Response of Intestinal Mucosal Microbiota in Diarrheal Mice to Ge-gen-qin-lian Decoction

Abstract Background: Ge-gen-qin-lian Decoction (GD) has been extensively used for the treatment of diarrhea with intestinal dampness heat syndrome(IDHS) with a satisfying therapeutic effect. However, the active ingredients and mechanism of GD against diarrhea with IDHS have not been fully elucidated. The occurrence of diarrhea is closely related to the intestinal flora, and the compound of Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) can exert its curative effect by regulating the intestinal flora, and exploring the relationship between the two is conducive to the clarification of pharmacology. Results: Animal experiments indicted that the OTU number and Alpha diversity index in the intestinal mucosa flora of the treatment group(cttm) recovered and higher than that of the control group(ctcm). PCoA results showed that there were differences in the community structure between the Con and GD. At the species level, the abundance of Lactobacillus crispatus and Muribaculum intestinal in the model group(ctmm) decreased, and the Neisseria mucosa increased (p<0.05). After being treated with GD, Muribaculum intestinal increased, and Lactobacillus curlyus and Neisseria mucosa decreased (p<0.05). Combined with network pharmacology analysis, we screened out 146 active ingredients in GD corresponding to 252 component targets, and 328 disease targets in diarrhea to obtain 31 drug-disease common targets. The key targets involved TNF, IL-6, EFGR etc. KEGG pathway enrichment resulted in HIF-1 signaling pathway, VEGFA signaling pathway, Adipocytokine signaling pathway and so on (p<0.05). Conclusions: GD could restore the diversity and abundance of intestinal mucosa in diarrheal mice with IDHS, promote the abundance of Muribaculum intestinal, inhibit the abundance of Neisseria mucosa. Through the characteristic of multiple targets and multiple channels, the active ingredients of GD intervened from oxidative stress and inflammatory response to adjust the balance of intestinal mucosa flora, thereby playing the role of treating diarrhea.