone attenuated the release of inflammatory factors and inhibited apoptosis (A‒D) The mRNA expression levels of IL-1α (A), IL-6 (B), COX2 (C), and TGF-α (D) in each group were determined by qPCR. (E,F) Immunofluorescence staining of ICAM1 (E) and TGF-α (F) in lung tissues from each group. Scale bar: 20 μm. (G) TUNEL staining showing the degree of apoptosis. Scale bar: 20 μm. (H) IHC staining of CD86, CD163, and Gr-1 in lung tissues from each group. Scale bar: 20 μm. (I) Protein expression levels of IL-1β, NOS2, TLR2, CD86, CD115, CD206, ARG1, and CD163 in each group, as detected by western blot analysis. Sham: control group; I/RI: mice whose superior mesenteric artery was completely clamped; I/RI+Ger: I/RI group administered with germacrone. Data are shown as the mean±SD. *P<0.05 and **P<0.01.

Article Snippet: The mice in the Sham+Ger and I/RI+Ger groups were intraperitoneally injected with Ger (T2945; Topscience, Shanghai, China) at a dosage of 10 mg/kg/day for 5 consecutive days before intestinal I/R.

Techniques: Expressing, Immunofluorescence, Staining, TUNEL Assay, Immunohistochemistry, Western Blot, Control

Journal: Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica

Article Title: Germacrone ameliorates acute lung injury induced by intestinal ischemia-reperfusion by regulating macrophage M1 polarization and mitochondrial defects.

doi: 10.3724/abbs.2024164

Figure Lengend Snippet: Figure 3. Germacrone ameliorated mitochondrial functional defects in I/R-ALI (A) Immunofluorescence staining of the mitochondrial markers TOM20 and 8-oxoG in lung tissues from each group. Scale bar: 20 μm. (B) Electron microscopy image showing the mitochondrial structures in each group. Scale bar: 1 μm. Sham: control group; I/RI: mice whose superior mesenteric artery was completely clamped; I/RI+Ger: I/RI group administered with germacrone.

Article Snippet: The mice in the Sham+Ger and I/RI+Ger groups were intraperitoneally injected with Ger (T2945; Topscience, Shanghai, China) at a dosage of 10 mg/kg/day for 5 consecutive days before intestinal I/R.

Techniques: Functional Assay, Immunofluorescence, Staining, Electron Microscopy, Control

Journal: Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica

Article Title: Germacrone ameliorates acute lung injury induced by intestinal ischemia-reperfusion by regulating macrophage M1 polarization and mitochondrial defects.

doi: 10.3724/abbs.2024164

Figure Lengend Snippet: Figure 4. Germacrone attenuated oxidative stress in I/R-ALI lung tissue (A) mRNA expressions of the oxidative stress-related markers NGAL, mnSOD, HIF-1α, OCG1, Nrf2, and SIRT1, as detected via qPCR. (B) OCR in each group. (C‒E) Basal OCR, ATP production, and maximal respiration in each group. Sham: control group; I/RI: mice whose superior mesenteric artery was completely clamped; I/RI+Ger: I/RI group administered with germacrone. All data analyses were conducted via an unpaired t test. Data are shown as the mean±SD, n=3. *P<0.05 and **P<0.01.

Article Snippet: The mice in the Sham+Ger and I/RI+Ger groups were intraperitoneally injected with Ger (T2945; Topscience, Shanghai, China) at a dosage of 10 mg/kg/day for 5 consecutive days before intestinal I/R.

Techniques: Control

Journal: Chinese medicine

Article Title: The effect and mechanism of Germacrone in ameliorating alcoholic fatty liver by inhibiting Nrf2/Rbp4.

doi: 10.1186/s13020-025-01132-y

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fig. 2 Germacrone improves lipid accumulation and oxidative stress in a mouse model of ALD. A H&E staining revealed pathological changes in the mouse liver; Oil red O staining showed lipid accumulation in hepatocytes. B–I biochemical kit was used to detect ALT, AST, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, GSH, SOD, and MDA levels in liver tissues (n = 6). Compared with the model group, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001

Article Snippet: After 3 days of adaptive feeding, C57BL/6 male mice were randomly divided into the following 4 groups with 6 mice in each group: (1) Control group: Mice were fed the Lieber–DeCarli standard liquid diet for 35 consecutive days without any other intervention. (2) Model group: mice were fed a liquid diet with low alcohol concentration for the first 6 days as a transition and then changed to the Lieber–DeCarli alcoholic liquid diet with 5% alcohol concentration from the 7 th day for 28 days without drug intervention. (3) Germacrone group: The feed was treated the same as the model group, and Germacrone (molecular formula: C15H22O, purity > 98%, Yuanye, Shanghai, China, 10 mg/kg) [7, 24] was given daily intragastric administration from day 8 for 21 days. (4) Brusatol group: the feed treatment was the same as the model group, and the Nrf2 antagonist Brusatol (Purity: 99.96%, Selleck, S7956, Shanghai, China, 2 mg/kg) [25] was intraperitoneally injected every other day from the 8 th day for 21 days.

