Dongdong Wang

McMaster University | McMaster · Department of Medicine

Aim: This study aimed to identify and analyze the top 100 most cited digital health and mobile health (m-health) publications. It could aid researchers in the identification of promising new research avenues, additionally supporting the establishment of international scientific collaboration between interdisciplinary research groups with demonstrat...

Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments contained in numerous food plants. This study provides an overall quantitative literature analysis on anthocyanins. Bibliometric data were collected through the search string TOPIC = anthocyan*, which yielded 44,121 publications indexed within the Web of Science Core Collection. Term maps were generated using...

Aims The entry of lipoproteins from blood into the arterial wall is a rate-limiting step in atherosclerosis. It is controversial whether this happens by filtration or regulated transendothelial transport. Because sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) preserves the endothelial barrier, we investigated in vivo and in vitro, whether S1P and its cognate S1P re...

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is defined as a clinical syndrome characterized by excessive fat accumulation in liver, predominantly influenced by dietary choices. This study provides an extensive quantitative literature analysis on dietary influences on NAFLD. Bibliometric data were collected through the search string TOPIC = (“NAFLD*”...

In contrast to the well-defined biological feedback loops controlling glucose, the mechanisms by which the body responds to changes in fatty acid availability are less clearly defined. Growth differentiating factor 15 (GDF15) suppresses the consumption of diets high in fat but is paradoxically increased in obese mice fed a high-fat diet. Given this...

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is characterized by both chronic low-grade inflammation and dyslipidemia. The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) inhibits cholesterol synthesis and dampens inflammation but whether pharmacological activation reduces atherosclerosis is equivocal. In the current study, we found that the orally bioavailable and...

Increased liver de novo lipogenesis (DNL) is a hallmark of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). A key enzyme controlling DNL upregulated in NASH is ATP citrate lyase (ACLY). In mice, inhibition of ACLY reduces liver steatosis, ballooning, and fibrosis and inhibits activation of hepatic stellate cells. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agoni...

Caloric restriction that promotes weight loss is an effective strategy for treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and improving insulin sensitivity in people with type 2 diabetes¹. Despite its effectiveness, in most individuals, weight loss is usually not maintained partly due to physiological adaptations that suppress energy expenditure, a pro...

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) accounts for a global health problem. It is a complex disease as a result of the combination of environmental as well as genetic factors. Morbidity is still increasing across the world. One of the possibilities for the prevention and mitigation of the negative consequences of type 2 diabetes is a nutritional diet rich in bioac...

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPAR-α) belonging to the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily is a promising target for CVDs which mechanistically improves the production of high-density lipid as well as inhibit vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. PPAR-α mainly interferes with adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase, t...

Worldwide, rates of metabolic diseases are rapidly increasing and environmental exposure to pesticides, pollutants and/or other chemicals may play a role. Reductions in Brown Adipose Tissue (BAT) thermogenesis, mediated in part by uncoupling protein 1 (Ucp1), are associated with metabolic diseases. In the current study, we investigated whether the...

Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is one of the critical cardiovascular complications that lead to elevated morbidity and mortality among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2M). The association between osteoprotegerin (OPG) and CAC could potentially provide a reasonable chance for preventive therapy in type 2 diabetic patients and benefit the rate o...

Fritillariae cirrhosae bulbus (FCB) is one of the most important traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) for the treatment of cough and phlegm. Due to increasing demand and the complexity of FCB’s botanical origin, various substitutes have appeared in the market, resulting in a major challenge to distinguish FCB and its substitutes (F. pallidiflorae bu...

Acetaminophen (APAP)‐induced liver injury (AILI) has been recognized as a pivotal contributor to drug‐induced liver failure in Western countries, but its molecular mechanism remains poorly understood. Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is a pleiotropic factor which alleviates non‐alcoholic liver steatohepatitis, liver fibrosis and liver injur...

Background The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled “International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce” (INPST) was established in 2018, to bring...

Background: The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled “International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce” (INPST) was established in 2018, to brin...

The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled “International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce” (INPST) was established in 2018, to bring together i...

ATP-binding cassette subfamily A member 1 (ABCA1) protein plays an essential role in a variety of events, such as cholesterol and phospholipid efflux, nascent high-density lipoprotein (HDL) biosynthesis, phospholipid translocation. Thus, there has been much research activity aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms of regulating ABCA1 expres...

Background/purpose: Type 2 diabetes and obesity increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer. Metformin may reduce colorectal cancer but the mechanisms mediating this effect remain unclear. In mice and humans, a high-fat diet (HFD), obesity and metformin are known to alter the gut microbiome but whether this is important for influencing tumor...

