Optimization of protein removal process of Lonicera japonica polysaccharide and its immunomodulatory mechanism in cyclophosphamide‐induced mice by metabolomics and network pharmacology

Abstract

In this study, TCA–n‐butanol was chosen as the best deproteinization method for Lonicera japonica polysaccharide (LJP) by comparing the polysaccharide retention rate and the protein clearance rate of five different methods. The response surface methodology (RSM) based on the Box–Behnken design (BBD) was used to optimize the deproteinization conditions as follows: TCA: n‐butanol = 1: 5.1, polysaccharide solution: (TCA–n‐butanol) = 1: 2.8, and shook for 33 min. LJP could promote the thymus and spleen indexes of cyclophosphamide (CTX)‐induced immune‐deficient mice. Besides, the contents of cytokine interleukin‐2 (IL‐2) and hemolysin in mice serum were augmented after treatment with LJP. Based on serum metabolomics analysis, a total of 14 metabolites (VIP >1.0, FC >2 or FC <0.5, and p value < .05) were selected as the potential biological biomarkers related to the LJP for treating CTX‐induced mice. After the pathway enrichment analysis, these metabolites were mainly involved in the relevant pathways of arginine biosynthesis, Citrate cycle, and other metabolic pathways. Network pharmacology further showed that there were 57 key targeting proteins in the intersection of the potential biological biomarkers and immunodeficiency‐related targeting proteins according to protein–protein interactions analysis (PPI). The biological function analysis indicated that the potential biological processes were mainly associated with tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, phospholipid metabolic process, metabolic process, and so on. In conclusion, serum metabolomics combined with network pharmacology could be helpful to clarify the immunomodulatory mechanism of LJP and provide a literature basis for further clinical research on the therapeutic mechanism of LJP.

Network pharmacology combined with metabolomics to explore the mechanism for Lonicerae Japonicae flos against respiratory syncytial virus

“…The network has 127 nodes and 1513 edges, with more edges indicating stronger interactions. Based on this network, a link between upstream targets and disease targets can be found, which indirectly proves the results of metabolomics [ 7 ].

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“…The software SIMCA 16.0.2 was used for multivariate analysis of the data, such as orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). The variable importance values (VIP) from the project were used to rank the overall contribution of each variable in the OPLS-DA [ 7 ]. VIP > 1, p value < 0.05, and Fold Change (FC) > 1.5 or < 0.667 were used to select potential biomarkers.…”

“…Moreover, LJF plays a significant role in various health-related activities, including antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, immunomodulatory, and antioxidant effects [ 6 ]. At present, more than 600 components have been isolated from LJF, including volatile oils, organic acids, flavonoids, polysaccharides, cyclic enol ether terpenoids, saponins, and trace elements [ 7 ]. LJF belongs to the category of medicinals with both therapeutic and dietary properties, characterized by low toxicity and minimal side effects.…”

Structure Elucidation and Immunoactivity Study of Armillaria mellea Fruiting Body Polysaccharides

“…Immune cells undergo development and multiplication in these two locations. The thymus is the central immune organ that mainly mediates cellular immunity, and the spleen is a secondary immune organ involved in humoral immunity [54]. The thymus and spleen index, which is a crucial indicator for assessing the immunological function of organs, can show the growth and development of the thymus and spleen [55].…”