1.Improvement and evaluation of chronic bronchitis modeling methods in mice
Xiuting DU ; Liang LUO ; Wanjun XIE ; Zhixun XIAO ; Guifeng ZHUO ; Ning SU
Chinese Journal of Pathophysiology 2015;(9):1724-1728
AIM:To explore a more accurate and reliable pathological model of the chronic bronchitis , which has improved from the former single-factor modeling method of the disease .METHODS:The mice in complex group were treated with lipopolysaccharide ( LPS) by tracheal injection on the 1st day and nasal drops on the 14th day, and from the 2nd day to 30th day, the animals were given passive smoking and sulfur dioxide ( SO2 ) inhalation ( except on the 14th day).The mice in SO2 group were exposed to SO2 2 min per day, while in smoking group, the mice were exposed to smoke for about 1 h per day (4 cigarettes each time until one pack of cigarettes were burning up ).In LPS group, the mice had tracheal injection of LPS on the 1st day and nasal drops of LPS on the 14th day and 30th day.Every modeling process las-ted for 30 days.After modeling, the improvement of chronic bronchitis model was evaluated by testing the general condi-tions of the mice , analyzing leukocyte count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid ( BALF ) , and observing the morphological changes of the bronchial and lung tissues .RESULTS:After modeling, the mice in every model group experienced symp-toms including wet nose, cough, dry and lusterless hair, arched back and curled-up body, showing inactive, and slow down in response .The mice in complex group gained the lowest weight compared to other groups .From each model group , the inflammatory cells infiltrated evidently around the bronchial walls , especially in the bronchial cavity , and the mucilage secretion in the airway increased .The total number of leukocytes in BALF increased significantly in complex group .The in-flammatory cell count in the lung tissue indicated that the mice in complex group had significantly higher levels of inflamma -tory cell infiltration.Besides, the comparison between smoke group and LPS group was statistically significant .CONCLU-SION:Smoking, SO2 inhalation and LPS injection induce bronchial lung disease in mice , and the complex chronic bron-chitis mouse model is a better model with the pathological changes of bronchus , lung tissue and BALF , and pathogenesis of chronic bronchitis .
2.Effect of Wenpi tongluo kaiqiao formula against neuronal necroptosis in mice with Alzheimer’s disease and its mechanism
Xiaomin ZHU ; Wei CHEN ; Yulan FU ; Guifeng ZHUO ; Yingrui HUANG ; Ying ZHANG ; Lin WU
China Pharmacy 2025;36(9):1046-1051
OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects and mechanism of Wenpi tongluo kaiqiao formula (WPTL) against neuronal necroptosis in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) mice based on the Z-DNA binding protein 1 (ZBP1)/mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL) signaling pathway. METHODS Forty APP/PS1 transgenic AD mice were randomly divided into model group, WPTL low-dose (WPTL-L) group (10.4 g/kg, calculated by the raw medicine), WPTL high-dose (WPTL-H) group (20.8 g/kg, calculated by the raw medicine) and donepezil hydrochloride group (3 mg/kg), with 10 mice in each group; another 10 C57BL/6J mice were selected as normal control group. Intragastric administration, once a day, for 30 consecutive days. Twenty-four hours after the last administration, Morris water maze test was performed to evaluate learning and memory abilities; the pathological morphology of hippocampal tissues was observed; the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) were determined; the expressions of amyloid precursor protein (APP), Tau protein, and ZBP1/MLKL signaling pathway-related proteins in hippocampal tissues were detected; the positive expression of phosphorylated receptor-interacting protein kinase 3 (p-RIPK3) in the neurons of hippocampal tissues and mRNA expression of ZBP1 were measured in hippocampal tissues. RESULTS Compared with normal control group, the escape latency of mice in model group was prolonged significantly on day 3 to 5 (P<0.05), the times of crossing platform reduced significantly (P<0.05), and obvious pathological changes were observed in the hippocampal tissue. The level of TNF- α, the expressions of APP, p-Tau and ZBP1, the phosphorylation levels of RIPK1, RIPK3 and MLKL, the fluorescence intensity of p-RIPK3 as well as the mRNA expression of ZBP1 were significantly increased (P<0.05), while the serum level of IL-4 was decreased significantly (P<0.05). Compared with model group, above indexes were reversed significantly in administration groups (P<0.05), and pathological damage of hippocampal tissue was alleviated. CONCLUSIONS WPTL can inhibit the ZBP1/MLKL signaling pathway, reduce neuronal necroptosis in AD mice, and inhibit inflammatory responses, thereby improving learning and spatial memory abilities in AD mice.
3.Study on the mechanism of Yifei xuanfei jiangzhuo formula against vascular dementia
Guifeng ZHUO ; Wei CHEN ; Jinzhi ZHANG ; Deqing HUANG ; Bingmao YUAN ; Shanshan PU ; Xiaomin ZHU ; Naibin LIAO ; Mingyang SU ; Xiangyi CHEN ; Yulan FU ; Lin WU
China Pharmacy 2024;35(18):2207-2212
OBJECTIVE To investigate the mechanism of Yifei xuanfei jiangzhuo formula (YFXF) against vascular dementia (VD). METHODS The differentially expressed genes of YFXF (YDEGs) were obtained by network pharmacology. High-risk genes were screened from YDEGs by using the nomogram model. The optimal machine learning models in generalized linear, support vector machine, extreme gradient boosting and random forest models were screened based on high-risk genes. VD model rats were established by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion, and were randomly divided into model group and YFXF group (12.18 g/kg, by the total amount of crude drugs), and sham operation group was established additionally, with 6 rats in each group. The effects of YFXF on behavior (using escape latency and times of crossing platform as indexes), histopathologic changes of cerebral cortex, and the expression of proteins related to the secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1)/phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (aka Akt) signaling pathway and the mRNA expression of SPP1 in cerebral cortex of VD rats were evaluated. RESULTS A total of 6 YDEGs were obtained, among which SPP1, CCL2, HMOX1 and HSPB1 may be high-risk genes of VD. The generalized linear model based on high-risk genes had the highest prediction accuracy (area under the curve of 0.954). Compared with the model group, YFXF could significantly shorten the escape latency of VD rats, significantly increase the times of crossing platform (P<0.05); improve the pathological damage of cerebral cortex, such as neuronal shrinkage and neuronal necrosis; significantly reduce the expressions of SPP1 protein and mRNA (P<0.05), while significantly increase the phosphorylation levels of PI3K and Akt (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS VD high-risk genes SPP1, CCL2, HMOX1 and HSPB1 may be the important targets of YFXF. YFXF may play an anti-VD role by down-regulating the protein and mRNA expressions of SPP1 and activating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.