Sun Dajuan, Zhang Zhongtao, Xue Jingwei
The Affiliated Taian City Central Hospital of Qingdao University, Taian, China.
Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2024 Aug 9;15:1446554. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1446554. eCollection 2024.
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic nonspecific inflammatory bowel disease whose pathogenesis remains unclear. Dysfunction of the intestinal mucosal barrier is closely related to the pathogenesis of UC, which is characterised by damage to the colon epithelial barrier, disruption of immune homeostasis, and persistent inflammatory cell infiltration. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) exhibit specific or differential expression in both UC animal models and patients, implicating their involvement in the pathogenesis of UC. In recent years there has been progress in using Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to regulate miRNA expression for repairing the intestinal mucosal barrier in UC, as demonstrated in animal and cell experiments. However, it has not been applied in a clinical setting and its underlying molecular mechanisms require further investigation. Therefore, this study systematically described the role of miRNAs in UC-induced intestinal barrier damage and the application of TCM to repair this intestinal barrier by regulating miRNA expression, offering new therapeutic targets for UC treatment.
溃疡性结肠炎（UC）是一种慢性非特异性炎症性肠病，其发病机制尚不清楚。肠道黏膜屏障功能障碍与UC的发病机制密切相关，其特征是结肠上皮屏障受损、免疫稳态破坏和持续性炎症细胞浸润。微小RNA（miRNA）在UC动物模型和患者中均表现出特异性或差异性表达，提示其参与了UC的发病机制。近年来，动物和细胞实验表明，使用中药（TCM）调节miRNA表达以修复UC中的肠道黏膜屏障取得了进展。然而，其尚未应用于临床，其潜在分子机制需要进一步研究。因此，本研究系统地阐述了miRNA在UC诱导的肠道屏障损伤中的作用以及TCM通过调节miRNA表达修复该肠道屏障的应用，为UC治疗提供了新的治疗靶点。
