Gegen Qinlian decoction ameliorates TNBS-induced ulcerative colitis by regulating Th2/Th1 and Tregs/Th17 cells balance, inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation and reshaping gut microbiota.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Chinese herbal medicine Gegen Qinlian Decoction (GQD) has been clinically shown to be an effective treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) in China. However, the underlying mechanism of GQD's anti-ulcerative colitis properties and its effect on gut microbiota still deserve further exploration. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study observed the regulatory effects of GQD on Th2/Th1 and Tregs/Th17 cells balance, the NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) infammasome and gut microbiota in TNBS-induced UC in BALB/c mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 61 main chemical compounds in the GQD were determined by UPLC-Q-TOF/MS. The UC BALB/c model was established by intrarectal administration of trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS), and GQD was orally administered at low and high dosages of 2.96 and 11.83 g/kg/day, respectively. The anti-inflammatory effects of GQD for ulcerative colitis were evaluated by survival rate, body weight, disease activity index (DAI) score, colonic weight and index, spleen index, hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and histopathological scores. Flow cytometry was used to detect the percentage of CD4, Th1, Th2, Th17 and Tregs cells. The levels of Th1-/Th2-/Th17-/Tregs-related inflammatory cytokines and additional proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-18) were detected by CBA, ELISA, and RT-PCR. The expressions of GATA3, T-bet, NLRP3, Caspase-1, IL-Iß, Occludin and Zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) on colon tissues were detected by Western blot and RT-PCR. Transcriptome sequencing was performed using colon tissue and 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed on intestinal contents. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was employed to assess the contribution of intestinal microbiota and its correlation with CD4 T cells and the NLRP3 inflammasome. RESULTS: GQD increased the survival rate of TNBS-induced UC in BALB/c mice, and significantly improved their body weight, DAI score, colonic weight and index, spleen index, and histological characteristics. The intestinal barrier dysfunction was repaired after GQD administration through promoting the expression of tight junction proteins (Occludin and ZO-1). GQD restored the balance of Th2/Th1 and Tregs/Th17 cells immune response of colitis mice, primarily inhibiting the increase in Th2/Th1 ratio and their transcription factor production (GATA3 and T-bet). Morever, GQD changed the secretion of Th1-/Th2-/Th17-/Tregs-related cytokines (IL-2, IL-12, IL-5, IL-13, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-17A) and reduced the expressions of IL-1ß, IL-18. Transcriptome results suggested that GQD could also remodel the immune inflammatory response of colitis by inhibiting NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, and Western blot, immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR further revealed that GQD exerted anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome, such as down-regulating the expression of NLRP3, Caspase-1 and IL-1ß. More interestingly, GQD regulated gut microbiota dysbiosis, suppressed the overgrowth of conditional pathogenic gut bacteria like Helicobacter, Proteobacteria, and Mucispirillum, while the probiotic gut microbiota, such as Lactobacillus, Muribaculaceae, Ruminiclostridium_6, Akkermansia, and Ruminococcaceae_unclassified were increased. We further confirmed that GQD-treated gut microbiota was sufficient to relieve TNBS-induced colitis by FMT, involving the modulation of Th2/Th1 and Tregs/Th17 balance, inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and enhancement of colonic barrier function. CONCLUSIONS: GQD might alleviate TNBS-induced UC via regulating Th2/Th1 and Tregs/Th17 cells Balance, inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome and reshaping gut microbiota, which may provide a novel strategy for patients with colitis.

[Effect of Gegen Qinlian Decoction on cardiac diastolic function of diabetic mice with damp-heat syndrome].

This study was designed to explore the effect and mechanism of Gegen Qinlian Decoction(GQD) on cardiac function of diabetic mice with damp-heat syndrome. The db/db diabetic mice were exposed to the damp-heat environment test chamber for inducing the damp-heat syndrome. Forty-eight six-week-old db/db mice were randomly divided into six groups, namely the db/db diabetic model group, db/db diabetic mouse with damp-heat syndrome(db/db-dh) group, db/db diabetic mouse with damp-heat syndrome treated with low-dose GQD(db/db-dh+GQD-L) group, db/db-dh+GQD-M(medium-dose) group, db/db-dh+GQD-H(high-dose) group, and db/db-dh+lipro(liprostatin-1, the inhibitor of ferroptosis) group, with eight six-week-old db/m mice classified into the control group. The results showed that mice presented with the damp-heat syndrome after exposure to the "high-fat diet" and "damp-heat environment", manifested as the elevated fasting blood glucose, reduced food intake, low urine output, diarrhea, listlessness, loose and coarse hair, and dark yellow and lusterless fur. However, the intragastric administration of the high-dose GQD for 10 weeks ameliorated the above-mentioned symptoms, inhibited myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis, and improved the cardiac diastolic function of db/db-dh mice. qPCR suggested that GQD regulated the expression of ferroptosis-related genes, weakened the lipid peroxidation in the myocardium, and up-regulated glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4) expression in comparison with those in the db/db-dh group. At the same time, the ferroptosis inhibitor liprostatin-1 significantly improved the cardiac function and reversed the cardiac remodeling of db/db-dh mice. It can be concluded that the damp-heat syndrome may aggravate myocardial ferroptosis and accelerate cardiac remodeling of db/db mice, thus leading to diastolic dysfunction. GQD is able to improve cardiac remodeling and diastolic function in diabetic mice with damp-heat syndrome, which may be related to its inhibition of myocardial ferroptosis.

