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Processes
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Immune Regulatory Properties of Natural Products
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Immune Regulatory Properties of Natural Products

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmaceutical Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2023) | Viewed by 7707

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jai-Eun Kim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pathology, College of Korean Medicine, Dongguk University, Goyang 10326, Korea
Interests: traditional medicine; inflammation; antioxidants; corona treatment
Prof. Dr. Wansu Park

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pathology, College of Korean Medicine, Gachon University, Seong-nam 13120, Korea
Interests: inflammation; cytokines; macrophages; korean medicine
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The immune system is made up of multiple organs and a complex network of cells. This functional system protects us against infection from various pathogens by recognizing and removing them. This happens through powerful and complicated processes, which must be carefully regulated to prevent damage to and secure survival of the host.

Immune regulation is modulation of the immune system and its responses by antibodies, medicines, and cytokines.

Natural products are major candidates as tools to deal with immunomodulation at various levels and in various diseases. The pathophysiological processes engaged in immunomodulation by natural products are open to further research.

Therefore, we are pleased to invite you to submit an article investigating the immune regulatory properties of natural products.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present recent advancements in the understanding of immunoregulatory processes by natural products. In this Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research topics may include but are not limited to the following:

  • Review articles outlining the latest evidence for immune regulation effects of natural products;
  • Studies on immune regulation by natural products in diseases, including skin diseases, infectious disease, cancer, and so on;
  • Studies on protection against abnormal autoimmunity by natural products;
  • Regulation of immune responses via inflammation inhibition;
  • Studies on immune regulatory properties of natural properties in COVID-19 prevention and/or treatment.

Dr. Jai-Eun Kim
Prof. Dr. Wansu Park
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • natural products
  • immunomodulation
  • cytokine storm
  • autoimmune disease
  • tumor immunotherap

