Affiliation:
1. State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
2. International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science & Technology of China, Wuhan 430070, China
3. The Cooperative Innovation Center of Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
Abstract
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes chronic inflammation in the large intestine. The etiology of UC is complex and incompletely understood, with potential contributing factors including genetic susceptibility, environmental influences, immune dysregulation, and gut barrier dysfunction. Despite available therapeutic drugs, the suboptimal cure rate for UC emphasizes the necessity of developing novel therapeutics. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has attracted great interest in the treatment of such chronic inflammatory diseases due to its advantages, such as multi-targets and low side effects. In this study, a mouse model of Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS)-induced acute colitis was established and the efficacy of Zhenqi Granule, a TCM preparation composed of the extractives from Astragali Radix and Fructus Ligustri Lucidi, was evaluated. The results showed that treatment with Zhenqi Granule prior to or post-DSS induction could alleviate the symptoms of colitis, including weight loss, diarrhea, hematochezia, colon length shortening, and pathological damage of colon tissues of the DSS-treated mice. Further, network pharmacology analysis showed that there were 98 common targets between the active components of Zhenqi Granule and the targets of UC, and the common targets were involved in the regulation of inflammatory signaling pathways. Our results showed that Zhenqi Granule had preventive and therapeutic effects on acute colitis in mice, and the mechanism may be that the active components of Zhenqi Granule participated in the regulation of inflammatory response. This study provided data reference for further exploring the mechanism of Zhenqi Granule and also provided potential treatment strategies for UC.
Funder
the National Key Research and Development Plans
Reference65 articles.
1. A review of the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment methods of inflammatory bowel disease;Seyedian;J. Med. Life,2019
2. Sokic-Milutinovic, A., and Milosavljevic, T. (Dig. Dis., 2023). IBD: From conventional immunosuppression to biological therapy, Dig. Dis., ahead of print.
3. Ulcerative colitis;Honap;Lancet,2023
4. Epidemiology and Pathogenesis of Ulcerative Colitis;Du;Gastroenterol. Clin. N. Am.,2020
5. Inflammatory bowel disease: Clinical aspects and established and evolving therapies;Baumgart;Lancet,2007