溃疡性结肠炎(UC)是一种引起大肠慢性炎症的炎症性肠病。UC的病因是复杂和不完全了解,潜在的影响因素包括遗传易感性,环境影响,免疫失调,和肠道屏障功能障碍。尽管有治疗药物,UC的最佳治愈率强调了开发新疗法的必要性。中药因其优势,在治疗这类慢性炎症性疾病方面引起了极大的兴趣,如多目标和低副作用。在这项研究中,建立葡聚糖硫酸钠(DSS)诱导的小鼠急性结肠炎模型,一种由黄芪和女贞子提取物组成的中药制剂,进行了评估。结果表明,在DSS诱导之前或之后,用贞芪颗粒治疗可以减轻结肠炎的症状。包括减肥,腹泻,便血,结肠长度缩短,和DSS处理的小鼠的结肠组织的病理损伤。Further,网络药理学分析表明,贞芪颗粒的活性成分与UC的作用靶点有98个共同作用靶点,共同作用靶点参与炎症信号通路的调控。结果表明贞芪颗粒对小鼠急性结肠炎有一定的预防和治疗作用,其作用机制可能是贞芪颗粒活性成分参与炎症反应的调节。本研究为进一步探讨贞芪颗粒的作用机制提供数据参考,同时也为UC的治疗提供了潜在的治疗策略。
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.