In Silico and In Vivo Studies on the Mechanisms of Chinese Medicine Formula (Gegen Qinlian Decoction) in the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and Gegen Qinlian Decoction (GQD), a Chinese botanical formula, has exhibited beneficial efficacy against UC. However, the mechanisms underlying the effect of GQD still remain to be elucidated. In this study, network pharmacology approach and molecular docking in silico were applied to uncover the potential multicomponent synergetic effect and molecular mechanisms. The targets of ingredients in GQD were obtained from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and Bioinformatics Analysis Tool for Molecular mechANism of TCM (BATMAN-TCM) database, while the UC targets were retrieved from Genecards, therapeutic target database (TTD) and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database. The topological parameters of Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) data were used to screen the hub targets in the network. The possible mechanisms were investigated with gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. Molecular docking was used to verify the binding affinity between the active compounds and hub targets. Network pharmacology analysis successfully identified 77 candidate compounds and 56 potential targets. The targets were further mapped to 20 related pathways to construct a compound-target-pathway network and an integrated network of GQD treating UC. Among these pathways, PI3K-AKT, HIF-1, VEGF, Ras, and TNF signaling pathways may exert important effects in the treatment of UC via inflammation suppression and anti-carcinogenesis. In the animal experiment, treatment with GQD and sulfasalazine (SASP) both ameliorated inflammation in UC. The proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-6) induced by UC were significantly decreased by GQD and SASP. Moreover, the protein expression of EGFR, PI3K, and phosphorylation of AKT were reduced after GQD and SASP treatment, and there was no significance between the GQD group and SASP group. Our study systematically dissected the molecular mechanisms of GQD on the treatment of UC using network pharmacology, as well as uncovered the therapeutic effects of GQD against UC through ameliorating inflammation via downregulating EGFR/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and the pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6.

Effect of Gegen Qinlian Decoction and composition of index components on ulcerative colitis related colon cancer in mice based on "pathway-disease" interaction network / 中草药

Objective: A network model of ulcerative colitis-associated colon cancer (UCRCC) and NF-κB signaling pathway was established, in order to predict the key inflammatory targets of UCRCC and identify the effect of GQD and composition of index components on these targets. Methods: HPLC method was used, the mobile phase was acetonitrile-0.2% phosphoric acid aqueous solution, and the gradient elution was carried out. The 10 indicators were determined. The literature of databases such as Pubmed and ScienceDirect were searched, the terms of the upstream and downstream proteins of UCRCC disease and NF-κB pathway were examined. The Cytoscape software was used to predict the key inflammatory targets of UCRCC. The UCRCC model was established by AOM/DSS method, and the effect of GQD and composition of index components on key inflammatory targets were identified by immunohistochemistry and ELISA. Results: The contents of puerarin, daidzin, glycyrrhizin, jatrorrhizine, baicalin, palmatine, berberine, baicalein, glycyrrhizic acid and wogonin in GQD were 1.677, 0.154, 0.159, 0.045, 0.448, 0.035, 0.095, 0.013, 0.111 and 0.006 μg/g, respectively. The top eight inflammatory factors of the key protein in the interaction network were NF-κBp65, iNOS, COX-2, Bcl-2, TNF-α, IL-1β, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. Compared with the model group, the high-, medium- and low-dose groups of GQD, the composition of index components group and the 5-ASA group were able to down-regulate the relative expression levels of NF-κBp65, iNOS, Bcl-2, COX-2 in colonic tissues of UCRCC mice (P < 0.01), and down-regulate the expression levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, ICAM-1, VCAM-1 in serum of UCRCC mice (P < 0.05, 0.01). Conclusion: GQD and composition of index components can improve the pathological condition of colon tissue in UCRCC mice, down-regulate the expression of inflammatory factors in colon tissue of UCRCC mice, and have a certain intervention effect on UCRCC, which laid the foundation for determining the quality marker (Q-marker) of GQD.

