School of Chinese Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T, Hong Kong SAR, China; School of Chinese Materia Medica, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China.
School of Chinese Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T, Hong Kong SAR, China; Brain Research Centre, School of Chinese Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2020 Mar 1;249:112367. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2019.112367. Epub 2019 Oct 31.
Huang-Lian-Jie-Du Decoction (HLJDD), is a well-known traditional Chinese herbal formula first written in the Tang dynasty. In Chinese medicine practice, HLJDD is commonly prescribed to treat various inflammatory skin diseases, such as atopic dermatitis (AD) and psoriasis.
The present study aimed at investigating the therapeutic effect of HLJDD extract (HLJDE) and to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms of action in the 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNCB)-induced AD-like mice.
Female Balb/c mice were sensitized with DNCB for three days. After sensitization, mice were challenged with DNCB every three days and orally administrated with HLJDE (150, 300 and 600 mg/kg) daily from day 14 to day 29 for consecutive 16 days. At the end of experiment, the clinical AD scores of the mice were calculated to evaluate the therapeutic effect of HLJDE, and serum, ears and dorsal skin of the mice were collected for unravelling molecular mechanisms.
HLJDE significantly reduced the clinical symptoms in the AD-like mice by inhibiting eosinophil and mast cell infiltration, suppressing the production of Th2-associated cytokine (IL-4) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α). In addition, HLJDE significantly suppressed the NF-κB and MAPKs pathways. Moreover, HLJDE was able to accentuate filaggrin expression in the skin lesion when compared to the sensitized mouse without treatment.
HLJDE significantly improved the AD-like symptoms on the DNCB-sensitized mice through mitigating the production of inflammatory mediators via suppressing MAPKs and NF-κB pathways. Additionally, the elevated expression of filaggrin in the skin lesion by HLJDE contributes to the recovery of dysfunctional skin barrier on the DNCB-sensitized mice.
民族药理学相关性：黄连解毒汤（HLJDD）是一种著名的中药方剂，最早记载于唐代。在中医实践中，HLJDD 常用于治疗各种炎症性皮肤病，如特应性皮炎（AD）和银屑病。
研究目的：本研究旨在探讨 HLJDD 提取物（HLJDE）的治疗效果，并阐明其在 1-氯-2,4-二硝基苯（DNCB）诱导的 AD 样小鼠中的作用机制。
材料和方法：雌性 Balb/c 小鼠用 DNCB 致敏 3 天。致敏后，小鼠每 3 天用 DNCB 攻击一次，并于第 14 天至第 29 天连续 16 天每天口服 HLJDE（150、300 和 600mg/kg）。实验结束时，计算小鼠的 AD 临床评分，以评估 HLJDE 的治疗效果，并收集小鼠血清、耳朵和背部皮肤，以揭示分子机制。
结果：HLJDE 通过抑制嗜酸性粒细胞和肥大细胞浸润，抑制 Th2 相关细胞因子（IL-4）和促炎细胞因子（TNF-α）的产生，显著减轻 AD 样小鼠的临床症状。此外，HLJDE 还显著抑制了 NF-κB 和 MAPKs 通路。此外，与未治疗的致敏小鼠相比，HLJDE 能够显著增加皮肤病变中的丝聚合蛋白表达。
结论：HLJDE 通过抑制 MAPKs 和 NF-κB 通路，显著改善 DNCB 致敏小鼠的 AD 样症状，减轻炎症介质的产生。此外，HLJDE 可增加 DNCB 致敏小鼠皮肤病变中丝聚合蛋白的表达，有助于恢复其功能失调的皮肤屏障。
