Exploring the mechanism of the Fructus Mume and Rhizoma Coptidis herb pair intervention in Ulcerative Colitis from the perspective of inflammation and immunity based on systemic pharmacology

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies

Research

Rui Wu¹  Yatian Yang¹  Chengcheng Qian¹  Shoujin Liu²  Jinmei Ou³  Rui Wang⁴ 

[1] Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, 230012, Hefei, China;Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, 230012, Hefei, China;Anhui Academy of Chinese Medicine Institute of Chinese Medicine Resources Protection and Development, 230012, Hefei, China;Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, 230012, Hefei, China;Key Laboratory of Anhui Province for the New Technology of Chinese Medicine Decoction Pieces Manufacturing, 230012, Hefei, China;Anhui Academy of Chinese Medicine Institute of Chinese Medicine Resources Protection and Development, 230012, Hefei, China;Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, 230012, Hefei, China;Wuhu Institute of Technology, 241006, Wuhu, China;

关键词: Fructus Mume;    Rhizoma Coptidis;    Herb pair;    Ulcerative colitis;    Network pharmacology;    Molecular docking;    MAPK1;    Inflammatory factor;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12906-022-03823-7

 received in 2022-03-12, accepted in 2022-12-16,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

PurposeUlcerative Colitis (UC) is a chronic nonspecific inflammatory disease of the colon and rectum. Fructus Mume (FM) and Rhizoma Coptidis (RC) exert effects on inflammatory and immune diseases. We evaluated the hypothesis of the FM and RC (FM-RC) herb pair remedy in alleviating dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis, through network pharmacology-based analyses, molecular docking, and experimental validation.MethodsThe Traditional Chinese medicine systematic pharmacology analysis platform(TCMSP) and Swiss database were used to predict potential targets of FM-RC and the GeneCards database was utilized to collect UC genes. Cytoscape software was used to construct and analyze the networks, and DAVID was utilized to perform enrichment analysis. AutoDock software was used to dock the core chemical components of the FM-RC herb pair with key UC targets. Animal experiments were performed to validate the prediction results and general conditions and body weight were observed. Pathological changes in colon tissue were observed by staining with hematoxylin and eosin. The levels of TNF-α, IL-8, IL-17, and IL-4 in serum and colon tissue were detected by ELISA. ResultsEighteen effective components of the herb couple were screened, and their potential therapeutic targets in the treatment of UC were acquired from 110 overlapped targets. GO and KEGG analyses revealed that these targets were highly correlated with protein autophosphorylation, plasma membrane, ATP binding, cancer pathways, the PI3K-AKt signaling pathway, and the Rap1 signaling pathway. Molecular docking established the core protein interactions with compounds having a docking energy < 0 kJ·mol−1, indicating the core active components had strong binding activities with the core targets. FM-RC herb pair relieved pathological indicators and reduced the concentration of TNF-α, IL-8, and IL-17and increased IL-4 levels in the serum and colon tissues of UC rats.ConclusionCollectively, FM-RC herb pair administration alleviated UC. These beneficial effects targeted MAPK1 signaling related to inflammation and immunity, which provided a basis for a better understanding of FM-RC in the treatment of UC.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

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