Techniques: Staining

Journal: Chinese medicine

Article Title: The effect and mechanism of Germacrone in ameliorating alcoholic fatty liver by inhibiting Nrf2/Rbp4.

doi: 10.1186/s13020-025-01132-y

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fig. 3 Germacrone improves alcohol-induced lipid accumulation and oxidative stress in HepG2 cells. A The effect of different concentration gradients of Germacrone on HepG2 cell activity was detected by CCK-8 assay (n = 5); B–G A biochemical kit was used to detect the levels of ALT, AST, TG, GSH, SOD, and MDA in the Control group, Model group, Germacrone-L group, Germacrone-M group, and Germacrone-H group (n = 4–6). Compared with the Model group, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001

Article Snippet: After 3 days of adaptive feeding, C57BL/6 male mice were randomly divided into the following 4 groups with 6 mice in each group: (1) Control group: Mice were fed the Lieber–DeCarli standard liquid diet for 35 consecutive days without any other intervention. (2) Model group: mice were fed a liquid diet with low alcohol concentration for the first 6 days as a transition and then changed to the Lieber–DeCarli alcoholic liquid diet with 5% alcohol concentration from the 7 th day for 28 days without drug intervention. (3) Germacrone group: The feed was treated the same as the model group, and Germacrone (molecular formula: C15H22O, purity > 98%, Yuanye, Shanghai, China, 10 mg/kg) [7, 24] was given daily intragastric administration from day 8 for 21 days. (4) Brusatol group: the feed treatment was the same as the model group, and the Nrf2 antagonist Brusatol (Purity: 99.96%, Selleck, S7956, Shanghai, China, 2 mg/kg) [25] was intraperitoneally injected every other day from the 8 th day for 21 days.

Techniques: Concentration Assay, Activity Assay, CCK-8 Assay, Control

Journal: Chinese medicine

Article Title: The effect and mechanism of Germacrone in ameliorating alcoholic fatty liver by inhibiting Nrf2/Rbp4.

doi: 10.1186/s13020-025-01132-y

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fig. 5 Germacrone inhibits Nrf2-dependent Rbp4 expression in the ALD model. A, B The protein expression levels of Rbp4 in the ALD model treated with Germacrone and Brusatol (n = 3). C Correlation analysis of liver TG content and Rbp4 expression. D Rbp4 mRNA expression in HepG2 cells in the Control group, Model group, Brusatol group, and Germacrone group was analyzed by RT-qPCR (n = 6). E, F Western blot was used to detect the expression level of Rbp4 protein under different conditions (n = 3). Compared with the model group, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001

Article Snippet: After 3 days of adaptive feeding, C57BL/6 male mice were randomly divided into the following 4 groups with 6 mice in each group: (1) Control group: Mice were fed the Lieber–DeCarli standard liquid diet for 35 consecutive days without any other intervention. (2) Model group: mice were fed a liquid diet with low alcohol concentration for the first 6 days as a transition and then changed to the Lieber–DeCarli alcoholic liquid diet with 5% alcohol concentration from the 7 th day for 28 days without drug intervention. (3) Germacrone group: The feed was treated the same as the model group, and Germacrone (molecular formula: C15H22O, purity > 98%, Yuanye, Shanghai, China, 10 mg/kg) [7, 24] was given daily intragastric administration from day 8 for 21 days. (4) Brusatol group: the feed treatment was the same as the model group, and the Nrf2 antagonist Brusatol (Purity: 99.96%, Selleck, S7956, Shanghai, China, 2 mg/kg) [25] was intraperitoneally injected every other day from the 8 th day for 21 days.

