Elucidating the underlying therapeutic mechanism of Feikang prescription on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: insights from a comprehensive analysis.

BACKGROUND

Ranking fourth highest mortality rate globally, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exerts a heavy burden on both economies and healthcare systems. The Feikang prescription, a traditional Chinese herbal remedy, is utilized for its potential in managing COPD symptoms. Still,the primary components and underlying mechanisms of the Feikang prescription remain inadequately understood.

PURPOSE

Using Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry/MS (UHPLC-MS/MS) in conjunction with network pharmacology, molecular docking (MD), molecular dynamics simulation, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assay and in vivo experimental validation, this study sought to elucidate the therapeutic effects and potential mechanism of Feikang prescription in the treatment of COPD.

METHODS

UHPLC-MS/MS and network pharmacology analysis were employed to identify active components, as well as corresponding targets of the Feikang prescription and protein targets of COPD. Molecular docking was used to evaluate the interactions between the Feikang prescription's primary targets and its constituents, and molecular dynamics simulations (MDs) were performed to confirm these findings. In vitro SPR experiments were used to directly verify interactions. Subsequently, a cigarette smoke (CS)-induced COPD animal model was established for the investigation. Various techniques were employed, including hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining, Masson staining, leukocyte counts, and cell sorting in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Prussian blue DAB staining, immunohistochemical staining, immunofluorescence (IF), multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF), quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and Western blotting (WB) analysis in vivo experiments.

RESULTS

The active ingredients and targets in the Feikang prescription were systematically identified through an integrative approach that combined network pharmacology analysis with UHPLC-MS/MS. Among the associated target proteins were Hp, IL-6, myeloperoxidase (MPO), IL-1β, MMP9, TNF, and p53. We clarified the regulatory mechanisms involved in the modulation of glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity, inflammation, oxidative reaction as well as the p53 and Wnt signaling pathways. The MD and MDs analysis additionally demonstrated that the Feikang prescription might elicit its therapeutic effects by stabilizing the binding of MPO with pachymic acid and p53 with apigenin, which are respectively implicated in inflammation, oxidative stress and cell senescence as well as the interaction of MPO and p53. The SPR experimental results exactly indicated the direct binding affinity among them. In vivo experiments confirmed the therapeutic effects of the Feikang prescription in COPD and revealed its dual capacity to inflammation-oxidative stress-ferroptosis and cell senescence. The mIF analysis validated the crosstalk between Glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4)-dependent ferroptosis and Wnt5a/p53-mediated cell senescence.

CONCLUSION

Our results address an unmet clinical need in COPD by positioning the Feikang prescription as a prospective treatment candidate, likely through mechanisms involving Wnt5a/p53-mediated cell senescence and GPX4-dependent ferroptosis.