94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1548866
Effect of four traditional Chinese medicine monomers on mechanical barrier damage and inflammation response of IPEC-J2 cells caused by soybean 7S globulin
Provisionally accepted- Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, China
The soybean 7S globulin is a major allergen responsible for diarrhea in weaned piglets, leading to significant economic loss in the pig breeding industry. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find effective and safe therapeutic agents to prevent and treat diarrhea caused by soybean 7S globulin. Given the global trend toward "antibiotic alternatives," traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) offer a promising approach for the prevention and control of animal diseases. In this study, four TCM monomers (curcumin, eleutheroside E, saponin B4, and forsythia A ) were evaluated for their protective and therapeutic effects on intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) damaged by soybean 7S globulin. The results demonstrated that curcumin at concentrations of 0.02, 0.04, and 0.08 μg/mL, eleutheroside E at 25, and 50 μg/mL, saponin B4 at 12.5, 25, and 50 μg/mL, and forsythia A at 20, and 40 μg/mL had significant ameliorative effects on cell viability, permeability, and integrity. Furthermore, the TCM monomers alleviated the inflammatory response, reduced the disruption of tight junctions, and improved the cellular mechanical barrier. These protective effects were likely mediated through the inhibition of the Rho/ROCK signaling pathway, characterized by down regulation of RhoA, ROCK1, ROCK2, and MLKC expression. These findings suggest that the four TCM monomers have the potential to treat diarrhea of weaned piglets caused by soybean protein.
Keywords: Soybean 7s globulin, Curcumin, eleutheroside E, Saponin B4, Forsythia A, Mechanical barrier, IPEC-J2 cells
Received: 20 Dec 2024; Accepted: 13 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Deng, Wu, Wan, Deng and Deng. 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:
Junliang Deng, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, 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.