LC-ESI-MS/MS, a modified method for simultaneous quantification of isoflavonoids, flavonoids, alkaloids and saponins in a Chinese herbal preparation Gegen-Qinlian decoction / 药物分析学报

A sensitive and reliable liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) method was established to simultaneously quantitate four categories of compounds (isoflavonoids, flavonoids, alkaloids and saponins) in Gegen-Qinlian decoction (GQD). These compounds were separated by a Shiseido CAPCELL PAK C18 column with a linear gradient consisting of 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in water (A) and 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in acetonitrile (B), and delivered at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. All the analytes were determined by electrospray positive ionization tandem mass spectrometry in a multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. Linearity, accuracy, precision, recovery and stability of the method were evaluated with the validation over the range of 4.0-538 5 ng/mL. The proposed method was applied to the analysis of a Chinese herbal preparation GQD successfully.

LC-ESI-MS/MS, a modified method for simultaneous quantification of isoflavonoids, flavonoids, alkaloids and saponins in a Chinese herbal preparation Gegen-Qinlian decoction / 西安交通大学学报·英文版

A sensitive and reliable liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/ MS) method was established to simultaneously quantitate four categories of compounds (isoflavonoids, flavonoids, alkaloids and saponins) in Gegen-Qinlian decoction (GQD). These compounds were separated by a Shiseido CAPCELL PAK C18 column with a linear gradient consisting of 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in water (A) and 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in acetonitrile (B), and delivered at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. All the analytes were determined by electrospray positive ionization tandem mass spectrometry in a multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. Linearity, accuracy, precision, recovery and stability of the method were evaluated with the validation over the range of 4.0-5385 ng/mL. The proposed method was applied to the analysis of a Chinese herbal preparation CQD successfully.

HPCE fingerprinting of Gegen Qinlian Decoction / 中草药

Object To study the HPCE fingerprinting of Gegen Qinlian Decoction (GQD). Methods A buffer was composed of 30 mmol/L sodium phosphate and 40 mmol/L borate solution. Capillary electrophoresis was performed using a 65 cm (43 cm to detector) ?50 ?m fused-silica capillary tube. Separation voltage was 22 kV, sampling time was 1 s, detected wavelength was 254 nm, and the temperature was maintained at 30 ℃. Results The 27 components in GQD were successfully separated. The observation of methodology was in keeping with quantitatine determination and qualitative study. Conclusion This method can be used for the quality control of the preparation of GQD with good precision.

Influence of various compatibilities on puerarin content in Gegen Qinlian Decoction / 中草药

Object To set up the quantitative method for determining the puerarin in Gegen Qinlian Decoction (GQD) by RP-HPLC and to study the change of puerarin contents in various combinations of GQD. Methods L 8(2 7) orthogonal design and statistic analysis (SPSS 10.0) were used, the puerarin contents in the samples were determined by HPLC. Results Influence of Radix Scutellaria, Rhizoma Coptidis and Radix Glycyrrhizae Preparata on the puerarin content in GQD was insignificant. And interactions between two of three were insignificant too. In this experiment, puperarin in the sedimentation was found in the compatible decoction of Rhizoma Coptidis and Radix Puerariae. Conclusion The puerarin content is not markedly influenced by Radix Scutellaria, Rhizoma Coptidis and Radix Glycyrrhizae Preparata. Maybe, the change of pH is relevant to the sedimentation in the compatible decoction contained Rhizoma Coptidis. and Radix Puerariae

Comparative study on bacteriostasis among compositions of Gegen Qinlian Decoction against Streptococcus pneumoniae / 中草药

Object To explore the regularity of recipe composition by observing different bacteriostasis among compositions of Gegen Qinlian Decoction (GQD) against Streptococcus pneumoniae. MethodsTo evaluate the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 15 decoctions through double fold dilution method. Results Not all of the decoctions are of the same MIC. Conclusion Not all of the 15 decoctions have the same bacteriostasis against S. pneumoniae. Among the four herbs of GQD Coptis chinensis Franch. has the strongest bacteriostasis and the next Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi. While Glycyrrhina wralensis Fisch and Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi have no bacteriostasis, but they can influence the bacteriostasis of C. chinensis and S. baicalensis when combinating with them.

Influence of compatibility on content of baicalin in Gegen Qinlian Decoction / 中草药

Object To set up the quantitative method of baicalin in Gegen Qinlian Decoction (GQD) by RP HPLC and to determine the change of baicalin contents in decoctions prepared from various combinations of GQD. Methods By L 8(2 7) orthogonal design and statistics analysis (SPSS10 0), eight decoctions with Radix Scutellariae either alone or incombination with one or more of the other three components were prepared or analyzed. Contents of baicalin in them were determined by RP HPLC. Results It was significant (P0 05) and interactions between two of three were insignificant either. In this experiment, the sedimentation was found in the decoctions contained Radix Scutellariae and Rhizoma Coptidis. Conclusion The content of baicalin is reduced by Radix Puerariae and Rhizoma Coptidis, The resolution of baicalin is not increased by Radix Glycyrrhizae Preparata. Maybe the change of pH leads to the sedimentation in decoctions contained Radix Scutellariae and Rhizoma Coptidis.