Techniques: Expressing, Control, Quantitative RT-PCR, Western Blot

Journal: Chinese medicine

Article Title: The effect and mechanism of Germacrone in ameliorating alcoholic fatty liver by inhibiting Nrf2/Rbp4.

doi: 10.1186/s13020-025-01132-y

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fig. 8 Mechanism of Germacrone in the Treatment of Alcohol-Induced Liver Disease (ALD). Under alcohol exposure, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and foreign electrophilic reagents inhibit the ubiquitination of Nrf2, leading to its nuclear translocation. In the nucleus, Nrf2 binds to antioxidant response elements (AREs), promoting the transcription of downstream target genes, including Rbp4 (lipid transport protein), HO-1, and Gsta1 (oxidative stress-regulated proteins). This process accelerates lipid transport, lipid accumulation, and oxidative damage in hepatocytes, which contributes to the progression of ALD (left panel). In contrast, Germacrone (Germacrone), the active component of Jia-Ga-Song-Tang (JGST), effectively inhibits Nrf2 activation and nuclear translocation, thereby down-regulating the expression of Rbp4, HO-1, and Gsta1. This reduces lipid accumulation and oxidative stress, protecting hepatocytes and improving liver health (right panel)

Article Snippet: After 3 days of adaptive feeding, C57BL/6 male mice were randomly divided into the following 4 groups with 6 mice in each group: (1) Control group: Mice were fed the Lieber–DeCarli standard liquid diet for 35 consecutive days without any other intervention. (2) Model group: mice were fed a liquid diet with low alcohol concentration for the first 6 days as a transition and then changed to the Lieber–DeCarli alcoholic liquid diet with 5% alcohol concentration from the 7 th day for 28 days without drug intervention. (3) Germacrone group: The feed was treated the same as the model group, and Germacrone (molecular formula: C15H22O, purity > 98%, Yuanye, Shanghai, China, 10 mg/kg) [7, 24] was given daily intragastric administration from day 8 for 21 days. (4) Brusatol group: the feed treatment was the same as the model group, and the Nrf2 antagonist Brusatol (Purity: 99.96%, Selleck, S7956, Shanghai, China, 2 mg/kg) [25] was intraperitoneally injected every other day from the 8 th day for 21 days.

Techniques: Ubiquitin Proteomics, Translocation Assay, Activation Assay, Expressing

Journal: Chinese medicine

Article Title: The effect and mechanism of Germacrone in ameliorating alcoholic fatty liver by inhibiting Nrf2/Rbp4.

doi: 10.1186/s13020-025-01132-y

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fig. 2 Germacrone improves lipid accumulation and oxidative stress in a mouse model of ALD. A H&E staining revealed pathological changes in the mouse liver; Oil red O staining showed lipid accumulation in hepatocytes. B–I biochemical kit was used to detect ALT, AST, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, GSH, SOD, and MDA levels in liver tissues (n = 6). Compared with the model group, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001

Article Snippet: After 3 days of adaptive feeding, C57BL/6 male mice were randomly divided into the following 4 groups with 6 mice in each group: (1) Control group: Mice were fed the Lieber–DeCarli standard liquid diet for 35 consecutive days without any other intervention. (2) Model group: mice were fed a liquid diet with low alcohol concentration for the first 6 days as a transition and then changed to the Lieber–DeCarli alcoholic liquid diet with 5% alcohol concentration from the 7 th day for 28 days without drug intervention. (3) Germacrone group: The feed was treated the same as the model group, and Germacrone (molecular formula: C15H22O, purity > 98%, Yuanye, Shanghai, China, 10 mg/kg) [7, 24] was given daily intragastric administration from day 8 for 21 days. (4) Brusatol group: the feed treatment was the same as the model group, and the Nrf2 antagonist Brusatol (Purity: 99.96%, Selleck, S7956, Shanghai, China, 2 mg/kg) [25] was intraperitoneally injected every other day from the 8 th day for 21 days.

Techniques: Staining

Journal: Chinese medicine

Article Title: The effect and mechanism of Germacrone in ameliorating alcoholic fatty liver by inhibiting Nrf2/Rbp4.

doi: 10.1186/s13020-025-01132-y

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fig. 3 Germacrone improves alcohol-induced lipid accumulation and oxidative stress in HepG2 cells. A The effect of different concentration gradients of Germacrone on HepG2 cell activity was detected by CCK-8 assay (n = 5); B–G A biochemical kit was used to detect the levels of ALT, AST, TG, GSH, SOD, and MDA in the Control group, Model group, Germacrone-L group, Germacrone-M group, and Germacrone-H group (n = 4–6). Compared with the Model group, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001

Article Snippet: After 3 days of adaptive feeding, C57BL/6 male mice were randomly divided into the following 4 groups with 6 mice in each group: (1) Control group: Mice were fed the Lieber–DeCarli standard liquid diet for 35 consecutive days without any other intervention. (2) Model group: mice were fed a liquid diet with low alcohol concentration for the first 6 days as a transition and then changed to the Lieber–DeCarli alcoholic liquid diet with 5% alcohol concentration from the 7 th day for 28 days without drug intervention. (3) Germacrone group: The feed was treated the same as the model group, and Germacrone (molecular formula: C15H22O, purity > 98%, Yuanye, Shanghai, China, 10 mg/kg) [7, 24] was given daily intragastric administration from day 8 for 21 days. (4) Brusatol group: the feed treatment was the same as the model group, and the Nrf2 antagonist Brusatol (Purity: 99.96%, Selleck, S7956, Shanghai, China, 2 mg/kg) [25] was intraperitoneally injected every other day from the 8 th day for 21 days.

