Enhui Ji1, Tingting Wang2, Feifei Guo3, Yi Zhang4, Chunyu Tang5, Daifeng Tang6, Junying Wei7, Hongjun Yang8, Minghua Xian9. 1. School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, China. Electronic address: 2477651964@qq.com. 2. Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Dongzhimen 16 Nanxiao Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100700, China. Electronic address: iDaisy9@163.com. 3. Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Dongzhimen 16 Nanxiao Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100700, China. Electronic address: ffguo@icmm.ac.cn. 4. Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Dongzhimen 16 Nanxiao Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100700, China. Electronic address: ZY701223@sina.com. 5. No. 128, Jinhai Road, Yuhua District, Changsha City, China. Electronic address: 434733348@qq.com. 6. No. 128, Jinhai Road, Yuhua District, Changsha City, China. Electronic address: 746412122@qq.com. 7. Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Dongzhimen 16 Nanxiao Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100700, China. Electronic address: 13683350075@163.com. 8. China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Dongzhimen 16 Nanxiao Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100700, China. Electronic address: hongjun0420@vip.sina.com. 9. School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Engineering & Technology Research Center for Chinese Materia Medica Quality of the Universities of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou 510006, China; Key Laboratory of Digital Quality Evaluation of Chinese Materia Medica of SATCM, Guangzhou 510006, China. Electronic address: xmh360@163.com.
Abstract
AIM: To evaluate whether Xiaoerfupi (XEFP), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, can ameliorate functional dyspepsia (FD) through regulation of the HTR3A and c-FOS. METHOD: The FD rat model was established through administration of iodoacetamide (IA) and interval fasting. XEFP group rats received XEFP for 3 weeks. Detection of gastric emptying and gastrin were performed to assess the interventional effect of XEFP. The constituents of XEFP were submitted to BATMAN-TCM, an online bioinformatics analysis tool, to predict the targets related to dyspepsia. Furthermore, the prediction was validated via Western blot assay. RESULTS: XEFP enhanced gastric emptying of rats (XEFP middle dose vs. FD model: 71.87 ± 15.21% vs. 30.07 ± 12.76%, P < 0.01) and simultaneously increased gastrin in FD rats (XEFP middle dose vs. FD model: 63.61 ± 17.90 vs. 26.14 ± 7.78 pg/ml, P < 0.01). KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction was successfully enriched (P-value = 2.2E-13, Benjamini = 2.0E-11). Combining different Bioinformatics analysis implied that XEFP regulates HTR3A and c-FOS. Subsequently molecular biological studies confirmed that the expression of HTR3A and c-FOS in the model group was upregulated in rats in comparison with the control group. Furthermore, the expression of HTR3A and c-FOS in the XEFP group (middle dose) compared with the model group was significantly reduced (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: XEFP may ameliorate FD through regulation of the HTR3A and c-FOS.
AIM: To evaluate whether Xiaoerfupi (XEFP), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, can ameliorate functional dyspepsia (FD) through regulation of the HTR3A and c-FOS. METHOD: The FDrat model was established through administration of iodoacetamide (IA) and interval fasting. XEFP group rats received XEFP for 3 weeks. Detection of gastric emptying and gastrin were performed to assess the interventional effect of XEFP. The constituents of XEFP were submitted to BATMAN-TCM, an online bioinformatics analysis tool, to predict the targets related to dyspepsia. Furthermore, the prediction was validated via Western blot assay. RESULTS: XEFP enhanced gastric emptying of rats (XEFP middle dose vs. FD model: 71.87 ± 15.21% vs. 30.07 ± 12.76%, P < 0.01) and simultaneously increased gastrin in FDrats (XEFP middle dose vs. FD model: 63.61 ± 17.90 vs. 26.14 ± 7.78 pg/ml, P < 0.01). KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction was successfully enriched (P-value = 2.2E-13, Benjamini = 2.0E-11). Combining different Bioinformatics analysis implied that XEFP regulates HTR3A and c-FOS. Subsequently molecular biological studies confirmed that the expression of HTR3A and c-FOS in the model group was upregulated in rats in comparison with the control group. Furthermore, the expression of HTR3A and c-FOS in the XEFP group (middle dose) compared with the model group was significantly reduced (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: XEFP may ameliorate FD through regulation of the HTR3A and c-FOS.