Lycopene intake from tomatoes and other food sources has multiple potential health benefits. This report aimed to evaluate the current research literature on lycopene concerning human and animal health. The electronic Web of Science Core Collection database was searched with (lycopene*) AND (health* OR illness* OR disease* OR medic* OR pharma* OR d...

Acetaminophen (APAP)-induced liver injury (AILI) has been recognized as a pivotal contributor to drug-induced liver failure in western countries, but its molecular mechanism remains poorly understood. After data mining using the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, we found that the gene expression of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) inc...

Objective ApoM enriches S1P (sphingosine-1-phosphate) within HDL (high-density lipoproteins) and facilitates the activation of the S1P 1 (S1P receptor type 1) by S1P, thereby preserving endothelial barrier function. Many protective functions exerted by HDL in extravascular tissues raise the question of how S1P regulates transendothelial HDL transpo...

Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is a member of the TGFβ superfamily whose expression is increased in response to cellular stress and disease as well as by metformin. Elevations in GDF15 reduce food intake and body mass in animal models through binding to glial cell- derived neurotrophic factor family receptor alpha- like (GFRAL) and the re...

The Natural Resources for Human Health (NRFHH): An interdisciplinary new journal dedicated to natural sciences is published by Visagaa Publishing House. The editorial board is leaded by Highly Cited Researcher Prof. Jesus Simal-Gandara, together with many other internationally recognised researchers. The editorial board comprises of 38 editors from...

Numerous investigations on quercetin have revealed that it effectively treats and prevents different diseases, acting as an anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-proliferative, anti-atherogenic, anticoagulative, antioxidant, antidiabetic agent, etc. This work aimed to analyze the present research literature on quercetin in the context of human an...

Apples contain substantial amounts of polyphenols, and diverse phenolics – mainly flavonoids and phenolic acids, have been identified in their flesh and skins. This work aimed to analyze the overall landscape of the research literature published to date on apple phenolic compounds in the context of human and animal health. The Web of Science Core C...

The open innovation hub Digital Health and Patient Safety Platform (DHPSP) was recently established with the purpose to invigorate collaborative scientific research and the development of new digital products and personalized solutions aiming to improve human health and patient safety. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a Twitter-base...

Endothelial cells (ECs) are involved in various physiological process. Both primary human ECs and immortal endothelial cells are used in various studies. Available genomic or transcriptomic information for difference in ECs is deficient. Therefore, in this study we aim to reveal the difference between primary human aortic ECs (HAECs) and immortal E...

Natural products are the backbone not only for traditional medical systems, but also for the modern medicine, as many modern drugs are derived from natural sources. Apart from therapeutics, natural products are also broadly utilized in areas like nutrition and food technology, cosmetics and biomaterial development, and also used in multiple industr...

The present study evaluated for the first time citation-impacts of human research reporting guidelines in comparison to their animal version counterparts. Re-examined and extended also were previous findings indicating that a research reporting guideline would be cited more for its versions published in journals with higher Impact Factors, compared...

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is a common and widely used spice. It is rich in various chemical constituents, including phenolic compounds, terpenes, polysaccharides, lipids, organic acids, and raw fibers. Herein, we reviewed its effects on the vascular system. Studies utilizing cell cultures or animal models showed that ginger constituents a...

Background Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Black pepper, the fruits of Piper nigrum L., is well known as “the king of spices” and used as seasoning and condiments globally. In addition to being an important food additive, black pepper is also used as a traditional medicine to treat vomiting, abdominal pain,...

The current study aimed to identify which natural products and which research directions are related to the major contributors to academic journals for diabetes therapy. Bibliometric data were extracted from the Web of Science online database using the search string TOPIC = (‘‘natural product*’ OR ‘‘natural compound*’ OR ‘‘natural molecule*’ OR ‘ph...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). To date, there have been more than 10 million reported cases, more than 517,000 deaths in 215 countries, areas or territories. There is no effective antiviral medicine to prevent or treat COVID-19. Natural products and traditional medicine...

Natural Products and Their Applications: Special Issue in Current Research in Biotechnology

Epidemiological results revealed that there is an inverse correlation between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels and risks of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Mounting evidence supports that HDLs are atheroprotective, therefore, many therapeutic approaches have been developed to increase HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) levels....

Increased cholesterol efflux from macrophage foam cells in the subendothelial space confers protection against atherosclerosis. Soraphen A, a myxobacterial macrolactone, is an inhibitor of acetyl coenzyme A carboxylases (ACC), which control fatty acid synthesis and oxidation. To assess a potential direct link between macrophage cholesterol efflux a...

