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Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine >

2024 , Vol. 44 >Issue 1: 103 - 112

DOI: https://doi.org/10.19852/j.cnki.jtcm.20231215.003

Original articles

Taohong Siwu decoction (桃红四物汤) ameliorates atherosclerosis in rats possibly through toll-like receptor 4/myeloid differentiation primary response protein 88/nuclear factor-κB signal pathway

  • Fengjin CHANG ,
  • Peng ZHOU ,
  • Guoying LI ,
  • Weizhi ZHANG ,
  • Yanyan ZHANG ,
  • Daiyin PENG ,
  • Guangliang CHEN
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  • 1 Department of Pharmacy, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230031, China
    2 School of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230012, China
    3 Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicinal Formula, Hefei 230012, China; School of Pharmacy, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230012, China
    4 School of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230012, China; Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicinal Formula, Hefei 230012, China

Received date: 2022-11-11

  Accepted date: 2023-02-17

  Online published: 2023-12-15

Supported by

National Natural Science Foundation of China: Investigating the Mechanism of Total Saponins in Treating Gouty Arthritis Based on Toll-like Receptor /Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88/Nuclear Factor-Kappa B Signal Pathway and Nacht Leucine-Rich Repeat Protein 3-Inflammasome(81573670);Study on the Material Basis and Pathway of Taohong Siwu Decoction in Regulating the Release of Platelet Alpha Granules in Postpartum Blood Stasis(81473387);Study on the Regulatory Mechanism of Taohong Siwu Decoction on Experimental Cerebral Ischemia Angiogenesis Based on the Messenger Effect of Platelet Microparticles(81503291);Investigating the Material Basis and Molecular Mechanism of Taohong Siwu Decoction Against Vascular Dementia Based on Microdialysis Technology and NOD-Like Receptor Protein 3 Inflammasome-Vascular Endothelial Cell Interaction(81903953);Anhui Province Key Research and Development Program: Research on the Development and Preparation of Taohong Siwu Granules(1704a0802141)

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Taohong Siwu decoction (桃红四物汤, TSD) on atherosclerosis in rats as well as investigate the underlying mechanism based on molecular docking.

METHODS: Sixty healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 6 groups with 10 rats in each group: control group, model group, atorvastatin group (AT, 2.0 mg/kg), and TSD groups (20, 10, 5 g/kg) after 7 d of acclimation. The model of atherosclerosis was successfully established except the control group by high fat diet (HFD) and vitamin D2. Biochemical analyzers were used to detect the levels of triglyceride (TG), total cholestero (TC), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and high density lipid-cholesterol (HDL-C) in blood lipid. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Sudan IV staining and Hematoxylin and eosin staining (HE staining) were performed to observe the pathological changes in aortic tissue. Molecular docking technology was used to predict the best matching between the main components of TSD and the target proteins. The expression of target proteins was further detected by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot analysis.

RESULTS: The results showed that TSD restricted atherosclerosis development and decreased the inflammatory cytokines in plasma. Molecular docking results predicted that the main components of TSD showed a strong binding ability with toll-like receptor (TLR4), myeloid differentiation primary response protein 88 (MyD88), and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB). The results of qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis showed that the mRNA and protein expressions of TLR4, MyD88 and NF-κB p65 in the aorta were reduced in atorvastatin group and TSD group.

CONCLUSIONS: TSD can ameliorate atherosclerosis in rats, and the underlying mechanism is supposed be related to the suppression of inflammatory response by regulating TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signal pathway.

Key words： atherosclerosis; molecular docking simulation; toll-like receptor 4; myeloid differentiation factor 88; NF-kappa B; signal transduction; Taohong Siwu decoction

Cite this article

Fengjin CHANG , Peng ZHOU , Guoying LI , Weizhi ZHANG , Yanyan ZHANG , Daiyin PENG , Guangliang CHEN . Taohong Siwu decoction (桃红四物汤) ameliorates atherosclerosis in rats possibly through toll-like receptor 4/myeloid differentiation primary response protein 88/nuclear factor-κB signal pathway[J]. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2024 , 44(1) : 103 -112 . DOI: 10.19852/j.cnki.jtcm.20231215.003

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