Uncovering Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Ginsenoside Rg1 in a Wound-Inured Zebrafish Model by GC-MS-based Chemical Profiling

Su-Jung Hsu; Min He; Luis Francisco Salomé-Abarca; Young Hae Choi; Mei Wang

doi:10.1055/a-2606-6705

Planta Medica, Table of Contents

Planta Med
DOI: 10.1055/a-2606-6705

Original Papers

Uncovering Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Ginsenoside Rg1 in a Wound-Inured Zebrafish Model by GC-MS-based Chemical Profiling

Su-Jung Hsu‡

¹Natural Products Laboratory, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

²School of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan

,

Min He ‡

³Northeast Research Asia Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, P. R. China

⁴Leiden University-European Center for Chinese Medicine and Natural Compounds, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

,

Luis Francisco Salomé-Abarca

⁵Colegio de Postgraduados, Posgrado de Recursos Genéticosy Productividad-Fruticultura. Carretera México-Texcoco Km. 36.5, Montecillo, Texcoco de Mora, México

,

Young Hae Choi

¹Natural Products Laboratory, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

,

Mei Wang

⁴Leiden University-European Center for Chinese Medicine and Natural Compounds, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

⁶Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands

⁷SU Biomedicine, Leiden Bio Science Park, Leiden, Netherlands

⁸Northwest University, Xiʼan, China

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

There is growing evidence highlighting the pivotal role of cellular metabolic adaptation in governing diverse immune responses, as well as the capacity of immune cells to alter metabolic preferences. In both scenarios, the prospect of leveraging bioactive compounds to induce metabolic reprogramming emerges as a novel adjuvant strategy for clinical immunotherapy. Rg1, a major active ginsenoside found in ginseng roots, has the potential to function as a glucocorticoid receptor agonist. Unraveling the intricate relationship between anti-inflammatory functions and the metabolic effects of ginsenosides and glucocorticoids may contribute to the identification of metabolic biomarkers associated with anti-inflammation. This research aims to determine endogenous metabolic response differences evoked by Rg1 and glucocorticoids underlying in vivo anti-inflammatory responses. The metabolic impact, particularly on primary metabolites, was assessed in zebrafish embryos using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in conjunction with metabolic pathways analysis via the KEGG pathway database. Our results indicated that Rg1 possesses a similar effect in alleviating inflammation in treating injured zebrafish as beclomethasone. The anti-inflammatory effects of Rg1 are achieved by inhibiting the neutrophils and macrophages toward the amputated edges and upregulating gene expression associated with pro-inflammatory cytokines. The anti-inflammatory effects of Rg1 also include changes in fatty-acid metabolism and downstream aromatic amino acids in the TCA cycle. Therefore, Rg1 may be a promising drug candidate for treating inflammatory responses and a valuable supplement for enhancing immune regulation.

Keywords

Panax ginseng - ginsenosides Rg1 - metabolomics - gas chromatography/mass spectrometry - wound-injured inflammation - zebrafish

Full Text

References

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