Techniques: Concentration Assay, Activity Assay, CCK-8 Assay, Control

Journal: Chinese medicine

Article Title: The effect and mechanism of Germacrone in ameliorating alcoholic fatty liver by inhibiting Nrf2/Rbp4.

doi: 10.1186/s13020-025-01132-y

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fig. 5 Germacrone inhibits Nrf2-dependent Rbp4 expression in the ALD model. A, B The protein expression levels of Rbp4 in the ALD model treated with Germacrone and Brusatol (n = 3). C Correlation analysis of liver TG content and Rbp4 expression. D Rbp4 mRNA expression in HepG2 cells in the Control group, Model group, Brusatol group, and Germacrone group was analyzed by RT-qPCR (n = 6). E, F Western blot was used to detect the expression level of Rbp4 protein under different conditions (n = 3). Compared with the model group, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001

Article Snippet: After 3 days of adaptive feeding, C57BL/6 male mice were randomly divided into the following 4 groups with 6 mice in each group: (1) Control group: Mice were fed the Lieber–DeCarli standard liquid diet for 35 consecutive days without any other intervention. (2) Model group: mice were fed a liquid diet with low alcohol concentration for the first 6 days as a transition and then changed to the Lieber–DeCarli alcoholic liquid diet with 5% alcohol concentration from the 7 th day for 28 days without drug intervention. (3) Germacrone group: The feed was treated the same as the model group, and Germacrone (molecular formula: C15H22O, purity > 98%, Yuanye, Shanghai, China, 10 mg/kg) [7, 24] was given daily intragastric administration from day 8 for 21 days. (4) Brusatol group: the feed treatment was the same as the model group, and the Nrf2 antagonist Brusatol (Purity: 99.96%, Selleck, S7956, Shanghai, China, 2 mg/kg) [25] was intraperitoneally injected every other day from the 8 th day for 21 days.

Techniques: Expressing, Control, Quantitative RT-PCR, Western Blot

Journal: Chinese medicine

Article Title: The effect and mechanism of Germacrone in ameliorating alcoholic fatty liver by inhibiting Nrf2/Rbp4.

doi: 10.1186/s13020-025-01132-y

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fig. 8 Mechanism of Germacrone in the Treatment of Alcohol-Induced Liver Disease (ALD). Under alcohol exposure, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and foreign electrophilic reagents inhibit the ubiquitination of Nrf2, leading to its nuclear translocation. In the nucleus, Nrf2 binds to antioxidant response elements (AREs), promoting the transcription of downstream target genes, including Rbp4 (lipid transport protein), HO-1, and Gsta1 (oxidative stress-regulated proteins). This process accelerates lipid transport, lipid accumulation, and oxidative damage in hepatocytes, which contributes to the progression of ALD (left panel). In contrast, Germacrone (Germacrone), the active component of Jia-Ga-Song-Tang (JGST), effectively inhibits Nrf2 activation and nuclear translocation, thereby down-regulating the expression of Rbp4, HO-1, and Gsta1. This reduces lipid accumulation and oxidative stress, protecting hepatocytes and improving liver health (right panel)

Article Snippet: After 3 days of adaptive feeding, C57BL/6 male mice were randomly divided into the following 4 groups with 6 mice in each group: (1) Control group: Mice were fed the Lieber–DeCarli standard liquid diet for 35 consecutive days without any other intervention. (2) Model group: mice were fed a liquid diet with low alcohol concentration for the first 6 days as a transition and then changed to the Lieber–DeCarli alcoholic liquid diet with 5% alcohol concentration from the 7 th day for 28 days without drug intervention. (3) Germacrone group: The feed was treated the same as the model group, and Germacrone (molecular formula: C15H22O, purity > 98%, Yuanye, Shanghai, China, 10 mg/kg) [7, 24] was given daily intragastric administration from day 8 for 21 days. (4) Brusatol group: the feed treatment was the same as the model group, and the Nrf2 antagonist Brusatol (Purity: 99.96%, Selleck, S7956, Shanghai, China, 2 mg/kg) [25] was intraperitoneally injected every other day from the 8 th day for 21 days.

Techniques: Ubiquitin Proteomics, Translocation Assay, Activation Assay, Expressing