Qingfei Formula Protects against Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus-induced Lung Inflammatory Injury by Regulating the MAPK Signaling Pathway

Ya-Lei Sun; Pei-Pei Zhao; Cheng-Bi Zhu; Xin-Min Li; Bin Yuan

doi:10.2174/1386207326666230821121358

Qingfei Formula Protects against Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus-induced Lung Inflammatory Injury by Regulating the MAPK Signaling Pathway

Comb Chem High Throughput Screen. 2023 Aug 21. doi: 10.2174/1386207326666230821121358. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ya-Lei Sun^{1

2}, Pei-Pei Zhao^{1

2}, Cheng-Bi Zhu^{1

2}, Xin-Min Li³, Bin Yuan¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210000, China.
² Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Disease, Institute of Pediatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210000, China.
³ Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450000, China.

PMID: 37605417
DOI: 10.2174/1386207326666230821121358

Abstract

Objective: Qingfei formula (QF) is an empirical formula that shows good clinical efficacy in treating human respiratory syncytial virus pneumonia (RSVP). However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study explores the possible pharmacological actions of QF in RSVP treatment.

Methods: We used a network pharmacology approach to identify the active ingredients of QF, forecast possible therapeutic targets, and analyze biological processes and pathways. Molecular docking simulation was used to evaluate the binding capability of active ingredients and therapeutic targets. Finally, in vivo experiments confirmed the reliability of network pharmacology-based prediction of underlying mechanisms.

Results: The study identified 92 potential therapeutic targets and corresponding 131 active ingredients. Enrichment analysis showed that QF downregulated the MAPK signaling pathway and suppressed the inflammatory injury to the lungs induced by the RSV virus. Molecular docking simulations demonstrated that the core active ingredients of QF could stably bind to genes associated with the MAPK signaling pathway. QF had a protective effect against pneumonia in RSV-infected mice. The QF group exhibited a significant reduction in the levels of inflammatory mediators, interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (CXCL8, IL-8), and P-STAT3, compared to the RSV-induced group. The QF group showed remarkably inhibited MAPK1+3(P-ERK1+2) and MAPK8(P-JNK) protein expression.

Conclusion: The current study showed that QF downregulated the MAPK signaling pathway, which inhibited pulmonary inflammation triggered by RSV infection. This study recommends the appropriate use of QF in the clinical management of RSVP.

Keywords: Qingfei Formula; experiment verification.; human respiratory syncytial virus pneumonia; molecular docking simulation; network pharmacology.