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 2965 KiB  
Article
Ameliorative Effect of Medicarpin on Scopolamine-Induced Cognitive Impairment in Mice
by Jong Min Oh, Jong Eun Park, Seul-Ki Mun, Sung-Tae Yee and Hoon Kim
Processes 2023, 11(2), 385; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11020385 - 27 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1349
Abstract
The ameliorative effect of medicarpin (MC) was investigated by animal behavioral experiments such as Morris water maze (MWM), Y-maze, and passive avoidance test (PAT), using scopolamine-induced cognitively impaired mice. The scopolamine (5 mg/kg), donepezil (5 mg/kg), and MC (5 and 15 mg/kg) were [...] Read more.
The ameliorative effect of medicarpin (MC) was investigated by animal behavioral experiments such as Morris water maze (MWM), Y-maze, and passive avoidance test (PAT), using scopolamine-induced cognitively impaired mice. The scopolamine (5 mg/kg), donepezil (5 mg/kg), and MC (5 and 15 mg/kg) were administered by intraperitoneal injection at a volume of 0.3 mL. In the MWM, the escape latency times of MC-treated groups were significantly decreased compared with the scopolamine-treated negative control, and times spent in the platform zone of MC-treated groups were increased dose-dependently. In the Y-maze, the zone alternations of the MC-treated group were increased to the level of the donepezil-treated positive control. In the PAT, the crossing times of MC-treated groups were significantly higher than those of the negative control with dose-dependency. On the other hand, the monoamine oxidase (MAO)-A, MAO-B, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities, relating to cognitive functions, in hippocampus treated with MC were decreased. In addition, the AChE activity in SH-SY5Y cells was significantly decreased. In Western blots, phosphorylated cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) response element-binding protein (p-CREB), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-Akt), and dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) levels in the hippocampus were higher than those of the negative control. In addition, p-CREB, BDNF, p-Akt, and D2R levels in SH-SY5Y cells treated with MC were significantly increased. These results showed that MC ameliorated a cognitive function along with increased BDNF and D2R expressions, and they suggested that MC could be used for the treatment of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immune Regulatory Properties of Natural Products)
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13 pages, 5008 KiB  
Article
Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG ELISA: Replacing the Absorbance Plate Reader by a Regular Scanner with Open-Source Software
by Felipo D. Rojas Soares, Caio F. C. Marcellos, Júlia N. P. Nogueira, Daniel P. B. de Abreu, Leda R. Castilho, Maurício B. de Souza Jr. and Argimiro R. Secchi
Processes 2023, 11(1), 194; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11010194 - 07 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1419
Abstract
The COVID-19 global pandemic is still affecting the world, even considering vaccine applications in most countries, especially due to new variant outbreaks and the possibility that they may present immunological escape. Therefore, mass testing is relevant in infection monitoring and restriction policy evaluations, [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 global pandemic is still affecting the world, even considering vaccine applications in most countries, especially due to new variant outbreaks and the possibility that they may present immunological escape. Therefore, mass testing is relevant in infection monitoring and restriction policy evaluations, making low-cost and easy-to-use tests essential. Serological tests might also be useful in monitoring immune response after vaccination. The present work proposes a less-expensive ELISA test route, using a scanner instead of a spectrophotometer and using the saturation of the image as a surrogate for the absorbance of each sample. Images from multiple experiments were selected and correlated with their spectrophotometric absorbance. ELISA plate images were digitized by a simple table scanner and, then, preprocessed using Hue, Saturation, Value (HSV) transformation, aiming to determine which correlates best with the obtained absorbance. Saturation correlated better with absorbance, and the experiments presented R2 consistently above 90% between absorbance and the square of saturation. The new methodology showed similar accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity to the original method, all metrics ranging between 90% and 100% in most cases. An open-source software was also designed to analyze the images, perform the diagnosis, and generate reports. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immune Regulatory Properties of Natural Products)
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16 pages, 3168 KiB  
Article
Conioselinum tenuissimum Root Extract Modulates Macrophage Activation via the Calcium–STAT3 Pathway
by Tae-Hun Kim, Do-Hoon Kim and Wansu Park
Processes 2022, 10(11), 2238; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10112238 - 01 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1346
Abstract
Despite the development of many antibiotics, excessive inflammation caused by endotoxins is still a subject of interest to biomedical researchers. The hyper-inflammatory response of macrophages activated by endotoxins is an important topic in the development of natural product-based anti-inflammatory drugs. Conioselinum tenuissimum, [...] Read more.
Despite the development of many antibiotics, excessive inflammation caused by endotoxins is still a subject of interest to biomedical researchers. The hyper-inflammatory response of macrophages activated by endotoxins is an important topic in the development of natural product-based anti-inflammatory drugs. Conioselinum tenuissimum, a perennial herb of the family Apiaceae, contains levistolide A, demethylsuberosin, and fraxetin. One of the synonyms of Conioselinum tenuissimum is Angelica tenuissima. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of Conioselinumtenuissimum root water extract (AT) on the hyper-inflammatory responses of macrophages activated by endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide; LPS) and the mechanisms involved in such effects. Levels of cytokines, nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen peroxide, and cytosolic calcium in LPS-activated RAW 264.7 murine macrophages were evaluated by the multiplex cytokine assay (MCA), Griess reagent assay (GRA), dihydrorhodamine 123 assay (DHR), and Fluo-4 calcium assay (FCA), respectively. Additionally, real-time PCR and the flow cytometry assay (FLA) was performed to determine the effects of AT on LPS-activated RAW 264.7. Data from MCA, GRA, DHR, and FCA revealed that AT lowered levels of IL-6, MCP-1, TNF-α, G-CSF, GM-CSF, VEGF, M-CSF, LIF, LIX, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, MIP-2, RANTES, IP-10, NO, hydrogen peroxide, and calcium in LPS-activated RAW 264.7. Real-time PCR results revealed that AT significantly lowered mRNA expression levels of inflammatory genes such as Chop, Nos2, c-Jun, Stat1, Stat3, c-Fos, Camk2a, Ptgs2, Fas, and Jak2. FLA showed that AT significantly reduced phosphorylation levels of P38 MAPK and STAT3 in LPS-activated RAW 264.7. These results indicate that AT can exert anti-inflammatory effects in LPS-activated macrophages via the calcium–STAT3 pathway. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immune Regulatory Properties of Natural Products)
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Review

