Volume 46, Issue 12 e14396
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

A network pharmacology strategy combined with in vitro experiments to investigate the potential anti-inflammatory mechanism of Prunus cerasifera Ehrhart

Xiaomei Duan

Xiaomei Duan

Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Plant Resources in Arid Regions, State Key Laboratory Basis of Xinjiang Indigenous Medicinal Plants Resource Utilization, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

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Jun Li

Jun Li

Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Plant Resources in Arid Regions, State Key Laboratory Basis of Xinjiang Indigenous Medicinal Plants Resource Utilization, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

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Jingxue Cui

Jingxue Cui

Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Plant Resources in Arid Regions, State Key Laboratory Basis of Xinjiang Indigenous Medicinal Plants Resource Utilization, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

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Huizheng Wen

Huizheng Wen

Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Plant Resources in Arid Regions, State Key Laboratory Basis of Xinjiang Indigenous Medicinal Plants Resource Utilization, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

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Xuelei Xin

Corresponding Author

Xuelei Xin

Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Plant Resources in Arid Regions, State Key Laboratory Basis of Xinjiang Indigenous Medicinal Plants Resource Utilization, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Correspondence

Xuelei Xin and Haji Akber Aisa, Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Plant Resources in Arid Regions, State Key Laboratory Basis of Xinjiang Indigenous Medicinal Plants Resource Utilization, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China.

Email: [email protected] (X. X.) and [email protected] (H. A. A.)

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Haji Akber Aisa

Corresponding Author

Haji Akber Aisa

Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Plant Resources in Arid Regions, State Key Laboratory Basis of Xinjiang Indigenous Medicinal Plants Resource Utilization, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Correspondence

Xuelei Xin and Haji Akber Aisa, Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Plant Resources in Arid Regions, State Key Laboratory Basis of Xinjiang Indigenous Medicinal Plants Resource Utilization, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China.

Email: [email protected] (X. X.) and [email protected] (H. A. A.)

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First published: 28 September 2022
Citations: 7

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of Prunus cerasifera Ehrhart (EHP). LC–MS/MS, network pharmacology, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and Western blot analysis methods were used to investigate the chemical composition and the anti-inflammatory mechanism of EHP. The LC–MS/MS results showed that flavonoids and phenolic acids were the major compounds in EHP. The network pharmacology analysis results indicated that EHP was related to TNF, inflammatory cytokine, and MAPK signaling pathway. ELISA and Western blot results showed that EHP impeded the increase in inflammatory factors, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), nuclear transcription factors κB (p65), MAPK pathway, pyrolytic relevant proteins nod-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and activated the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/hemeoxygenase-1 (HO-1) pathway. Therefore, this research highlighted the potential application of P. cerasifera in the development of anti-inflammatory foods that prevented inflammatory diseases.

Practical applications

In recent years, many synthetic drugs with anti-inflammatory effect have the disadvantages of high price and side effects. Thus, the development of anti-inflammatory drugs from natural resources has its application value. In this study, LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells were used to establish inflammatory model to verify the anti-inflammatory effect of Prunus cerasifera (EHP). The results showed that P. cerasifera possessed anti-inflammatory activity through inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokines secretion, NF-κB, MAPK pathway, and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Therefore, P. cerasifera has the potential to develop into functional food to prevent the progress of various inflammatory-related diseases.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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