Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba ameliorates cartilage inflammation in knee osteoarthritis by inhibiting TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway
- VernacularTitle:红花-伸筋草通过抑制TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB信号通路改善膝骨关节炎软骨炎症
- Author:
Li-kai YU
1
;
Zi-shan SU
;
Di TIAN
;
Ze-en WANG
;
Shang-qi LIU
;
Pei-min WANG
;
Nong-shan ZHANG
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords: Carthami Flos; Lycopodii Herba; network pharmacology; TLR4; NF-κB; knee osteoarthritis; cartilage
- From: Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(7):1382-1390
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
- Abstract: Aim To verify the mechanism of action of Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba in treating KOA carti-lage inflammation based on network pharmacology and in vitro and in vivo experiments.Methods The effec-tive ingredients of Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba were screened through the database,the core targets of"drug disease"were analyzed,and pathway enrichment analy-sis and molecular docking verification were conducted.Experimental verification:Primary chondrocytes were extracted from mice and divided into the control group,IL-1β group,treatment group,and treatment+TLR4 agonist group.CCK-8 method was used to screen the optimal intervention concentration of Carthami Flos-Ly-copodii Herba.ELISA was used to detect the content of inflammatory factors in chondrocytes.Western blot was employed to detect the protein expression related to cellular pathways.Subsequently,a KOA mouse model was constructed using the DMM method.After admin-istration,the knee joint injury of mice was evaluated u-sing safranin O-green staining.ELISA was used to de-tect the levels of inflammatory factors in serum.West-ern blot was employed to detect collagen Ⅱ,MMP13,Aggrecan,and apoptosis related protein expression in cartilage tissue.TUNEL staining was used to detect the apoptosis rate of cells.Results A total of 26 active ingredients of Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba were screened,as well as 123 potential targets for treating KOA.The enrichment analysis results indicated that it mainly involved mechanisms such as Toll like receptors and cell apoptosis.The experimental results showed that Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba alleviated the in-flammatory response of chondrocytes and affected the expression of pathway related proteins.Compared with KOA mice,safflower stretched muscle grass could im-prove cartilage damage and reduce the concentration of serum inflammatory factors,regulate the expression of collagen Ⅱ,MMP13,Aggrecan,and apoptosis related proteins in cartilage tissue,and reduce the fluorescence intensity of TUNEL staining in the tissue.Conclusions Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba can improve KOA cartilage inflammation,and its mechanism may be relat-ed to the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway.
