Mechanism of Xiaojianzhong decoction in alleviating aspirin-induced gastric mucosal injury revealed by transcriptomics and metabolomics

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Aspirin, as a first-line drug for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, currently has high clinical usage. However, reports of aspirin-induced gastric mucosal injury are increasing. Xiaojianzhong decoction (XJZD), a classic traditional Chinese medicine formula, has been shown to alleviate gastric mucosal injury, although its potential mechanism of action requires further study.Aim of the study: This study aimed to explore the effect and mechanism of XJZD in preventing aspirin-induced gastric mucosal injury.Materials and methods: Aspirin was used to induce damage in the morning, while XJZD was applied as an intervention in the afternoon. The compounds in the XJZD were analyzed by means of both high-performance liquid chromatography and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The overall condition of the aspirin-related gastric mucosal injury was evaluated. The expressions of inflammatory factors and tight-junction-related proteins and apoptosis were observed via immunohistochemistry and immunofluo-rescence. The expression levels of the apoptosis-related proteins were detected using Western blot. Tran-scriptomics was used to perform the integrative analysis of gastric tissues, which was then validated. Molecular dynamics was used to explore the interaction of key compounds within the XJZD with relevant targets. Finally, non-targeted metabolomics was used to observe any metabolic changes and construct a network between the differentially expressed genes and the differential metabolites to elucidate their potential relationship.Results: XJZD can alleviate inflammation response, maintain the gastric mucosal barrier's integrity, reduce apoptosis and necroptosis levels, and promote the proliferation and repair of gastric mucosal tissues. Its mech-anism of action may be related to the regulation of TNF-& alpha; signaling. Furthermore, molecular docking showed that the cinnamaldehyde within XJZD played an important role in its effects. In addition, XJZD can correct metabolic disorders, mainly regulating amino acid metabolism pathways. Moreover, six differential genes (Cyp1a2, Cyp1a1, Pla2g4c, etc.) were determined to alleviate both gastric mucosal injury and inflammation by regulating arachidonic acid metabolism, Tryptophan metabolism, etc.

Automated summary

This study aimed to explore the effect and mechanism of Xiaojianzhong decoction (XJZD) in preventing aspirin-induced gastric mucosal injury. The results showed that XJZD can alleviate inflammation response, maintain the gastric mucosal barrier's integrity, reduce apoptosis and necroptosis levels, and promote the proliferation and repair of gastric mucosal tissues. Its mechanism of action may be related to the regulation of TNF-α signaling. In addition, XJZD can correct metabolic disorders, mainly regulating amino acid metabolism pathways, and alleviate gastric mucosal injury and inflammation by regulating arachidonic acid metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, etc.