Action mechanism of Bufei Yiqi Tongluo formula in treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis based on TGF-β1/JNK signaling pathway
Objective To investigate the action mechanism of Bufei Yiqi Tongluo formula in treating id-iopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) based on the transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)/c-Jun N-terminal ki-nase (JNK) signaling pathway.Methods The key targets of network pharmacology conducted the enrichment analysis and the IPF rat model was constructed,which was divided into the blank control group,IPF model group and Bufei Yiqi Tongluo formula group.The pathological changes of lung tissue in various groups were observed,and the levels of white blood cells (WBC) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were analyzed. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the protein expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α),interleukin-6 (IL-6),phosphorylated JNK (p-JNK)/JNK,TGF-β1,tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in serum,BALF and lung tissue. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the mRNA expression levels of these proteins in serum,BALF and lung tissue.Results The network pharmacology enrichment analysis re-sults revealed that TGF-β1 and JNK signaling pathways were closely related with IPF.Compared with the IPF model group,the lung tissue orderliness in the Bufei Yiqi Tongluo formula group was increased,the consolida-tion range was decreased,the fibrotic tissue proliferation was significantly reduced,the WBC level and expres-sion levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in BALF were significantly decreased.Compared with the blank control group,the mRNA expression levels of TGF-β1,p-JNK/JNK,TIMP-1 and MMP-9 in serum,BALF and lung tissues in the IPF model group were increased with statistical difference (P<0.05).After the intervention on the model rats by the Bufei Yiqi Tongluo formula,except there was no difference in the expression level of MMP-9 pro-tein in serum,TGF-β1 in BALF,TIMP-1 in serum and MMP-9 mRNA in lung tissue,but the other indicators were decreased (P<0.05).Conclusion The therapeutic effect of Bufei Yiqi Tongluo formula in IPF may be related to its regulation on the TGF-β1/JNK signaling pathway.
万方数据
维普
