Volume 137, Issue 3 e70072
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Xiao-Jie-An Capsule Alleviates Uterine Fibroids by Modulating Oestrogen–Progesterone Balance and Reducing Inflammatory Response

Yi Ying

Yi Ying

State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling, Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

Contribution: Writing - original draft, Validation, Methodology

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Jihan Liu

Jihan Liu

State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling, Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

Contribution: Validation, Methodology

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Shanshan Ju

Shanshan Ju

State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling, Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

Medical Innovation Center (Taizhou) of Peking University, Taizhou, Jiangsu, China

Contribution: Validation, Methodology

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Meiyu Shen

Meiyu Shen

State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling, Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

Medical Innovation Center (Taizhou) of Peking University, Taizhou, Jiangsu, China

Contribution: Validation

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Nannan Li

Nannan Li

State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling, Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

Contribution: Validation

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Yongpan An

Yongpan An

State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling, Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

Xi'an People's Hospital (Xi'an Fourth Hospital), Affiliated People's Hospital of Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

Contribution: Validation

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Feng Lu

Feng Lu

State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling, Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

Contribution: Validation

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Yiwen Tang

Yiwen Tang

State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling, Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Zhijing Wu

Zhijing Wu

State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling, Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Baoxue Yang

Corresponding Author

Baoxue Yang

State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling, Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

Medical Innovation Center (Taizhou) of Peking University, Taizhou, Jiangsu, China

Correspondence:

Baoxue Yang ([email protected])

Min Li ([email protected])

Contribution: Conceptualization, Writing - review & editing, Funding acquisition, Supervision

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Min Li

Corresponding Author

Min Li

State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling, Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China

Correspondence:

Baoxue Yang ([email protected])

Min Li ([email protected])

Contribution: Writing - review & editing, Funding acquisition, Project administration

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First published: 28 July 2025

Funding: This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China grants 82273999, 81974083 and 81800388 and the Beijing Natural Science Foundation grant 7212151.

BCPT recognizes the potential of Natural Product studies in the identification of new therapies but wishes to emphasize that findings based on uncharacterized mixtures of compounds are preliminary in nature and serve primarily as hypothesis-generating to form the basis for more elaborate investigations.

ABSTRACT

Uterine fibroids (UF) are benign tumours composed of smooth muscle cells and fibrous connective tissue. UF are common among women aged 30–50 years and often present with symptoms such as anaemia, pelvic pain and bladder dysfunction. Xiao-Jie-An Capsule (XJA), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, has been clinically used to treat UF. However, the underlying mechanisms of its efficacy remain unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the therapeutic effect of XJA and related mechanisms in a UF rat model. The experimental results showed that XJA significantly alleviated abnormalities in uterine morphology, tissue structure and purulent discharge in the UF rats. XJA also reduced serum oestrogen and progesterone in UF rats. Moreover, XJA decreased blood pro-inflammatory factors in UF rats by modulating the TLR4/NF-κB pathway. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry analyses revealed that XJA decreased the expression of Bcl-2, PCNA and Ki67 while increasing the expression of Bax, indicating its role in inhibiting cell proliferation and promoting apoptosis. Additionally, XJA exhibited immunomodulation in UF rats. In summary, our study suggests that XJA alleviates UF by multiple targets and mechanisms, such as restoring the oestrogen–progesterone balance, reducing inflammation, inhibiting cell proliferation, inducing apoptosis and regulating immune function.

Summary

  • Xiao-Jie-An capsule (XJA) effectively alleviates uterine fibroids (UF) in rats by restoring oestrogen–progesterone balance, reducing inflammation and modulating the TLR4/NF-κB pathway.
  • XJA inhibits cell proliferation, promotes apoptosis and enhances immune function.
  • It decreases serum oestrogen and progesterone, while altering the expression of proteins like Bcl-2, PCNA, Ki67 and Bax.
  • These findings suggest that XJA works through multiple mechanisms to treat UF.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request. Some data may not be made available because of privacy or ethical restrictions.

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