Arisaema cum Bile (Dan Nanxing in Chinese, DNX) have been employed to treat allergic asthma. However, the active components and its mechanisms remain unknown. Therefore, the systematic pharmacology approach-experimental validation was performed in this study. Each 5, 6, and 10 compounds of DNX were obtained by HPLC analysis, TCMSP, and literature report, respectively. A total of 379 targets on all these compounds were acquired from Swiss Target Prediction, and 1973 targets on allergic asthma were predicated. The KEGG enrichment analysis was performed. Furthermore, a rat model of allergic asthma was established and DNX (450 mg/kg, p.o.) was given for 2 weeks. DNX treatment prevented OVA-induced pathological changes in lung cell of irregular arrange and necrotic bronchial epithelial. It also decreased inflammatory cytokines IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 of serum and BALF, and increased IL-12 and IFN-γ. The main MAPK signaling pathway predicted by KEGG enrichment was verified, as indicated by the decreased protein expression of JNK (p < 0.05 & p < 0.01), ERK (p < 0.05), and p38 MAPK (p < 0.01) in lung tissue. These findings indicated that DNX attenuated OVA-induced allergic asthma mainly by decreasing the MAPK signaling pathway.
Keywords: Allergic asthma; Arisaema cum bile; Experimental validation; MAPK pathway; Network pharmacology.
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