Revealing the mechanisms of Arisaema cum Bile on allergic asthma with systematic pharmacology approach-experimental validation.

Abstract

Arisaema cum Bile (Dan Nanxing in Chinese, DNX) have been employed to treat allergic asthma. However, the active components and its mechanisms remain unknown. Therefore, the systematic pharmacology approach-experimental validation was performed in this study. Each 5, 6, and 10 compounds of DNX were obtained by HPLC analysis, TCMSP, and literature report, respectively. A total of 379 targets on all these compounds were acquired from Swiss Target Prediction, and 1973 targets on allergic asthma were predicated. The KEGG enrichment analysis was performed. Furthermore, a rat model of allergic asthma was established and DNX (450&#xa0;mg/kg, p.o.) was given for 2&#xa0;weeks. DNX treatment prevented OVA-induced pathological changes in lung cell of irregular arrange and necrotic bronchial epithelial. It also decreased inflammatory cytokines IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 of serum and BALF, and increased IL-12 and IFN-&#x3b3;. The main MAPK signaling pathway predicted by KEGG enrichment was verified, as indicated by the decreased protein expression of JNK (p&#xa0;<&#xa0;0.05 & p&#xa0;<&#xa0;0.01), ERK (p&#xa0;<&#xa0;0.05), and p38 MAPK (p&#xa0;<&#xa0;0.01) in lung tissue. These findings indicated that DNX attenuated OVA-induced allergic asthma mainly by decreasing the MAPK signaling pathway.