Background:Wenqing Yin(WQY)is a classic prescription used to treat skin diseases like atopic dermatitis(AD)in China,and the aim of this study is to investigate the therapeutic effects and molecular mechanisms of WQY o...Background:Wenqing Yin(WQY)is a classic prescription used to treat skin diseases like atopic dermatitis(AD)in China,and the aim of this study is to investigate the therapeutic effects and molecular mechanisms of WQY on AD.Methods:The DNFB-induced mouse models of AD were established to investigate the therapeutic effects of WQY on AD.The symptoms of AD in the ears and backs of the mice were assessed,while inflammatory factors in the ear were quantified using quantitative real-time-polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR),and the percentages of CD4^(+)and CD8^(+)cells in the spleen were analyzed through flow cytometry.The compounds in WQY were identified using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(UPLC-MS/MS)analysis and the key targets and pathways of WQY to treat AD were predicted by network pharmacology.Subsequently,the key genes were tested and verified by qRT-PCR,and the potential active components and target proteins were verified by molecular docking.Results:WQY relieved the AD symptoms and histopathological injuries in the ear and back skin of mice with AD.Meanwhile,WQY significantly reduced the levels of inflammatory factors IL-6 and IL-1βin ear tissue,as well as the ratio of CD4^(+)/CD8^(+)cells in spleen.Additionally,a total of 142 compounds were identified from the water extract of WQY by UPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS.39 key targets related to AD were screened out by network pharmacology methods.The KEGG analysis indicated that the effects of WQY were primarily mediated through pathways associated with Toll-like receptor signaling and T cell receptor signaling.Moreover,the results of qRT-PCR demonstrated that WQY significantly reduced the mRNA expressions of IL-4,IL-10,GATA3 and FOXP3,and molecular docking simulation verified that the active components of WQY had excellent binding abilities with IL-4,IL-10,GATA3 and FOXP3 proteins.Conclusion:The present study demonstrated that WQY effectively relieved AD symptoms in mice,decreased the inflammatory factors levels,regulated the balance of CD4^(+)and CD8^(+)cells,and the mechanism may be associated with the suppression of Th2 and Treg cell immune responses.展开更多
基金supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(82004252)the Project of Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Guangdong Province(202405112017596500)the Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau(202102020533).
文摘Background:Wenqing Yin(WQY)is a classic prescription used to treat skin diseases like atopic dermatitis(AD)in China,and the aim of this study is to investigate the therapeutic effects and molecular mechanisms of WQY on AD.Methods:The DNFB-induced mouse models of AD were established to investigate the therapeutic effects of WQY on AD.The symptoms of AD in the ears and backs of the mice were assessed,while inflammatory factors in the ear were quantified using quantitative real-time-polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR),and the percentages of CD4^(+)and CD8^(+)cells in the spleen were analyzed through flow cytometry.The compounds in WQY were identified using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(UPLC-MS/MS)analysis and the key targets and pathways of WQY to treat AD were predicted by network pharmacology.Subsequently,the key genes were tested and verified by qRT-PCR,and the potential active components and target proteins were verified by molecular docking.Results:WQY relieved the AD symptoms and histopathological injuries in the ear and back skin of mice with AD.Meanwhile,WQY significantly reduced the levels of inflammatory factors IL-6 and IL-1βin ear tissue,as well as the ratio of CD4^(+)/CD8^(+)cells in spleen.Additionally,a total of 142 compounds were identified from the water extract of WQY by UPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS.39 key targets related to AD were screened out by network pharmacology methods.The KEGG analysis indicated that the effects of WQY were primarily mediated through pathways associated with Toll-like receptor signaling and T cell receptor signaling.Moreover,the results of qRT-PCR demonstrated that WQY significantly reduced the mRNA expressions of IL-4,IL-10,GATA3 and FOXP3,and molecular docking simulation verified that the active components of WQY had excellent binding abilities with IL-4,IL-10,GATA3 and FOXP3 proteins.Conclusion:The present study demonstrated that WQY effectively relieved AD symptoms in mice,decreased the inflammatory factors levels,regulated the balance of CD4^(+)and CD8^(+)cells,and the mechanism may be associated with the suppression of Th2 and Treg cell immune responses.
