Abstract:
OBJECTIVE To excavate the anti-inflammatory and antibacterial mechanism of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos by using network pharmacology and
in vitro experimental research, and to provide the reference basis for its in-depth research.
METHODS The Lonicerae Japonicae Flos anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial protein-protein interaction(PPI) network was constructed through network pharmacology research. Afterwards, the active ingredients of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos were screened by molecular docking technology. The
in vitro cell experiment used the RAW264.7 inflammatory cell model induced by LPS. The cell viability test(MTT) method was used to detect the toxicity of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos at different concentrations to cells. The Griess method was used to detect the effect of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos on nitric oxide(NO) in cells. Fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blotting were used to determine the effects of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos on the mRNA expression and protein content of key targets in RAW264.7 cells. Immunofluorescence analysis was used to detect the effect of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos on NF-κB p65.
RESULTS Network pharmacology studies had shown that the key targets of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos anti-inflammatory and antibacterial were IL-1β, IL-6 and COX-2. The molecular docking results showed that ingredients such as ZINC03978781, beta-sitosterol and Stigmasterol in Lonicerae Japonicae Flos had potential anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities. The results of
in vitro experiments showed that compared with the LPS group, the production of NO in the RAW264.7 cells of the Lonicerae Japonicae Flos group at 0.19, 0.38, 0.75, and 1.50 mg·mL
-1 was significantly reduced(
P<0.001); at the concentration of 0.19, 0.38, 0.75, 1.50 mg·mL
-1, the Lonicerae Japonicae Flos could inhibit the expression of IL-1β, IL-6, COX-2 mRNA(
P<0.05 or
P<0.01 or
P<0.001); at the concentration of 1.50 mg·mL
-1, it could inhibit the expression of IL-1β, IL-6 protein(
P<0.01 or
P<0.001), and inhibit the transport of NF-κB p65 to the nucleus.
CONCLUSION This result provides an experimental basis for an in-depth study of the anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and further rational development and utilization.