Anti-inflammatory Effect of Xuefu Zhuyu Tang in the Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Its Influence on the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB Signaling Pathway

OBJECTIVE To explore the anti-inflammatory effect of Xuefu Zhuyu Tang in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and its impact on the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway.

METHODS A prospective selection of 100 COPD patients admitted to Jinhua TCM Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University from January 2021 to January 2023 was conducted. They were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group using a random number table method, with 50 cases in each group. The control group was given routine symptomatic treatment, and the observation group was combined with Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction on the basis of the control group. Compared the clinical efficacy of 2 groups, evaluated their traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores, and tested the TLR/NF-κB signaling pathway expression and inflammatory factor indicators (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6), and finally observed and recorded the occurrence of adverse reactions.

RESULTS The total effective rate of 96.00% in the observation group was significantly higher than 84.00% in the control group, with a statistically significant difference (P<0.05). After treatment, the scores of cough, wheezing and shortness of breath, insomnia and dreaminess, dark eyes, purple tongue, and smooth pulse in both groups were significantly lower than before treatment, and the observation group was significantly lower than the control group, with statistical significance (P<0.05). After treatment, TLR4 mRNA, MYD88 mRNA, NF-κB mRNA in both groups were significantly lower than before treatment, and the observation group was significantly lower than the control group, with statistical significance (P<0.05). After treatment, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 index in both groups were significantly lower than before treatment, and the observation group was significantly lower than the control group, with statistical significance (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the total incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups.

CONCLUSION  Xuefu Zhuyu Tang has a significant therapeutic effect on COPD. It can not only effectively improve clinical symptoms of patients, but also improve their inflammatory response, and has high safety. Its mechanism of action may be related to regulating the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway in patients.