Wu-Tou Decoction in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Integrating Network Pharmacology and In Vivo Pharmacological Evaluation.

Qingqing Guo,Xuemei Qiu,Yanqin Bian,Ge Zhang,Kang Zheng,Xiaojuan He,Li Li,Chaoying Ma,Aiping Lu,Xue Liu,Danping Fan,Yukun Zhao

doi:10.3389/fphar.2017.00230

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to explore underlying action mechanism of Wu-Tou decoction (WTD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) through network pharmacology prediction and experimental verification.Methods: Chemical compounds and human target proteins of WTD as well as RA-related human genes were obtained from TCM Database @ Taiwan, PubChem and GenBank, respectively. Subsequently, molecular networks and canonical pathways presumably involved in the treatment of WTD on RA were generated by ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) software. Furthermore, experimental validation was carried out with MIP-1β-induced U937 cell model and collagen induced arthritis (CIA) rat model.Results: CCR5 signaling pathway in macrophages was shown to be the top one shared signaling pathway associated with both cell immune response and cytokine signaling. In addition, protein kinase C (PKC) δ and p38 in this pathway were treated as target proteins of WTD in RA. In vitro experiments indicated that WTD inhibited MIP-1β-induced production of TNF-α, MIP-1α, and RANTES as well as phosphorylation of CCR5, PKC δ, and p38 in U937 cells. WTD treatment maintained the inhibitory effects on production of TNF-α and RANTES in MIP-1β-induced U937 cells after CCR5 knockdown. In vivo experiments demonstrated that WTD ameliorated symptoms in CIA rats, decreased the levels of IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α, MIP-1α, MIP-2, RANTES, and IP-10 in serum of CIA rats, as well as mRNA levels of MIP-1α, MIP-2, RANTES, and IP-10 in ankle joints of CIA rats. Furthermore, WTD also lowered the phosphorylation levels of CCR5, PKC δ and p38 in both ankle joints and macrophages in ankle joints from CIA rats.Conclusion: It was demonstrated in this research that WTD played a role in inhibiting inflammatory response in RA which was closely connected with the modulation effect of WTD on CCR5 signaling pathway in macrophages.

Highlights

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and systemic autoimmune inflammatory disorder affecting multiple tissues and organs, especially for flexible joints (Chen et al, 2012)
One hundred and seventy-four chemical compounds (Supplementary Table 1) and 186 human target proteins (Supplementary Table 2) of Wu-Tou decoction (WTD) were obtained in this study
chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) Signaling Pathway Might Be Involved in the Regulation Effects of WTD on macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1β-Induced Production of Cytokines and Chemokines

Summary

Introduction

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and systemic autoimmune inflammatory disorder affecting multiple tissues and organs, especially for flexible joints (Chen et al, 2012). No effective treatment for RA is available at present. Used drugs, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and glucocorticoids, have been proved to represent either limited efficacy or frequent side effects. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been applied in treating RA for a long time in Asia, which has been gradually accepted in the world thanks to its excellent efficacy and less adverse reactions. The underlying mechanism by which TCM help to alleviate RA remains unknown, which hinders its further clinical application

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