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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1361284
This article is part of the Research Topic Traditional Clinical Symptoms and Signs: How Can They Be Used to Investigate Medications in the Context of Pharmacology? View all 5 articles

Integrating transcriptomics and metabolomics to reveal the protective effect and mechanism of Bushen Kangshuai Granules on the elderly people

Provisionally accepted
Jun Hu Jun Hu 1Fengmin Yang Fengmin Yang 2Guang Yang Guang Yang 1Juhua Pan Juhua Pan 1Yumeng Tan Yumeng Tan 3Tang Yalin Tang Yalin 2Yongmei Liu Yongmei Liu 1Hong Zhang Hong Zhang 2Jie Wang Jie Wang 1*
  • 1 Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
  • 2 State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 3 Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Aging is characterized by a decline in the adaptability and resistance of the body. In this study, Bushen Kangshuai Granules (BKG), as a kind of Chinese herbal formula, was developed and shown to alleviate aging-related symptoms. Methods: Self-controlled study combined with RNA-seq and metabonomics were used to expound the efficacy and safety of BKG and revealed the regulation mechanism of BKG treating aging. In vitro experiments were used to confirm the analytical results. The aging cell model of AC16 cells were treated with D-galactose. The RT-qPCR was used to detect the impact of BKG on telomere length. The DCFH-DA staining was used for detecting intracellular ROS. The targeted signaling pathway was selected and verified using western blot. Results: After 8 weeks of treatment, BKG significantly reduced SOD level(P=0.046), TCM aging symptoms(P<0.001) and TNF-α level(P=0.044) in the elderly participants. High-throughput sequencing showed that BKG reversed the expression of 70 and 79 age-related genes and metabolites, respectively. Further enrichment analysis indicated that BKG down-regulated the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction, and Rap1 signaling pathway, while up-regulating sphingolipid metabolism. The results of in vitro experiments show that, after D-gal treatment, the viability and telomere length of AC16 cells significantly decreased(P<0.05), while the expression of ROS increased. (P<0.05), BKG significantly increased the telomere length of AC16 cells and reduced the level of ROS expression(P<0.05). In addition, BKG decreased the expression of THBS1, PDGFRA, and EPS8L1(P<0.05), consistent with the RNA-seq results. Our results also showed that BKG affects PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. Conclusion: BKG can significantly improve aging-related symptoms and increase SOD levels, which may be associated with the reversal of the expression of various aging-related genes. The PI3K-AKT signaling pathway and sphingolipid metabolism may be potential mechanisms underlying BKG anti-aging effects. Key words: Aging, Bushen Kangshuai Granules (BKG), Traditional Chinese medicine, transcriptomics, metabolomics

    Keywords: Aging, Bushen Kangshuai Granules (BKG), Traditional Chinese Medicine, Transcriptomics, Metabolomics

    Received: 25 Dec 2023; Accepted: 08 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Hu, Yang, Yang, Pan, Tan, Yalin, Liu, Zhang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jie Wang, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

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