Astragalin alleviates ulcerative colitis via FPR1 inhibition and restores Microbiota-Metabolite Homeostasis: A mechanism revealed by deep learning.
Zhang F, Wang C, Zuo Y, Xu H, Che Y
Plant Medicine
A plant compound already present in everyday herbs and vegetables may one day help treat debilitating gut disease without the side effects of synthetic immunosuppressants.
Scientists used artificial intelligence to figure out how a natural plant chemical called astragalin calms painful gut inflammation. They discovered it latches onto and destroys a protein that normally triggers the inflammatory alarm in immune cells, which quiets the whole inflammatory cascade. As a bonus, it also helps good gut bacteria bounce back and restores the body's natural protective chemistry — all from a single plant-derived molecule.
Key Findings
A deep-learning platform identified FPR1 as astragalin's primary molecular target; astragalin directly binds FPR1 and accelerates its destruction via the cell's protein-recycling machinery, blocking NF-κB inflammatory signaling
Astragalin treatment significantly enriched the beneficial gut bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila and reversed colitis-associated disruptions in glutathione and L-ascorbate (vitamin C) metabolism
In a mouse colitis model, astragalin reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines, improved intestinal barrier integrity, and ameliorated visible disease symptoms
chevron_right Technical Summary
Astragalin, a flavonoid found naturally in plants like milkvetch and moringa, was shown to reduce gut inflammation in mice by binding and dismantling a key immune protein (FPR1), while simultaneously restoring beneficial gut bacteria and protective metabolites — suggesting it could become a plant-derived multi-target therapy for inflammatory bowel disease.
Abstract Preview
The pursuit of multi-targeted therapies that simultaneously address mucosal immune dysregulation, barrier dysfunction and gut microbiota imbalance in ulcerative colitis (UC) remains a major challen...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Was this useful?
Shared Plant-human Biology: Herbicide Effects and New Biomarkers Perspectives.
Herbicides sprayed on your lawn, your food crops, and your local park may be quietly disrupting the same biological machinery in your body — and in the gut b...
Astragalus is a large genus of over 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae and the subfamily Faboideae. It is the largest genus of plants in terms of described species. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names incl...