Bioactive constituents of Salvia przewalskii and the molecular mechanism of its antihypoxia effects determined using quantitative proteomics

Environmental hypobaric hypoxia induces several physiological or pathological responses in individuals in high-altitude regions. Salvia przewalskii Maxim (Labiatae) (SPM) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine and has known antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-thrombotic, and anti-depressant activities. This study examined the antihypoxia effects of SPM in vivo. The dried and pulverised of SPM was extracted from root crude drug with 70% ethanol with ultrasound. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups (n = 10): normal group, hypoxia group (altitude of 4260 m), and hypoxia + SPM group (altitude of 4260 m, SPM of 1.0 g/kg/day). The experiment persisted for 4 weeks. The mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) mRNA, and lung pathology were analysed using pulmonary artery pressure recorder, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and histopathological analysis. Moreover, the effects of SPM on lung proteomes during hypoxia were observed by a TMT-based proteomic approach. Pre-treatment with SPM decreased mPAP (24.86%) and HIF-1α (31.24%), and attenuated the pathological changes in lung tissues. In addition, a total of 28 proteins were differentially expressed in lung of hypoxia + SPM group (fold change > ± 1.2 and p These results suggested that SPM is a promising drug for antihypoxia. The mechanism of action might be related to increasing antioxidant capacity and inhibiting fructose metabolism.