Weikangning therapy in functional dyspepsia and the protective role of Nrf2

Wei-Tong-Xin ameliorated cisplatin-induced mitophagy and apoptosis in gastric antral mucosa by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Wei-Tong-Xin (WTX) originated from the famous ancient Chinese formula "Wan Ying Yuan", recorded in the ancient Chinese medicine book "Zhong Zang Jing" by Hua Tuo. As "Jun" drugs, Dahuang and Muxiang have the effects of clearing heat and expelling fire, reducing food retention, regulating Qi and relieving pain. As "Chen" drug, Qianniuzi has the effect of assisting "Jun" drugs. Zhuyazao and Gancao, as "Zuo-Shi" drugs, can reduce toxicity and modulate the medicinal properties of other herbs.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The present study aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of WTX on the oxidative stress of gastric antrum mucosa in mice with cisplatin (CIS)-induced dyspepsia.

MATERIALS

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METHODS

A variety of experimental methods, including western blot, qRT-PCR, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry were performed in vivo and in vitro.

RESULTS

In vivo, WTX restored the number and function of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs), accompanied by the inhibition of lipid peroxidation. Moreover, WTX inhibited the activation of Parkin-dependent mitophagy and apoptosis. In vitro, WTX activated the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) signaling pathway and inactivated mitophagy in GES-1 cells. To explore the role of Nrf2 in WTX's improvement of CIS-induced cell damage, Nrf2 inhibitor ML385 was used in cell experiments. We found that ML385 counteracted the regulation of WTX on mitophagy and apoptosis. Finally, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger, was applied in our experiments, and the results suggested that WTX suppressed the CIS-induced apoptosis via mitochondrial pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

The above results, for the first time, indicated that WTX inhibited mitophagy and apoptosis of gastric antral mucosal cells induced by CIS through the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.

Quercetin Improves Mitochondrial Function and Inflammation in H2O2-Induced Oxidative Stress Damage in the Gastric Mucosal Epithelial Cell by Regulating the PI3K/AKT Signaling Pathway

Functional dyspepsia (FD) is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders, the therapeutic strategy of which it is limited due to its complex pathogenesis. Oxidative stress-induced damage in gastric mucosal epithelial cells is related to the pathogenesis and development of FD. Quercetin (Que) is one of the active ingredients of Zhishi that showed antioxidant, antiapoptotic, and anti-inflammatory effects. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of Que on oxidative stress-induced gastric mucosal epithelial cells damage and its underlying molecular mechanism. The gastric mucosal epithelial cell line GES-1 was treated with 200 μM of H₂O₂ to construct an oxidative stress-induced damage model. The H₂O₂ cells were then administrated with different concentrations of Que. The results indicated that high concentration of Que (100 μM) showed cytotoxicity in H₂O₂-induced GES-1 cells. However, appropriate concentration of Que (25 and 50 μM) alleviated the oxidative stress damage induced by H₂O₂, as demonstrated by the increase of proliferation, decrease of ROS generation, apoptosis, inflammation, and alleviation of mitochondrial function and cell barrier. In addition, Que increased the activation of phosphorylation of PI3K and AKT decreased by H₂O₂. To investigate whether Que alleviated the oxidative stress damage in GES-1 cells by the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, the GES-1 cells were treated with Que (25 μM) combined with and without LY294002, the PI3K inhibitor. The results showed that LY294002 suppressed the alleviation effect on Que in H₂O₂-induced GES-1 cells. In conclusion, the current study demonstrates that Que alleviates oxidative stress damage in GES-1 cells by improving mitochondrial function and mucosal barrier and suppressing inflammation through regulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, indicating the potential therapeutic effects of Que on FD.

Precise and systematic survey of the efficacy of multicomponent drugs against functional dyspepsia

Functional dyspepsia (FD) is one of the most prevalent functional gastrointestinal disorders, and more and more multicomponent drugs represented by traditional Chinese medicines have provided a favorable therapeutic effect in its treatment. However, their precise localization in the clinic, as well as corresponding mechanism, is ambiguous, thus hindering their widespread use. To meet this requirement, a precise and systematic approach based on a restriction of special disease-related molecules and the following network pharmacology analysis was developed and applied to a multicomponent conventional drug, XiaoErFuPi (XEFP) granules. Experimental verification of the results indicates that this approach can facilitate the prediction, and the precise and systematic efficacy of XEFP could be easily revealed, which shows that XEFP has an advantage over the positive control drug on lactate, gastrin, interleukin 4 and calcitonin gene-related peptide. Moreover, by the proteomics analysis, its superposition of multi-target effects was revealed and a new candidate target for the treatment of FD, striatin, was obtained and verified. This study provides a practicable precise approach for the investigation of the efficacy of multicomponent drugs against FD and offers a promising alternative for the systematical management of FD.