Gut microbiota affects the efficacy of Danggui Buxue Tang by affecting plasma concentration of active ingredients

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT) is a traditional Chinese medicine, which has the function of supporting Qi and enriching blood. Antibiotics can cause Gut microbiota disorder and affect efficacy of DBT. Aim of the study: Explore the manner in which Gut microbiota affects the efficacy of Danggui Buxue Tang. Materials and methods: In this study, antibiotics were used to destroy gut microbiota. The changes of DBT efficacy were detected to verify the effect of gut microbiota on DBT efficacy. The changes of gut microbiota was detected using 16S rRNA sequencing, and UPLC-MS/MS was used to analyze the plasma concentration of active ingredients. Correlation analysis was used to establish the relationship between gut microbiota, blood components and drug efficacy, and to explore the role of gut microbiota in the efficacy of DBT. Results: The results showed that the efficacy in the DBT group was significantly improved compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Compared with DBT group, the efficacy in antibiotic DBT treatment (ABXDBT) group was significantly reduced, 194 plasma metabolites and 18 DBT blood components were significantly altered in ABXDBT group, and 11 DBT blood components such as caffeic acid and formononetin were significantly decreased. Correlation analysis showed that 6 DBT blood components were related with the decrease of efficacy. Network pharmacology analysis showed that the above 6 DBT blood components participated in the hematopoietic regulation through PI3K-Akt and HIF-1 signaling pathways. Correlation analysis showed that Bacteroides and other intestinal bacteria were related to the absorption of DBT active ingredients. The drug metabolic pathway of gut microbiota was significantly decreased after antibiotic treatment (p = 0.033). Conclusions: Gut microbiota such as Bacteroides affects the efficacy of DBT by affecting the metabolism and absorption of DBT active ingredients such as caffeic acid and formononetin.

Automated summary

This study found that gut microbiota such as Bacteroides affect the efficacy of DBT by influencing the metabolism and absorption of DBT active ingredients such as caffeic acid and formononetin. The use of antibiotics led to a significant decrease in the drug metabolic pathway of gut microbiota, further weakening the efficacy of DBT.