Network pharmacology reveals the effect and mechanism of Ganoderma leucocontextum ethanol extract on improving inflammatory response in silicosis lungs / 中国职业医学

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo explore the effect of Ganoderma leucocontextum ethanol extract (GLE) on silicosis and its potential molecular mechanism using network pharmacology, molecular docking technology and animal experiments. Methods i) The components of GLE were analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-Q Exactive-mass spectrometry (UPLC-QE-MS) method. The active components, potential molecular pathways and targets of GLE in the intervention of inflammation process of silicosis was explored using network pharmacology and molecular docking technology. ii) Specific pathogen free male C57BL6/J mice were divided into four groups with 10 mice in each group. The mice in the silicosis model group and GLE intervention group were given a dose of 80 μL silica suspension with a mass concentration of 50 g/L once by non-exposed tracheal instillation, and the mice in the blank control group and GLE control group were given an equal volume of sterile 0.9% sodium chloride solution. From the second day after modeling, GLE control group and GLE intervention group were given GLE at a dose of 200 mg/(kg•d) by gavage, while blank control group and silicosis model group were given the same volume of 0.9% sodium chloride solution by gavage, once per day for 35 days. After that, the histopathological changes of lung tissues of mice were observed, the lung mass coefficient, inflammation score and the ratio of collagen deposition area were calculated, and the levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -α, interleukin (IL) -1β and IL-6 in the lung tissues of mice were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results i) A total of 76 active components of GLE were detected by UPLC-QE-MS. Among them, 36 ingredients met the screening criteria of the five principles of drug-like components. A total of 67 potential targets of the 36 GLE active ingredients to improve the inflammatory response of silicosis were screened based on the network pharmacology theory. The result of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis and Gene Ontology functional analysis showed that IL signaling and cytokine signaling of immune cells played a key role in the process of anti-silicosis of GLE. The results of molecular docking showed that the top 10 targets based on the 67 intersection targets were TNF, IL6, B-cell lymphoma 2, cellular tumor antigen p53, Caspase-3 subunit p12, JUN, epidermal growth factor receptor, IL1B, 67 kDa matrix metalloproteinase-9 and prostaglandin G/H synthase 2. The result of protein-protein interaction analysis showed that glycyrrhetinic acid had the strongest affinity with the key targets TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6, followed by ganoderma acid DM, alismatol C, ganoderma acid β and red sapogenin. ii) The results of histopathological examination showed that the inflammatory response and collagen deposition were alleviated in the lungs of mice with silicosis. The lung mass coefficient, inflammation score, ratio of collagen deposition area and IL-6 expression in lung were lower in mice of the GLE intervention group (all P<0.05), compared with the silicosis model group. However, there was no significant difference in the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in lung tissues between the two groups (all P>0.05). Conclusion GLE may reduce silica-induced lung inflammation and fibrosis by inhibiting the IL-6 level in lung tissues of mice. Its mechanism is associated with the synergistic action of multi-components, multi-targets and multi-pathways.