BACKGROUND

bile (known as in Chinese, DNX) is a traditional herbal medicine commonly used to treat febrile seizure (FS), but the underlying mechanism remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the therapeutic effect of DNX on hot water bath-induced FS rat model and further explore the potential mechanism.

METHODS

The chemical constituents of DNX were determined via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). FS rat model was established using a hot water bath (45 ± 2 °C), and DNX (2.8 and 0.7 g/kg, i.g) were administered for two weeks. Based on behavior test (duration and latency), pathological changes in the hippocampal tissue, and the levels of inflammatory cytokines the therapeutic effect of DNX for FS was evaluated. Subsequently, the network pharmacology, 16S rRNA and non-targeted metabolomics analysis were combined analysis to explore the potential signaling pathway. Furthermore, the signaling pathway was verified using the RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry assay.

RESULTS

The DNX treatment showed effective therapy on hot water bath induced FS, as indicated by a shortened seizure duration time, prolonged seizure latency, reduced hippocampal neuron damage and neuroinflammatory factor levels (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and HMGB1). Neurotransmitters (GABA, Glu) are also significantly regulated. Moreover, the relative abundance of and was notably increased ( < 0.01), while that of decreased, compared to gut microbiota of FS rat. A total of 20 fecal differential metabolites were regarded as the potential biomarkers including GABA, CDCA, and UDCA for anti-FS of DNX, and combined network pharmacy the metabolic pathways of primary bile acids (BAs) biosynthesis and alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism were involved.

CONCLUSION

DNX possesses a therapeutic effect on FS through inhibiting neuroinflammation and regulation of FXR and GABA signaling pathway.