Piwei Peiyuan Prescription Attenuates the Progression of Chronic Atrophic Gastritis by Eliciting MAPK10‐Mediated Mitochondrial Autophagy

ABSTRACT Piwei Peiyuan (PWPY) prescription is a traditional Chinese medicine prescription and has been efficiently used in the clinics to treat chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) for many years. However, the mechanism of action underlying PWPY for treating CAG remains elusive. A CAG rat animal and cell model was constructed in this study to explore the action mechanism of PWPY prescription in treating CAG. Here we show that PWPY attenuates the progression of CAG by eliciting MAPK10‐mediated mitochondrial autophagy. Experimental model of CAG was introduced using N ‐methyl‐n'‐nitro‐n‐nitroguanidine (MNNG). Our histological analyses reveal that MNNG‐induced CAG in rat undergoes classical morphological alterations judged by immunohistochemistry and serum level of PGⅠ, PGⅡ, and G17. Importantly, PWPY treatment prevents the progression of MNNG‐induced CAG judged by serum level of PGⅠ, PGⅡ, and G17. Interestingly, PWPY treatment inhibits MAPK10 activity judged by biochemical assays and promotes mitochondrial autophagy judged by electron microscopic analyses. Thus, we conclude that PWPY attenuates the progression of MNNG‐induced CAG and prevents precancerous lesions by harnessing MAPK10‐elicited mitochondrial autophagy. The MNNG‐induced experimental CAG model provides a robust platform for further delineating therapeutic targets underlying PWPY regimen.