Abstract
Relieving Sore Throat Formula (RSTF) is a formula approved by the China Food and Drug Administration and has been used for the treatment of pharyngitis in clinic for many years. However, the potential pharmacological mechanism still remains unknown. We combined multiple methods including bioinformatics data digging, network pharmacology analysis, and pathway analysis to predict the potential target of RSTF. We verified our in silico prediction results with an in vivo/vitro antibacterial effect test, mouse phagocytic index test, proliferation, transformation, and migration of mouse spleen lymphocytes. Alteration of NF-κB pathway was determined by Western blotting, immunofluorescence, and PCR. The in vivo experiments demonstrated that the RSTF could significantly relieve the symptoms of pharyngitis. A rat saliva secretion test showed that RSTF can effectively relieve the xerostomia symptom. A phenol red excretion test showed that RSTF has an eliminating phlegm effect. A hot plate method and granuloma experiment proved that RSTF also have analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. In silico prediction demonstrates that 70 active compounds of RSTF were filtered out through ADME screening and 84 putative targets correlated with different diseases. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that the candidate targets were mostly related to the response to bacteria and immunity signalling pathways, which are known contributors to pharyngitis. Experimental results confirmed that RSTF exerted therapeutic effects on pharyngitis mainly by antibacterial effect and downregulation of NF-κB activities. It is demonstrated both in silico and in vivo/vitro that RSTF exerted therapeutic effects on pharyngitis mainly through an antibiotic effect and downregulation of NF-κB signalling pathway.
Highlights
Pharyngitis is the inflammation with both various infectious and noninfectious causes in the pharyngeal mucosa, mucous membrane, or lymphoid tissue and is part of the upper respiratory tract inflammation [1]
Yu-ping-feng particle (YPFP) was purchased from Sinopharm Group Guangdong Global Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (China); Lanqin oral liquid was from Yangzi River Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (China); Dexamethasone acetate (DXM) and lipopolysaccharide were purchased from SigmaAldrich (USA); aspirin was from Bayer (Germany); ambroxol hydrochloride and atropine were from Aladdin (China), concanavalin (ConA) was from Biosharp (China); tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) was from Bioss (China)
The results showed that Relieving Sore Throat Formula (RSTF) boosted saliva secretion in rats at the concentration of 7.5 g/kg and 15 g/kg, and its promotion was slightly lower than that of the positive drug atropine (Figure 1(a))
Summary
Pharyngitis is the inflammation with both various infectious and noninfectious causes in the pharyngeal mucosa, mucous membrane, or lymphoid tissue and is part of the upper respiratory tract inflammation [1]. Pharyngitis is divided into acute and chronic types. Most of acute pharyngitis are caused by infection, and chronic pharyngitis tends to be secondary to acute pharyngitis except for other external factors, which can be complicated by some downward inflammation, such as acute or chronic laryngitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia [1, 2]. The deterioration of infection may lead to systemic complications such as acute nephritis, sepsis, rheumatic fever, and other diseases [3,4,5]. Pharyngitis is a common upper respiratory tract disease in adults with long course of disease and stubborn symptom which are difficult to cure. Most patients suffer from a variety of pharyngeal discomforts, such as foreign body sensation, burning sensation, dryness, itching, slight
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