Immune- enhancing effect and mechanism of Insampaedok-san

Abstract

Insampaedok-san (IS), which consists of 10 herbs, is a traditional prescriptionfor cold-related symptoms in Korea and China. We focused on clarifying themolecular mechanism underlying the immunomodulatory activity of IS in macrophages in silico and in vitro. IS contains a number of active compounds whosepharmacological targets and mechanisms are complicated. Network pharmacologyanalysis was performed to predict the potential key components (scopoletin,neocnidilide, liquiritic acid, isoglabrolide, glabric acid, ferulic acid anderybacin B), targets and mechanisms of IS as an immunomodulator. Then, thenetwork pharmacology results were validated through chemical and molecularbiological experiments. Seven key components were identified through HPLCQTOF-MS. As predicted by the network pharmacology analysis, ISE increasedthe mRNA expression of TNF and IL-6. Furthermore, IS increased the phosphorylation,nuclear translocation and transcriptional activity of the p65 subunitof the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) as well as the phosphorylation of MAPK signallingpathway. Therefore, IS is an immune activator that can elevate the productionof NO, PGE2 and proinflammatory cytokines mediated by NF-κB and theMAPK signalling pathway.