UNASSIGNED: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a respiratory immune system disorder characterized by dysregulation of immune responses. Within the context of AR, gut microbiota and its metabolites have been identified as contributors to immune modulation. These microorganisms intricately connect the respiratory and gut immune systems, forming what is commonly referred to as the gut-lung axis. Xiaoqinglong Decoction (XQLD), a traditional Chinese herbal remedy, is widely utilized in traditional Chinese medicine for the clinical treatment of AR. In this study, it is hypothesized that the restoration of symbiotic microbiota balance within the gut-lung axis plays a pivotal role in supporting the superior long-term efficacy of XQLD in AR therapy. Therefore, the primary objective of this research is to investigate the impact of XQLD on the composition and functionality of the gut microbiota in a murine model of AR.
UNASSIGNED: An ovalbumin-sensitized mouse model to simulate AR was utilized, the improvement of AR symptoms after medication was investigated, and high-throughput sequencing was employed to analyze the gut microbiota composition.
UNASSIGNED: XQLD exhibited substantial therapeutic effects in AR mice, notably characterized by a significant reduction in allergic inflammatory responses, considerable alleviation of nasal symptoms, and the restoration of normal nasal function. Additionally, following XQLD treatment, the disrupted gut microbiota in AR mice displayed a tendency toward restoration, showing significant differences compared to the Western medicine (loratadine) group.
UNASSIGNED: This results revealed that XQLD may enhance AR allergic inflammatory responses through the regulation of intestinal microbiota dysbiosis in mice, thus influencing the dynamics of the gut-lung axis. The proposal of this mechanism provides a foundation for future research in this area.

This study used nasal lavage fluid for metabolomics to explore its feasibility, and applied it to the clinical metabolomics study of Xiaoqinglong Decoction in the treatment of allergic rhinitis(AR), aiming to investigate the molecular mechanism of Xiaoqing-long Decoction in the treatment of AR through differential changes in local nasal metabolism. AR patients were selected as the research subjects, and nasal lavage fluid was collected as the sample. Metabolomics analysis using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was performed on normal group, AR group, and Xiaoqinglong Decoction group. The differences in metabolic profiles among the groups were compared using principal component analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis, and differential metabolites were identified and subjected to corresponding metabolic pathway analysis. The results showed that Xiaoqinglong Decoction significantly improved the symptoms of AR patients. The metabolomics analysis revealed 20 differential metabolites between AR group and Xiaoqinglong Decoction group. The core metabolite with a trending return in comparison to normal group was trimethyladipic acid. The metabolites were involved in multiple pathways, including β-alanine metabolism, glutathione metabolism, and phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan biosynthesis. The feasibility of applying nasal lavage fluid in nasal metabolomics was preliminarily demonstrated. Differential metabolites and enriched pathways in the treatment of AR patients with Xiaoqinglong Decoction were identified, indicating that it may improve rhinitis symptoms through the regulation of various metabolites, including antioxidant effects and correction of Th1/Th2 imbalance.

BACKGROUND: Xiaoqinglong decoction (XQLD), first recorded in Shang Han Lun, is a traditional Chinese medicine prescribed for the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR). XQLD alleviates the clinical symptoms of AR by inhibiting the occurrence of an inflammatory response, but the specific regulatory mechanism remains unclear.
OBJECTIVE: NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis is closely related to AR pathogenesis. Hence, this study aimed to explore the potential role of NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis pathway in the AR-associated pharmacological mechanism of XQLD.
METHODS: BALB/C mice models of AR was established by using ovalbumin (OVA) and aluminum hydroxide sensitization. After intragastric administration of different dosages of XQLD, nasal allergic symptoms were observed. The expression of OVA-sIgE and Th2 inflammatory factors (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13) in serum was detected by ELISA. The histopathological morphology and expression of inflammatory factors in nasal mucosa along with pyroptosis were investigated. Molecular docking was performed to analyze the binding of representative compounds of XQLD with NLRP3. Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome was detected by immunofluorescence and western blotting.
RESULTS: XQLD significantly improved the nasal allergic symptoms of mice, reduced the degree of goblet cell proliferation, mast cell infiltration, and collagen fiber hyperplasia in nasal mucosa. Meanwhile, it could downregulate the expression of Th2 inflammatory factors (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13) in serum and nasal mucosa. XQLD significantly reduced the number of GSDMD and TUNEL double-positive cells and IL-1β and IL-18 expression. Molecular docking confirmed that seven representative compounds of XQLD had good binding properties with NLRP3 and were able to inhibit the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome.
CONCLUSIONS: The representative compounds of XQLD might inhibit pyroptosis in nasal mucosa mediated by the NLRP3 inflammasome to helping the recovery of AR, which provides a new modern pharmacological proof for XQLD to treat AR.

