Medical sciences
Re-Du-Ning Alleviates Airway-Intestinal Inflammation of COPD Rats by Regulating Glycerophospholipid Metabolism and Modulating Gut Microbiome
By Wang Y, Cheng L, Wang C and 5 others.
Abstract
Background
Re-Du-Ning (RDN) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulation composed of Lonicera japonica, Gardenia jasminoides, and Artemisia annua. Previous in vitro studies have demonstrated that RDN suppresses pro-inflammatory cytokine release in RAW264.7 macrophages and exhibits potential anti-COPD activity; however, its precise molecular mechanism remains elusive.
Methods
A rat COPD model was established by combining cigarette smoke exposure and intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Rats were intragastrically administered with gradient doses of RDN to evaluate its in vivo pharmacological efficacy. Untargeted metabolomics and 16S rRNA microbiome sequencing were performed to screen differential metabolites and gut bacterial genera following RDN intervention, followed by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis of core metabolic pathways. Further functional validations were conducted via antibiotic-mediated gut microbiota depletion, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), targeted glycerophospholipid supplementation, and human clinical cohort datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) to verify the central roles of gut microbiota and glycerophospholipid metabolism.