Study on the mechanism of Shcisandrol A in immune function modulation in mice based on the mRNA expression profile chip

At present, with the accelerating pace of life, increase in work pressure, lack of exercise, irregularity of diet and rest, and problems of environmental pollution, people with immunodeficiency are gradually increasing in the modern population. Some Chinese herbal medicines can improve the immunity of the human body, and have less and mild side or toxic effects, so that the study on this kind of traditional Chinese medicines and its mechanism has become an urgent problem to be solved. In recent years, studies have shown that Shcisandrol A (Sch A) can regulate immune function and inhibit the inflammation of nervous system. In this study, mRNA expression profile chip was used to screen the differentially expressed genes related to the effect of Sch A on immunodepressed mice induced by cyclophosphamide (Cy), and the differentially expressed gene-telated pathways were analyzed by gene ontology function cluster analysis, and finally qPCR was applied to verify the 5 genes that might be related to the regulation of Sch A on the mice’s immune functions, to provide a theoretical basis for screening the drug targets on which Sch A could act to regulate the mice’s immune functions. 240 Eight-week-old male ICR mice (SPF grade), weighing 18~22g, were purchased from Liaoning Changsheng Biotechnology Co., LTD (license number: SCXK (Liao)-2015-0001). Animals were housed individually in cages at 20±1℃and in 40-70% humidity, subjected to 12h light/dark cycle with free access to food and water.ICR mice were randomly divided into control group, Cy model group, Sch A low-dose, middle-dose, and high-dose group. Except those in the control group, mice in the other groups were given 40 mg/kg Cy in intraperitoneal injection for 5d for the establishment of immunodeficiency mice model. On the next day after the modeling, mice in low-, middle- and high-dose Sch A groups were intragastrically given 0.2g/kg/d, 0.4g/kg/d and 1g/kg/d Sch A respectively, and those in the control group and Cy model group were given an equal volume of distilled water in the same way successively for 4 weeks. Changes in the mice’s body weight and general status were regularly observed weekly.