AbstractBackground Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease characterized by airway remodeling and hyperresponsiveness. Angiogenesis is a key contributor to airway remodeling and disease progression. Rhizoma Dioscoreae Nipponicae (RDN), a traditional Chinese medicine, has shown anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic potential, but its effects on asthma-associated airway remodeling remain unclear. Methods The chemical profile of the RDN extract was characterized using UHPLC-Q Exactive Orbitrap MS/MS. An ovalbumen-induced mouse model of asthma and C166 mouse endothelial cells were used to examine the effects of RDN treatment. Histopathological changes were assessed using H&E and Masson's trichrome staining. mRNA and protein expression levels of key components in the mTOR/4EBP1/HIF-1α/VEGF signaling pathway were analyzed by qPCR and Western blot. Results UHPLC-Q Exactive Orbitrap MS/MS analysis tentatively annotated 2509 constituents and demonstrated good batch-to-batch chemical consistency of the RDN extract. Compared with the model group, RDN treatment significantly reduced the airway inflammation score by approximately 39.5% (P P P Conclusion RDN alleviated airway inflammation and remodeling at the histopathological level, and these effects were associated with downregulation of markers within the mTOR/4EBP1/HIF-1α/VEGF pathway. These findings suggest that RDN may be a promising therapeutic agent for ameliorating airway remodeling in asthma. Future studies incorporating analyses of phosphorylation states are warranted to further clarify the underlying mechanisms.
Zhou et al. (Sat,) studied this question.