Ginsenoside Rg1

The decline in ovarian reserve is a major concern in female reproductive health, often associated with oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Although ginsenoside Rg1 is known to modulate mitophagy, its effectiveness in mitigating ovarian reserve decline remains unclear.

To investigate the role of ginsenoside Rg1 in promoting mitophagy to preserve ovarian reserve.

Ovarian reserve function, reproductive capacity, oxidative stress levels, and mitochondrial function were compared between ginsenoside Rg1-treated and untreated naturally aged female Drosophila using behavioral, histological, and molecular biological techniques. The protective effects of ginsenoside Rg1 were analyzed in a Drosophila model of oxidative damage induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide. Protein expression levels in the PINK1/Parkin pathway were assessed, and molecular docking and PINK1 mutant analyses were conducted to identify potential targets.

Ginsenoside Rg1 significantly mitigated ovarian reserve decline, enhancing offspring quantity and quality, increasing the levels of ecdysteroids, preventing ovarian atrophy, and elevating germline stem cell numbers in aged Drosophila. Ginsenoside Rg1 improved superoxide dismutase, catalase activity, and gene expression while reducing reactive oxygen species levels. Ginsenoside Rg1 activated the mitophagy pathway by upregulating PINK1, Parkin, and Atg8a and downregulating Ref(2)P. Knockdown of PINK1 in the ovary by RNAi attenuated the protective effects of ginsenoside Rg1. Molecular docking analysis revealed that the ginsenoside Rg1 could bind to the active site of the PINK1 kinase domain.

Ginsenoside Rg1 targets PINK1 to regulate mitophagy, preserving ovarian reserve. These findings suggest the potential of ginsenoside Rg1 as a therapeutic strategy to prevent ovarian reserve decline.

Due to constant stimulation by stomach acid and local bleeding, gastric tissue wounds tend to heal slowly and complications such as anastomotic leakage have a high incidence. Suturing is often used to treat gastric wounds in clinic, but it still faces risks such as bleeding, slow healing, and leakage. Recently, hydrogel have been widely used to treat various types of wounds. Although hydrogels have shown promising efficacy in wound healing, it is still a challenge in dealing with wounds in gastric tissue for the poor adaptability of traditional materials in acidic environments. Hence, a series of pH responsive and good tissue adhesive hydrogels (MA-HA/AA) based on methacryloyl hyaluronic acid (MA-HA) and acryloyl-6-aminocaproic acid (AA) via in situ photo-crosslinking were designed, and anti-inflammatory and pro-healing traditional Chinese medicines ginsenoside Rg1 was incorporated into the hydrogel to treat gastric tissue wound. These acid-responsive hydrogels could form effective acid-resistant barriers and could lead to hemostasis rapidly through its strong adhesion. Besides, the hydrogels contracted under an acidic environment, which could tighten the gastric tissue wounds and sustained release the loaded ginsenoside Rg1. In addition, the hydrogels showed excellent biocompatibility and in vivo degradability. In summary, the acid-responsive contractile hyaluronic acid hydrogel loaded with ginsenoside Rg1 had good properties for hemostasis and acid-resistance to facilitate the promotion of gastric wounds healing.