Validation of Jianpi Qingre Tongluo Recipe in Reducing Inflammation and Dyslipidemia in Osteoarthritis via Lnc RNA HOTAIR/APN/PI3K/AKT

Xiaolu Chen,1– 3 Jian Liu,1,2 Guizhen Wang,1,2 Yanqiu Sun,1,2 Xiang Ding,1– 3 Xianheng Zhang1– 3 1Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230038, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Rheumatology, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230012, People’s Republic of China; 3Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hefei, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jian Liu, Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230038, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 551 62838582, Fax +86 551 62821605, Email liujianahzy@126.comObjective: Jianpi Qingre Tongluo Recipe (JQP) has been widely used in clinical practice, and its anti-Osteoarthritis (OA) effectiveness and specific mechanism have been concerned. This study aims to explore the clinical effect of JQP in reducing inflammation and dyslipidemia in OA and the molecular mechanism.Methods: The clinical efficacy of JQP in OA treatment was assessed through data mining. Through the network pharmacology technology, the interactive network of “active component-target-disease” was developed, the interaction relationship of the related proteins was analyzed, and enrichment analysis of gene pathway biological process was conducted. Molecular docking was carried out with PyMOL and AutodockTools-1.5.7. Finally, cell experiments were used to verify JQP’s delay of immune inflammation in OA.Results: We found that JQP could ameliorate the immune inflammatory and lipid metabolism indicators; reduce VAS and SAS score in OA. A total of 98 genes overlapped between target genes of JQP and OA. TNF, IL-6, IL-1β, and AKT1 shared the highest centrality among all target genes. KEGG analysis unveiled that 98 intersection genes were predominantly enriched in PI3K/AKT pathway in the anti-OA system. In vitro, after peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) stimulation, inflammatory cytokines imbalances and the expressions of adiponectin (APN) were decreased in osteoarthritis-chondrocytes (OA-CH). Furthermore, JQP-containing serum protected OA-CHs through down-regulating HOTAIR levels, thereby up-regulating APN and depressing PI3K/AKT pathway.Conclusion: This study suggests that JQP might reduce inflammation and improve lipid metabolism of OA by regulating HOTAIR/APN/PI3K/AKT. Our results bring a new solution for OA.Keywords: osteoarthritis, chondrocytes, inflammation, LncRNA HOTAIR/APN/PI3K/AKT