Several vasoprotective functions of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) on the endothelium have been shown to depend on the presence of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptors (S1PRs) as well as scavenger receptor class B type 1 (SR-B1). Interference with the presence of S1P or the activity of S1PR1 or S1PR3 mimics many effects seen by the interference...

Nanopharmaceuticals and nanonutraceuticals research has been lately receiving a lot of scientific attention. We aimed to identify the top 100 most cited original articles of the scientific area, analyze their research themes, major contributors regarding authors, institutions, countries and journals. The bibliometric data was extracted from the Web...

Pain represents an unpleasant sensation linked to actual or potential tissue damage. In the early phase, the sensation of pain is caused due to direct stimulation of the sensory nerve fibers. On the other hand, the pain in the late phase is attributed to inflammatory mediators. Current medicines used to treat inflammation and pain are effective; ho...

Epidemiological results revealed that there is an inverse correlation between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels and risks of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Mounting evidence supports that HDLs are atheroprotective, therefore, many therapeutic approaches have been developed to increase HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) levels....

Scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI) protein is an integral membrane glycoprotein. SR-BI is emerging as a multifunctional protein, which regulates autophagy, efferocytosis, cell survival and inflammation. It is well known that SR-BI plays a critical role in lipoprotein metabolism by mediating cholesteryl esters selective uptake and the bi-dire...

Berberine is an alkaloid with a wide range of reported beneficial health effects. The current work provides an extensive literature analysis on berberine. Bibliometric data were identified by means of the search string TOPIC=(“berberin*” OR “umbellatine*”), which yielded 5,547 publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection electronic da...

Ethnopharmacological relevance: In different countries and areas of the world, traditional medicine has been and is still used for the treatment of various disorders, including chest pain or liver complaints, of which we now know that they can be linked with altered lipid and cholesterol homeostasis. As ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1)...

Chronic inflammation with a wide spectrum of connected diseases (e [...]

Foam cell formation and further accumulation in the subendothelial space of the vascular wall is a hallmark of atherosclerotic lesions. Targeting foam cell formation in the atherosclerotic lesions can be a promising approach to treat and prevent atherosclerosis. The formation of foam cells is determined by the balanced effects of three major interr...

Background Black pepper, the briefly cooked and dried unripe fruits of Piper nigrum L. has broad culinary applications around the world and has been considered as the “king of spices”. In recent years, studies have shown that a diet supplemented with black pepper not only improves digestion but also has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects as...

As a major component of cell membrane lipids, Arachidonic acid (AA), being a major component of the cell membrane lipid content, is mainly metabolized by three kinds of enzymes: cyclooxygenase (COX), lipoxygenase (LOX), and cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes. Based on these three metabolic pathways, AA could be converted into various metabolites that...

Arctium species are known for a variety of pharmacological effects due to their diverse volatile and non-volatile secondary metabolites. Representatives of Arctium species contain non-volatile compounds including lignans, fatty acids, acetylenic compounds, phytosterols, polysaccharides, caffeoylquinic acid derivatives, flavonoids, terpenes/terpenoi...

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata (RRP) is a popular medicinal herb widely used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to treat CVDs. However, the development of this novel therapeutic product has been stagnant, and its molecular mechanism of action remains unclear. This study ai...

Resveratrol is a stilbene-type bioactive molecule with a broad spectrum of reported biological effects. In this sense, the current work provides a comprehensive literature analysis on resveratrol, representing a highly-researched commercially available dietary ingredient. Bibliometric data were identified by means of the search string TOPIC=(“resve...

Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation plays a critical role in atherosclerosis. At the beginning of the pathologic process of atherosclerosis, irregular VSMC proliferation promotes plaque formation, but in advanced plaques VSMCs are beneficial, promoting the stability and preventing rupture of the fibrous cap. Recent studies have demonst...

BACKGROUND: Berries are important sources of crucial dietary components such as vitamins and minerals, as well as various phytonutrients that may be potentially beneficial to human health and could be used against chronic diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disorders. OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to identify and analyze the 100 most...

Scope Ginger is reported to be used for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Cholesterol efflux from macrophage foam cells is an important process in reverse cholesterol transport, whose increase may help to prevent or treat CVD. In this study, we investigated the effects of 6‐dihydroparadol from ginger on macrophage chole...

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), one of the oldest known edible fruits, is nowadays broadly consumed throughout the world. Its fruits and seeds as well as other anatomical compartments (e.g., flowers and leaves) are rich in numerous bioactive compounds and therefore, the scientific interest in this plant has been constantly growing in recent years...

