Development of a Nanostructured Lipid Carrier Drug Delivery System for the Essential Oil of Zanthoxylum Bungeanum Maxim. To Effectively Ameliorate Depression.

Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim., a traditional Chinese cash crop, produces pericarps (huajiao) that are widely used as condiments and herbal medicines. Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim.

The Combination of Natural Products: A Promising Therapeutical Way for Management of Breast Cancers.

Breast cancer currently exhibits the highest incidence rate among gynecological malignancies worldwide. Natural products, which have been extensively utilized in antiviral therapies globally, demonstrate unique therapeutic advantages in breast cancer management through combinatorial applications. This article reviews recent advances in both the therapeutic effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of natural product combination therapy for breast cancer.

Hydroxy-α-sanshool from the fruits of Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim. promotes browning of white fat by activating TRPV1 to induce PPAR-γ deacetylation.

Background: Accumulating evidence suggested increasing energy expenditure is a feasible strategy for combating obesity, and browning of white adipose tissue (WAT) to promote thermogenesis might be one of the attractive ways. Hydroxy-α-sanshool (HAS), a natural amide alkaloid extracted from the fruits of Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim, possesses lots of benefits in lipid metabolism regulation.

Methods: The anti-obesity effect of HAS was investigated by establishing an animal model of obesity and a 3T3-L1 differentiation cell model.

Zanthoxylum bungeanum amides ameliorates nonalcoholic fatty liver via regulating gut microbiota and activating AMPK/Nrf2 signaling.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim. (Rutaceae) is a known herbal medicine with various bioactivities, including anti-obesity, lipid-lowering, learning & memory improving and anti-diabetes, and amides in Z. bungeanum (AZB) are considered as the major active agents for its bioactivities.

Hydroxy-α-sanshool isolated from Maxim. has antidiabetic effects on high-fat-fed and streptozotocin-treated mice increasing glycogen synthesis by regulation of PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β/GS signaling.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia. The fruits of Maxim. is a common spice and herbal medicine in China, and hydroxy-α-sanshool (HAS) is the most abundant amide in and reported to have significant hypoglycemic effects.