Exploration of the mechanisms of Ge Gen Decoction against influenza A virus infection.

Ge Gen Decoction (GGD), a Traditional Chinese Medicine prescription, is mainly used to treat infectious respiratory diseases and can relieve the symptoms of influenza A virus (IAV) infection. However, the underlying mechanism of GGD against IAV infection remains unclear. In this study, we found that GGD had moderate anti-IAV activity in vitro. GGD was more effective when given before the viral infection and targeted the viral attachment and replication stages rather than the internalization stage. In vivo, GGD treatment reduced thevirus titers of lung tissue significantly and improved the survival rate, lung index, and pulmonary histopathological changes in H1N1-infected mice. We observed the changes in several key immuno-related indexes in GGD administrated H1N1-infected mice with anti-IAV drug oseltamivir phosphate as the control. GGD treatment decreased the expression of TNF-α and improved Th1/Th2 immune balance to reduce the excessive immune response in H1N1-infected mice. Besides, the expression of the toll-like receptor 7 signaling pathway in H1N1-infected mice decreased after GGD treatment. Our results showed that GGD has anti-IAV activity and can modulate the immune system to relieve lung inflammation.

[Inhibitory effect of Glehniae Radix petroleum ether part on TGF-ß1-induced epithelial mesenchymal transition in A549 cells].

To study the inhibitory effect of Glehniae Radix petroleum ether part on TGF-ß1-induced epithelial mesenchymal transition in non-small cell lung cancer A549 and its possible mechanism. With type Ⅱ epithelial cells of lung cancer A549 as the research object, the experiment was performed in 5 µg•L⁻¹ TGF-ß1-induced epithelial mesenchymal transition model,and blank control group, model group and Glehniae Radix petroleum ether group were set up. MTT assay was carried out to detect the effect of petroleum ether extract of Glehniae Radix on the survival of A549 cells. A549 cells induced by TGF-ß1(5 µg•L⁻¹) was intervened by different polar parts of Glehniae Radix, Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR) was used to analyze mRNA expressions of the epithelial mesenchymal transition markers, such as ColⅠ,E-cadherin,Vimentin and α-SMA. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to detect hydroxyproline(HYP) level. The migration and invasion abilities of cells were detected through wound scratch assay. According to the experimental results, the petroleum ether extract of Glehniae Radix could inhibit the growth of A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Compared with model group, Glehniae Radix petroleum ether part group could effectively inhibit mRNA expressions of ColⅠ,Vimentin and α-SMA, but improve expression of E-cadherin.Glehniae Radix petroleum ether part could reduce the content of hydroxyproline in cells and inhibit the migration of A549 cells.Therefore, the petroleum ether extract of Glehniae Radix can effectively inhibit the occurrence of epithelial mesenchymal transition induced by TGF-ß1 induced alveolar epithelial cells, and Glehniae Radix petroleum ether part may be a potential drug for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The mechanism may be achieved through the regulation of ColⅠ, Vimentin, α-SMA and E-cadherin.