Mechanism of Huashi Baidu Prescription in Treating Influenza Viral Pneumonia Based on Transcriptome / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo clarify the therapeutic effect of Huashi Baidu prescription on pneumonia in mice caused by influenza A （H1N1） virus and explore its mechanism based on the transcriptome. MethodA mouse influenza viral pneumonia model was built by intranasal infection with influenza A virus， and mice were continuously administered the drug for five days， so as to investigate the general condition， lung index， viral load， pathological morphology of lung tissue， survival time， and prolongation rate of survival time of mice and clarify the therapeutic effect of Huashi Baidu prescription on influenza viral pneumonia. Transcriptome technology was used to detect the differentially expressed genes in the lung tissue of mice in the model group and the normal group， as well as the Huashi Baidu prescription group and the model group， and the potential core target of the Huashi Baidu prescription for the treatment of influenza viral pneumonia was screened. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was used to verify the effect of Huashi Baidu prescription on the mRNA expression level of core target genes. ResultCompared with the normal group， the lung index and viral load in the lung tissue of the model group were significantly increased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the high-dose group of Huashi Baidu prescription significantly prolonged the survival time of mice infected with influenza A virus （P<0.05） and significantly reduced the lung index value of mice （P<0.05） and the viral load of lung tissue. The high-dose， medium-dose， and low-dose groups of Huashi Baidu prescription could significantly reduce lung tissue inflammation， blood stasis， swelling， and other pathological changes in mice （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Transcriptome analysis of lung tissue showed that core genes were mainly enriched in the nuclear transcription factor-κB （NF-κB） signaling pathway， interleukin-17 （IL-17） signaling pathway， cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction， and other pathways after the intervention of Huashi Baidu prescription. TRAF6， NFKBIA， CCL2， CCL7， and CXCL2 were the top five node genes with combined score values. Real-time PCR validation showed that Huashi Baidu prescription significantly downregulated the mRNA expression of key genes TRAF6 and NFKBIA in the NF-κB signaling pathway， as well as chemokines CCL2， CCL7， and CXCL2 （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionHuashi Baidu prescription has a therapeutic effect on influenza viral pneumonia， possibly by inhibiting the expression of key nodes TRAF6 and NFKBIA in the NF-κB signaling pathway and that of chemokines CCL2， CCL7， and CXCL2， reducing the recruitment of inflammatory cells and viral load， and exerting anti-influenza viral pneumonia effects.