NYMC Faculty Publications

Network Pharmacology and Experimental Evidence: Mapk Signaling Pathway Is Involved in the Anti-Asthma Roles of Leaf

Mingzhuo Cao, Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, 450058, China.
Mengling Zhan, Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, 450058, China.
Heyun Jing, Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, 450058, China.
Zeqian Wang, Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, 450058, China.
Yuan Wang, Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, 450058, China.
Xiumin Li, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Otolaryngology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, 10595, USA.
Mingsan Miao, Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, 450058, China.

Abstract

(PF) leaf is a traditional Chinese medicine and food with beneficial effects on allergic asthma. We sought to elucidate the active compounds, the targets, and underlying mechanisms of PF leaf in the treatment of allergic asthma by using experimental pharmacology and network pharmacology. An OVA-allergic asthma murine model was constructed to evaluate the effect of PF leaf on allergic asthma. And the network pharmacology and western blotting were performed to evaluate its underlying mechanisms in allergic asthma. PF leaf treatment significantly improved the lung function of OVA model mice and mitigated lung injury by significantly reducing of OVA-specific immunoglobulin E in serum, and interleukin 4, interleukin 5 and tumor necrosis factor alpha in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. 50 core targets were screened based on 8 compounds (determined by high performance liquid chromatography) through compound-target- disease network. Furthermore, MAPK signaling pathway was identified as the pathway mediated by PF leaf with the most potential against allergic asthma. And the WB results showed that PF leaf could down-regulate the expression of -ERK, -JNK and p-p38, which was highly consistent with the predicted targets and pathway network. In conclusion, this study provides the evidence to support the molecular mechanisms of PF leaf on the treatment of allergic asthma using network pharmacology and experiments.