Preliminary Study Of Licorice Blending Medicines From The Perspective Of Immunology

Objective:Based on "Treatise on Febrile Diseases",the data mining of licorice related prescriptions was conducted to explore the compatibility law of licorice and screen out some representative prescriptions.Immunopharmacological experiments were conducted on representative prescriptions to study the correlation between the "blending medicines" of licorice and its immune regulation effect,in order to reveal the scientific connotation of "blending medicines" of licorice.Method:1.The Compatibility Law of Licorice in Treatise on Febrile DiseasesStudy on the compatibility of licorice with frequency statistics,cluster analysis and correlation analysis.2.Study on pharmacodynamics of Shaoyao Gancao Decoction,Huangqin Decoction,Sini Powder and its split prescription on ulcerative colitis mice(1)Dextran sodium sulfate(DSS)free drink was used to establish a mouse model of ulcerative colitis.(2)Each group of mice was scored for disease activity index(DAI),and the colon length and spleen index were measured after the treatment.(3)HE staining was used to observe the pathological changes in the colon of mice in each group.(4)The contents of TNF-α and IL-1β in colon tissue of mice in each group were detected by ELISA.3.Effects of Shaoyao Gancao Decoction,Huangqin Decoction,Sini Powder and its split prescription on Th17 / Treg balance in ulcerative colitis mice(1)Detection of serum IL-6,IL-17,IL-10 and TGF-β content of mice in each group by ELISA.(2)Flow cytometry was used to detect the proportion of Th17 and Treg cells in the spleen of each group of mice.(3)Western Blot method was used to detect the expression of RORγt and Foxp3 protein in colon tissue of mice in each group.Result:1.The Compatibility Law of Licorice in Treatise on Febrile DiseasesThe analysis of drug frequency showed that the drugs mixed with licorice were cassia twig 37 times,jujube 36 times,ginger 32 times and peony 25 times.The drug categories that are more compatible with licorice are tonic drugs and antihypertensive drugs,and the frequency of use is 96 times,and the frequency is 31.37%.The most compatible with licorice is the sweet and cold medicine,of which the sweet medicine is32 times,accounting for 36.78%,and the cold medicine is 25 times,accounting for48.08%.The results of cluster analysis showed that licorice was clustered with cassia twig,jujube,ginger and peony.The results of correlation analysis showed that licorice had higher support when it was associated with cassia twig,jujube,ginger and peony,with 52.11%,50.70%,45.07%,and 35.21% respectively.2.Study on pharmacodynamics of Shaoyao Gancao Decoction,Huangqin Decoction,Sini Powder and its split prescription on ulcerative colitis mice(1)Shaoyao Gancao Decoction,Huangqin Decoction,Sini Powder and its split prescription group can reduce DAI,increase colon length and restore spleen index,but the effect of the whole prescription group is better.(2)The results of HE staining showed that Shaoyao Gancao Decoction,Huangqin Decoction,Sini Powder,and its split prescription group could alleviate the colonic pathological damage of ulcerative colitis mice,but the whole prescription group had better treatment effects.(3)The results of ELISA showed that Shaoyao Gancao Decoction,Huangqin Decoction,Sini Powder,and its split prescription group could all down-regulate the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in the colon of ulcerative colitis mice,but these parameters were lower in the whole prescription group.3.Effects of Shaoyao Gancao Decoction,Huangqin Decoction,Sini Powder and itssplit prescription on Th17 / Treg balance in ulcerative colitis mice(1)The results of ELISA showed that Shaoyao Gancao Decoction,Huangqin Decoction,Sini Powder,and its split prescription group could reduce the levels of IL-6and IL-17 and increase the levels of IL-10 and TGF-β in the serum of ulcerative colitis mice.But after removing licorice,the reduction of IL-6 and IL-17 and the increase of IL-10 and TGF-β were not as good as the three whole prescription group.(2)The results of flow cytometry showed that Shaoyao Gancao Decoction,Huangqin Decoction,Sini Powder and its split prescription group could all reduce the proportion of Th17 cells and increase the proportion of Treg cells in ulcerative colitis mice,but the effect of removing licorice was not as good as that of the whole prescription group.(3)The results of Western Blot showed that Shaoyao Gancao Decoction,Huangqin Decoction,Sini Powder,and its split prescription group could all reduce the expression of RORγt and increase the expression of Foxp3 in ulcerative colitis mice,but the effect of removing licorice was not as good as that of the whole prescription group.Conclusion:Licorice and peony in Treatise on Febrile Diseases are one of Zhang Zhongjing’s most compatible medicine pairs.Shaoyao Gancao Decoction,Huangzhi Decoction,and Sini Powder all have therapeutic effects on ulcerative colitis,and their therapeutic effects may be related to regulating the immune balance of Th17 / Treg.The effects of Shaoyao Gancao Decoction,Huangqin Decoction,and Sini Powder after removing licorice have been greatly reduced,indicating that licorice may have a non-selective effect on related diseases through its effect on the immune system.This non-selective action can be understood as the role of licorice in "blending medicines".