2. Academic Validation
  3. Bioactive components in prunella vulgaris for treating Hashimoto's disease via regulation of innate immune response in human thyrocytes

Bioactive components in prunella vulgaris for treating Hashimoto's disease via regulation of innate immune response in human thyrocytes

  • Heliyon. 2024 Aug 13;10(16):e36103. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36103.
Yongzhao Chen 1,  Bo Jiang 2,  Cheng Qu 2,  Chaoyu Jiang 2,  Chen Zhang 2,  Yanxue Wang 2,  Fei Chen 3,  Xitai Sun 4,  Lei Su 2,  Yuqian Luo 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of General Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Zhongshan Road 321, Nanjing, 210008, China.
  • 2 Department of General Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Zhongshan Road 321, Nanjing, 210008, China.
  • 3 General Surgery Center, Department of Thyroid Surgery, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University 253 Gongye Middle Avenue, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, 510280, China.
  • 4 Division of Pancreas and Metabolism Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China, Zhongshan Road 321, Nanjing, 210008, China.
  • 5 Clinical Medicine Research Center, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China, Zhongshan Road 321, Nanjing, 210008, China.
PMID: 39253271 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36103
Abstract

Background: Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is a thyroid autoimmune disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration and thyroid destruction. Prunella vulgaris (PV) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine with documented clinical efficacy in treating HT. We previously reported an immunoregulatory effect of PV in thyrocytes; however, the bioactive components of PV remained unclear. This study aimed to elucidate key components of PV for treating HT and their acting mechanisms.

Methods: Network pharmacology was used to predict key PV components for HT. The predicted components were tested to determine whether they could exert an immunoregulatory effect of PV in human thyrocytes. Limited proteolysis-mass spectrometry (Lip-MS) was used to explore interacting proteins with PV components in human thyrocytes. Microscale thermophoresis binding assay was used to evaluate the affinity of PV components with the target protein.

Results: Eleven PV components with 192 component targets and 3415 HT-related genes were gathered from public databases. With network pharmacology, a 'component-target-disease' network was established wherein four Flavonoids including quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol, morin, and a phytosterol, β-sitosterol were predicted as key components in PV for HT. In stimulated primary human thyrocytes or Nthy-ori-31 cells, key components inhibited gene expressions of inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interferon-β (IFN-β), cellular Apoptosis, and activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3). Heat shock protein 90 alpha, class A, member 1 (HSP90AA1), was identified to interact with Flavonoids in PV by Lip-MS. Morin had the highest affinity with HSP90AA1 (KD = 122.74 μM), followed by kaempferol (KD = 168.53 μM), luteolin (KD = 293.94 μM), and quercetin (KD = 356.86 μM).

Conclusion: Quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol, morin, and β-sitosterol reproduced an anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptosis effect of PV in stimulated human thyrocytes, which potentially contributed to the treatment efficacy of PV in HT.

Keywords

Hashimoto's thyroiditis; Inflammation; Prunella vulgaris; Thyrocytes; Thyroid autoimmunity.

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