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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1391946

Qingxuan Runmu Yin alleviates dry eye disease via inhibition of the HMOX1/HIF-1 pathway affecting ferroptosis

Provisionally accepted
Wang J. Di Wang J. Di 1Yue Liu Yue Liu 1Beiting Zong Beiting Zong 1Shanshan Zhao Shanshan Zhao 2Yue Li Yue Li 2Zhirui Zhang Zhirui Zhang 2Yao Jing Yao Jing 1*
  • 1 First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
  • 2 Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China

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

    The prevalence of dry eye disease (DED), a multifactorial ocular surface disease characterized by tear film instability, is increasing yearly. Qingxuan Run Mu Yin (QXRMY) is a traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)consisting of Radix Rehmanniae, Radix Scrophulariae, Rhizoma Atractylodis macrocephalae, Herba Dendrobii, Flos Lonicerae, Forsythia suspensa, Ophiopogon japonicus, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Radix Platycodi, and Radix Glycyrrhizae. It has excellent therapeutic effects on dry eye syndrome and a good anti-inflammatory effect on immune-related inflammation.However, the molecular mechanism of Qing Xuan Run Mu Yin in treating dry eye syndrome is largely unknown. The present study used an online database to identify potential target genes of QXRMY for treating DED. The possible mechanisms of these target genes for the treatment of DED were obtained through Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases, Hub genes screened by Cytoscape and intersected with ferroptosis-related genes, and the essential genes were finally obtained based on the results of the analyses. DED cell model and rat model were constructed in this study to validate the critical genes and pathways, and it was confirmed that QXEMY alleviated DED by repressing ferroptosis through inhibiting the HMOX1/HIF-1 pathway. In conclusion, this study integrated network pharmacological analyses and experimental validation to provide an effective method to investigate the molecular mechanism 2 of QXRMY in treating DED.

    Keywords: Dry eye disease, HMOX1/HIF-1 pathway, ferroptosis, Network analysis, Qing Xuan

    Received: 26 Feb 2024; Accepted: 27 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Di, Liu, Zong, Zhao, Li, Zhang and Jing. 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: Yao Jing, First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.