The Tibetan medicine Zuotai influences clock gene expression in the liver of mice

PeerJ

article

Huan Li¹  Wen-Kai Li¹  Yuan-Fu Lu¹  Li-Xin Wei²  Jie Liu¹ 

[1] Key Lab for Basic Pharmacology of Ministry of Education, Zunyi Medical College;Northwest Plateau Institute of Bology, Chinese Academia of Sciences

关键词: Circadian clock;    Zuotai;    Npas2;    Dbp;    Liver;    Bmal1;    Nr1d1;    Nfil3;    Cry1;    Per2;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.1632

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background. The circadian clock is involved in drug metabolism, efficacy and toxicity. Drugs could in turn affect the biological clock as a mechanism of their actions. Zuotai is an essential component of many popular Tibetan medicines for sedation, tranquil and “detoxification,” and is mainly composed of metacinnabar (β-HgS). The pharmacological and/or toxicological basis of its action is unknown. This study aimed to examine the effect of Zuotai on biological clock gene expression in the liver of mice. Materials and methods. Mice were orally given Zuotai (10 mg/kg, 1.5-fold of clinical dose) daily for 7 days, and livers were collected every 4 h during the 24 h period. Total RNA was extracted and subjected to real-time RT-PCR analysis of circadian clock gene expression. Results. Zuotai decreased the oscillation amplitude of the clock core gene Clock, neuronal PAS domain protein 2 (Npas2), Brain and muscle Arnt-like protein-1 (Bmal1) at 10:00. For the clock feedback negative control genes, Zuotai had no effect on the oscillation of the clock gene Cryptochrome (Cry1) and Period genes (Per1–3). For the clock-driven target genes, Zuotai increased the oscillation amplitude of the PAR-bZip family member D-box-binding protein (Dbp), decreased nuclear factor interleukin 3 (Nfil3) at 10:00, but had no effect on thyrotroph embryonic factor (Tef); Zuotai increased the expression of nuclear receptor Rev-Erbα (Nr1d1) at 18:00, but had little influence on the nuclear receptor Rev-Erbβ (Nr1d2) and RORα. Conclusion. The Tibetan medicine Zuotai could influence the expression of clock genes, which could contribute to pharmacological and/or toxicological effects of Zuotai.

【 授权许可】

CC BY