Xiaoqinglong decoction (XQLD) is widely used clinically in the treatment of childhood cough variant asthma (CVA). However, its potential mechanism is still unknown. In the present study, the authors investigate the biological network and signalling pathway of XQLD in treatment of childhood CVA using network pharmacology-based analysis and experimental validation. By using the Bioinformatics Analysis Tool Molecular Mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine (BATMAN-TCM) database, the authors confirmed the correlation between XQLD and asthma, and the authors screened 1338 potential target genes of Mahuang and Guizhi, the most active herbs in XQLD. By overlapping \"Childhood asthma-related genes\" of DisGeNET database, the authors identified 58 intersecting genes of Childhood asthma and 1338 target genes of Mahuang and Guizhi. The intersecting genes were used to construct the protein-to-protein interaction and performed Gene Ontology (GO) functional and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis demonstrated 359 Biological Process terms, 16 Cellular Component terms, and 26 Molecular Function terms. Meantime, 75 terms of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes signalling pathway were involved in enrichment analysis. These candidates showed a significant correlation with inflammatory response and positive regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT protein. In addition, XQLD treatment significantly upregulated serum interferon-γ expression, and downregulated serum interlukin-6 expression of CVA mice. XQLD treatment significantly inhibited phosphorylation of STAT3 in bronchial-lung tissues. Our data suggest that XQLD effectively alleviated bronchial-lung tissue damage in CVA mice and inhibited the body inflammatory response by regulating interlukin-6/STAT3 signalling pathway.

As one of the most common allergic diseases, allergic rhinitis (AR) has attracted wide attention all over the world. More appropriate treatment of AR should be explored thoroughly. In recent years, traditional Chinese medicine has attracted more attention in AR treatment. As a classical Chinese medicine prescription, Xiaoqinglong decoction (XQLD) has been commonly used in treating AR. Even though its therapeutic effect on AR has been clinically confirmed, more molecular mechanism remains to be further investigated. Our research aimed to investigate the therapeutic mechanism of XQLD for AR management.
The study was evaluated in an ovalbumin sensitized mouse model and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was adopted to test the stability of XQLD\'s effective components.
The results confirmed the stability and safety of the effective components of XQLD. XQLD significantly downregulated the expression of HDACs (HDAC1, HDAC3, and HDAC4) and Th2 inflammatory factors (IL4, IL5, and IL13) in AR mice. XQLD and the HDAC inhibitor JNJ-26481585 promoted the expression of epithelial tight junction proteins (claudin-1 and ZO-1) and decreased the expression of mucins (Muc5ac and Muc5b) in the nasal mucosa of AR mice.
In conclusion, our findings present the beneficial effects of XQLD on AR and recovery of the nasal epithelium. We also identify the decreased HDAC as a potential target of XQLD for AR treatment. This study provides an important experimental proof for elucidating the therapeutic mechanism of XQLD.

Allergic asthma is a complex and chronic inflammatory airway disease. The thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) signaling pathway plays an important role in asthma. Xiaoqinglong Decoction (XQL) is the first choice to treat cold asthma in clinical settings. In this study, the role of the TSLP pathway in the onset of asthma and the protective mechanism of XQL were investigated. A total of 50 female mice were randomly divided into the following groups: the blank group (A), the model group (B), the XQL group (C), the dexamethasone group (D), and the XQL + dexamethasone group (E). Asthma was induced with ovalbumin, and corresponding drug intervention was carried out for 7 days, after which serum and lung tissue end points were analyzed. Serum interleukin 1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), and TSLP levels were higher in group B than in group A (p<0.05). However these levels were lower in group C and D than in group B (p<0.05), and there was no significant difference between groups C and D (p>0.05). Interestingly, these end points were significantly lower in group E than in groups C and D (p<0.05). Regarding pathologic changes, the inflammatory infiltrate in the lungs of groups C, D, and E was lower than that of group B, especially in group E. We conclude that the TSLP pathway plays an important role in the course of asthma, and can be used as an important target for asthma treatment; XQL may play a role in reducing inflammation and relieving asthma by regulating the TSLP signaling pathway.