Fu Huiying, Liu Xia, Jin Lu, Lang Jiali, Hu Zhiming, Mao Wen, Cheng Changpei, Shou Qiyang
Affiliated Secondary Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Sexual Function of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Hangzhou 310053, PR China.
Food Funct. 2021 Nov 1;12(21):10632-10643. doi: 10.1039/d1fo01321a.
Safflower yellow (SY) is the main active ingredient isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine , which is a valuable natural edible pigment that is widely used to treat cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases. However, the effect of SY on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. In this study, we showed that SY decreased the degree of injury and inhibited the release of inflammatory factors in the liver of a diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced HCC mouse model. Flow cytometry and immunoblotting showed that SY increased the infiltration of CD8 T cells and Gr-1 macrophages to improve the immune microenvironment by affecting the expression of collagen fibers. Further cellular experiments showed that SY degraded the collagens in the liver cells through the TGF-β/Smad signalling pathway. SY also regulated the gut microbiota which may contribute to the immune microenvironment. In conclusion, SY exhibited a potent effect on the development of HCC by enhancing liver immune infiltration by promoting collagen degradation and modulating the gut microbiota. This study provides novel insights into the mechanism of SY as a candidate for the treatment of HCC in the future.
红花黄色素（SY）是从传统中药中分离出的主要活性成分，它是一种珍贵的天然食用色素，广泛用于治疗脑血管和心血管疾病。然而，SY对肝细胞癌（HCC）的影响仍不清楚。在本研究中，我们发现SY可减轻二乙基亚硝胺（DEN）诱导的HCC小鼠模型肝脏的损伤程度，并抑制炎症因子的释放。流式细胞术和免疫印迹显示，SY通过影响胶原纤维的表达增加了CD8 T细胞和Gr-1巨噬细胞的浸润，从而改善免疫微环境。进一步的细胞实验表明，SY通过TGF-β/Smad信号通路降解肝细胞中的胶原蛋白。SY还调节肠道微生物群，这可能有助于免疫微环境的改善。总之，SY通过促进胶原蛋白降解和调节肠道微生物群增强肝脏免疫浸润，对HCC的发展具有显著作用。本研究为SY作为未来治疗HCC的候选药物的作用机制提供了新的见解。
