| Objectives:To study the effect of Prunella Oral Liquid on Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis(HT)patients with normal thyroid function,and to explore its possible mechanism via network pharmacology.Methods:From 2018-2020,69 patients were enrolled in this study.All patients were from the outpatient clinic of the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University.They were all meeting with the diagnostic criteria of normal thyroid function,with TPOAb>300 IU/mL.A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial was adopted.HT patients were randomly divided into two groups:control group and treatment group.The treatment group was given oral prunella solution 10ml each time,twice daily,for 3 months and the placebo control group was the same as that of the treatment group.Recorded the gender,age,serum free triiodothyronine(FT3),free thyroxine(FT4),thyroid-stimulating hormone(TSH),anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody(TPOAb)and anti-thyroglobulin(TgAb)before and after intervention.SPSS software(version 23.0)was used for statistical analysis.Obtain the main chemical components and targets of Prunella vulgaris oral liquid from the TCMSP database and published literature,and screen the active components of traditional Chinese medicine according to 2 attribute values(bioavailability,OB≥ 30%,drug-like,DL≥0.18);obtain the main targets of HT from Gencards,OMIM,and DRUGBANK databases,and use the String platform for protein interaction Analyze,construct a protein interaction network and import the results into Cytoscape 3.7.1 to screen Hub nodes.The "drug-component-target"and its participating biological processes and pathways were analyzed by Metascape platform.The results were imported into Cytoscape to construct a "component-intersection target-pathway" network diagram.Five highest attribute value of the " Degree " property in the network diagram,and related enrichment pathways were selected to conduct molecular docking with the corresponding active components.Results:Analysis of the baseline gender,age,FT3,FT4,TSH,TPOAb,TgAb and thyroid volume,there was no statistical difference between the control group and the experimental group(P>0.05).After 3 months of intervention,there was no significant difference in TSH level in treatment group(P>0.05),the TSH level in the control group decreased(P=0.038).Compared with the control group,the TSH levels in treatment group elevated statistically(P<0.05).The level of FT4 in treatment group was statistically lower than that before the treatment(P=0.034),there is no significantly difference in FT4 level in the control group before and after treatment(P>0.05).There was no significant difference in FT3,TPOAb,TGAb levels and thyroid volume within and between the two groups(P>0.05).11 active components weie obtained,including β-sitosterol,luteolin and rosmarinic acid,which acted on 57 HT-related targets,among which TNF,IL6,IL1B and CXCL8 were selected as Hub nodes.The pathway analysis of Prunella Oral Solution’s intervention in HT targets mainly involves cancer signaling pathways,AGE-RAGE signaling pathways in diabetic complications,IL-17 family signaling pathways,inflammatory factor-inflammatory factor receptor interactions etc.Conclusion:The intervention of Prunella Oral Solution may decrease the TPOAb level in HT patents,but it increased TSH level and decreased FT4 level.Network pharmacology analysis showed that these results may be due to the active components such as luteolin,quercetin and rosmarinic acid acting on TNF,IL6,IL1B,CXCL8,CC12,IL10,IL4 and other targets,through IL-17 family signaling pathways,inflammatory factor-inflammatory factor receptor interactions etc,and their inflammatory factors. |
