School of Traditional Chinese Medical Science, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Pharmaceutics, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Viruses. 2018 Mar 9;10(3):117. doi: 10.3390/v10030117.
The San Wu Huangqin Decoction (SWHD), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, is used to treat colds caused by exposure to wind-pathogen, hyperpyrexia, infectious diseases and cancer; moreover, it is used for detoxification. The individual herbs of SWHD, such as and , exhibit a wide spectrum of antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anticancer and other properties. The Chinese compound formula of SWHD is composed of and . However, the effect of SWHD on the influenza virus (IFV) and its mechanism remain unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate, for the first time, whether SWHD could be used to treat influenza. Results showed that SWHD could effectively inhibit influenza A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) virus at different stages of viral replication (confirmed through antiviral effect assay, penetration assay, attachment assay and internalization assay) in vitro. It could reduce the infection of the virus in a dose- and time-dependent manner, as confirmed by observing the cell cytopathic effect and calculating the cell viability ( < 0.05). SWHD demonstrated better antiviral activity than oseltamivir in the evaluation of antiviral prophylaxis on influenza ( < 0.05). The antiviral activity of SWHD may be related to its regulation ability on the immune system. Western blot, real-time polymerase chain reaction and indirect immunofluorescence assay showed that the expression of the four target viral proteins of the IFV (namely, haemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA), nucleoprotein (NP) and matrix-2 (M2)) reduced significantly ( < 0.05). Moreover, SWHD (23.40 and 11.70 g/kg) significantly alleviated the clinical signs, reduced the mortality and increased the survival time of infected mice ( < 0.05). The lung index, virus titres, pathological changes in lung tissues and the expression of key proteins of the IFV in mice also decreased ( < 0.05). In conclusion, SWHD possessed anti-influenza activity. This work provided a new view of complementary therapy and drug discovery for clinical treatment.
三乌黄芹汤（SWHD）是一种中药方剂，用于治疗风邪引起的感冒、高热、传染病和癌症；此外，它还用于解毒。SWHD 的单味草药，如 和 ，具有广谱的抗病毒、抗炎、抗菌、抗癌等特性。SWHD 的中药配方由 和 组成。然而，SWHD 对流感病毒（IFV）的作用及其机制尚不清楚。本研究旨在首次评估 SWHD 是否可用于治疗流感。结果表明，SWHD 可在体外不同病毒复制阶段（通过抗病毒作用测定、渗透测定、附着测定和内化测定证实）有效抑制甲型流感病毒/PR/8/34（H1N1）病毒。它可以剂量和时间依赖的方式减少病毒的感染，通过观察细胞病变效应和计算细胞活力来证实（<0.05）。SWHD 在评估流感预防方面的抗病毒活性优于奥司他韦（<0.05）。SWHD 的抗病毒活性可能与其对免疫系统的调节能力有关。Western blot、实时聚合酶链反应和间接免疫荧光检测显示，IFV 的四个靶病毒蛋白（即血凝素（HA）、神经氨酸酶（NA）、核蛋白（NP）和基质蛋白-2（M2））的表达明显降低（<0.05）。此外，SWHD（23.40 和 11.70 g/kg）显著缓解了感染小鼠的临床症状，降低了死亡率，延长了存活时间（<0.05）。肺指数、病毒滴度、肺组织病理变化和 IFV 关键蛋白的表达也降低（<0.05）。总之，SWHD 具有抗流感活性。这项工作为临床治疗提供了互补治疗和药物发现的新视角。