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30 pages, 976 KiB  
Review
A Review on the Pharmacological Activities of Salvia Miltiorrhizae Radix Using International Classification of Disease, 10th Revision (ICD-10) Codes
by Jang-Hoon Kim, Jin-Woo Song, Hyejin Joo, Jae-Woo Park, Beom-joon Lee, Jae-Heung Cho, Kyungjin Lee, Hyangsook Lee, Jihye Park, Ji-Woon Jeong, Eui-Joong Kim and Youngmin Bu
Processes 2022, 10(9), 1860; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10091860 - 15 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1818
Abstract
Salvia Miltiorrhizae Radix (SMR) is a widely-used herbal medicine for the treatment of various blood stasis-related diseases (mainly circulatory system). It has been extensively studied in the field of pharmacology over the last few decades. In addition, several reviews concerning the effect of [...] Read more.
Salvia Miltiorrhizae Radix (SMR) is a widely-used herbal medicine for the treatment of various blood stasis-related diseases (mainly circulatory system). It has been extensively studied in the field of pharmacology over the last few decades. In addition, several reviews concerning the effect of SMR are available. The purpose of this study was to review the pharmacological activities of SMC based on the 10th revision of the international disease classification (ICD-10). After an analysis of the literatures in the Medline database between January 1988 and August 2018, 691 eligible articles were chosen and 971 results were obtained (395 in vitro, 536 in vivo, and 40 human). The extracted data were categorized into the disease chapters of the ICD-10 and the major chapters were: IX Diseases of the circulatory system, II Neoplasms, XI Diseases of the digestive system, XIX Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes, IV Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases, VI Diseases of the nervous system, V Mental and behavioral disorders, etc. The major diseases and the pharmacological results of each chapter of the ICD-10 were described assiduously, along with the statistical details. The current study provided a comprehensive understanding and insight of SMR in terms of pharmacological activities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immune Regulatory Properties of Natural Products)
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Other

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16 pages, 1875 KiB  
Systematic Review
The Efficacy and Safety of Herbal Medicine with Pirfenidone in the Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Systematic Review
by Suyeon Cho, Sunju Park, Ju Ah Lee, Hee-Jae Jung, Kwan-Il Kim and Beom-Joon Lee
Processes 2022, 10(12), 2477; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10122477 - 22 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1216
Abstract
Although there were randomized control trials (RCTs) that showed the considerable efficacy of herbal medicine (HM) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and systematic reviews on the value of some herbs in the treatment of IPF, there have been no systematic reviews comparing the [...] Read more.
Although there were randomized control trials (RCTs) that showed the considerable efficacy of herbal medicine (HM) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and systematic reviews on the value of some herbs in the treatment of IPF, there have been no systematic reviews comparing the combined use of complex HM against pirfenidone monotherapy in IPF. This review evaluated the efficacy of parallel administration of HM and pirfenidone in IPF treatment. We conducted a systematic review of RCTs that compared pirfenidone monotherapy against pirfenidone combined administration with HM in IPF. We searched the EMBASE, CENTRAL, PubMed, and CNKI databases for relevant RCTs published before July 2021. Six RCTs were eligible for inclusion. Compared with the control group, a greater recovery or a smaller reduction in forced vital capacity (FVC) and, in general, a valid improvement in the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire was observed in the treatment group. However, it should be noted that the risk of bias of the included RCTs was high or unclear in most categories. In IPF treatment, HM administered with pirfenidone effectively protected pulmonary function and improved the quality of life. However, given the number and quality of the included studies, the evidence was not strong enough to draw definitive conclusions. Well-designed future RCTs are warranted to evaluate the impact of HM on IPF. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immune Regulatory Properties of Natural Products)
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