Many natural products have been so far tested regarding their potency to inhibit vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation, a process involved in atherosclerosis, pulmonary hypertension and restenosis. Compounds studied in vitro and in vivo as VSMC proliferation inhibitors include, for example indirubin-3'-monoxime, resveratrol, hyperoside, plumeri...

Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of human death worldwide. Excessive proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells contributes to the etiology of such diseases, including atherosclerosis, restenosis, and pulmonary hypertension. The control of vascular cell proliferation is complex and encompasses interactions of many regulatory molecules a...

The genus Fritillaria (Liliaceae) comprises of ~140 species of bulbous perennials, which are distributed in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. Fritillaria species have attracted much attention because of their commercial value, partly as ornamental plants but principally as a source of material for use in traditional medicine. The use o...

Background Mild but chronically elevated circulating unconjugated bilirubin is associated with reduced total and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration, which is associated with reduced cardiovascular disease risk. We aimed to investigate whether unconjugated bilirubin influences macrophage cholesterol efflux, as a potential mechanism fo...

Isosteroidal alkaloids are a category of promising bioactive compounds which mostly exist in plants of genus Veratrum and Fritillaria. The pharmacological activities of isosteroidal alkaloids include antihypertensive, antitussive, anti-inflammatory, antithrombosis, among others. Recently, some studies show that this kind of alkaloids exhibited sign...

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Scope: Increased macrophage cholesterol efflux is considered to have anti-atherosclerotic effect counteracting cardiovascular disease. The principle pungent ingredient of the fruits of Piper nigrum, piperine, is identified in this study as a cholesterol efflux (ChE) inducer in THP-1-derived macrophages, and mechanisms underlying this effect are ex...

A graphical abstract (GA) represents a piece of artwork that is intended to summarize the main findings of an article for readers at a single glance. Many publishers currently encourage authors to supplement their articles with GAs, in the hope that such a convenient visual summary will facilitate readers with a clearer outline of papers that are o...

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Bulb of Fritillaria cirrhosa D.Don (BFC) has been wildly used in China for a long time for folk medicine since its significant therapeutic effects on respiratory diseases, such as cough, expectoration, pneumonia and bronchial inflammation, which are related to respiratory inflammatory response. However, there is a l...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the world. Present therapies for COPD have limited effect on reducing the progression of COPD and suppressing the inflammatory response in the lung. Bulbs of Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don (BFC) have been used in many Asian countries for a long time to treat pulmonary...

Cancer is well known as a leading cause of death in the world. At present, it is the very active area to search for anticancer drugs from natural products. In this study, we evaluated the antitumor property of chloroform extract (CE), n-hexane extract (HE), water extract (WE) and steroidal alkaloids from the cultivated Bulbus Fritillariae ussuriens...

Bulbus of Fritillaria pallidiflora, the dried bulb of F. pallidiflora, is widely used in Chinese folk medicine due to its powerful biological activities. The aim of this study was to investigate in vitro and in vivo antitumor activity of different fractions and isosteroidal alkaloids from bulbus of F. pallidiflora and clarify its putative mechanism...

The bulbs of cultivated Fritillaria cirrhosa (BCFC) are used in China both for food and folk medicine due to its powerful biological activities. The aim of this study is to optimize the extraction and enrichment conditions of alkaloids from BCFC. Firstly, the orthogonal experimental design was used to optimize and evaluate four variables (ethanol c...

Bulbus Fritillariae Cirrhosae (BFC) is widely used in China both for food and folk medicine because of its powerful biological activities. Firstly, this study was designed to examine the antiproliferative activities of the different fractions from BFC in vitro by MTT assay. The results showed that chloroform extracts (CE) and the purified total alk...

The acute toxicity and dose-response studies of methanol extracts of the fruit (MFE), leaf (MLE), bark (MBE) and root (MRE) of Morinda lucida were investigated in adult male albino rats (Wistar strain) weighing between 180 – 250g. They were orally administered (p.o) with the various extracts by observing Lorke’s method. The median lethal dose (LD50...

Bulbus Fritillaria Cirrhosae (BFC), known by the Chinese name "Chuan-Bei-Mu", is used as an antitussive, antiasthmatic and expectorant drug for more than 2000 years in China, and Bulbus of Fritillaria wabuensis S. Y. Tang & S. C. Yueh (BFW) was recorded in the 2010 edition of China Pharmacopoeia as one of sources for BFC. The primary objective of t...

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the antitussive, expectorant and anti-inflammatory effects of alkaloids imperialine (I), chuanbeinone (II), verticinone (III), and verticine (IV), which were isolated from the Bulbus Fritillariae Cirrhosae (BFC) using phytochemical method. The results showed that all the alkaloids significantly inh...