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New tale on LianHuaQingWen: IL6R/IL6/IL6ST complex is a potential target for COVID-19 treatment.

ABSTRACT: LianHuaQingWen (LHQW) improves clinical symptoms and alleviates the severity of COVID-19, but the mechanism is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the potential molecular targets and mechanisms of LHQW in treating COVID-19 using a network pharmacology-based approach and molecular docking analysis. The main active ingredients, therapeutic targets of LHQW, and the pathogenic targets of COVID-19 were screened using the TCMSP, UniProt, STRING, and GeneCards databases. According to the "Drug-Ingredients-Targets-Disease" network, Interleukin 6 (IL6) was identified as the core target, and quercetin, luteolin, and wogonin as the active ingredients of LHQW associated with IL6. The response to lipopolysaccharide was the most significant biological process identified by gene ontology enrichment analysis, and AGE-RAGE signaling pathway activation was prominent based on the interaction between LHQW and COVID-19. Protein-protein docking analysis showed that IL6 receptor (IL6R)/IL6/IL6 receptor subunit beta (IL6ST) and Spike protein were mainly bound via conventional hydrogen bonds. Furthermore, protein-small molecule docking showed that all three active ingredients could bind stably in the binding model of IL6R/IL6 and IL6ST. Our findings suggest that LHQW may inhibit the lipopolysaccharide-mediated inflammatory response and regulate the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway through IL6. In addition, the N-terminal domain of the S protein of COVID-19 has a good binding activity to IL6ST, and quercetin and wogonin in LHQW may affect IL6ST-mediated IL6 signal transduction and a large number of signaling pathways downstream to other cytokines by directly affecting protein-protein interaction. These findings suggest the potential molecular mechanism by which LHQW inhibits COVID-19 through the regulation of IL6R/IL6/IL6ST.

SUBMITTER: Tianyu Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8610116 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common chronic lung disease associated with very preterm birth. The major risk factors include lung inflammation and lung immaturity. In addition, genetic factors play an important role in susceptibility to moderate-to-severe BPD. In this study, the aim was to investigate whether common polymorphisms of specific genes that are involved in inflammation or differentiation of the lung have influence on BPD susceptibility. METHODS: Genes encoding interleukin-6 (IL6) and its receptors (IL6R and IL6ST), IL-10 (IL10), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1) were assessed for associations with moderate-to-severe BPD susceptibility. Five IL6, nine IL6R, four IL6ST, one IL10, two TNF, and 23 NR3C1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed in very preterm infants born in northern Finland (56 cases and 197 controls) and Canada (58 cases and 68 controls). IL-6, TNF and gp130 contents in umbilical cord blood, collected from very preterm infants, were studied for associations with the polymorphisms. Epistasis (i.e., interactions between SNPs in BPD susceptibility) was also examined. SNPs showing suggestive associations were analyzed in additional replication populations from Finland (39 cases and 188 controls) and Hungary (29 cases and 40 controls). RESULTS: None of the studied SNPs were associated with BPD nor were the IL6, TNF or IL6ST SNPs associated with cord blood IL-6, TNF and gp130, respectively. However, epistasis analysis suggested that SNPs in IL6ST and IL10 were associated interactively with risk of BPD in the northern Finnish population; however, this finding did not remain significant after correction for multiple testing and the finding was not replicated in the other populations. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the analyzed SNPs within IL6, IL6R, IL6ST, IL10, TNF, and NR3C1 were not associated with BPD. Furthermore, there was no evidence that the studied SNPs directly contribute to the cord blood protein contents.

Project description:BackgroundElevated Interleukin-6 (IL-6) may play an important role in the pathophysiology of COVID-19 yet attenuated response is not seen across all severe patients. We aimed to determine the effect of IL-6 baseline levels and other clinical variables on mortality and outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients as well as to explore genetic variants associated with attenuated IL-6 response.MethodsBaseline IL-6 cytokine levels were measured in hospitalized patients participating in ongoing ODYSSEY phase 3 randomized study of tradipitant and placebo in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 who are receiving supplemental oxygen support. Furthermore blood samples for whole genome sequencing analysis were collected from 150 participants.ResultsWe report significantly elevated IL-6 in COVID-19 infected hospitalized patients, n = 100 (p-value < 0.0001) when compared to controls n = 324. We also report a significantly increased level of IL-6 (p-value < 0.01) between the severe and mild COVID-19 patients with severity defined on a WHO scale. Excessive IL-6 plasma levels correlate with higher mortality (p-value 0.001). Additionally, based on our classification analysis, combination of IL-6 elevation and high levels of serum glucose can identify highest risk-group of COVID19 patients. Furthermore, we explore the role of genetic regulatory variants affecting baseline IL-6 levels specifically in COVID-19 patients. We have directly tested the association between variants in the IL6 and IL6R gene region and IL6 plasma levels. We provide results for a common IL-6 variant previously associated with pneumonia, rs1800795, and rs2228145 that was previously shown to affect IL-6 plasma levels, as well as report on novel variants associated with IL-6 plasma levels detected in our study patients.ConclusionsWhile it is unlikely that "cytokine storm" is the norm in severe COVID19, baseline elevations above 150 pg/ml may be associated with worst outcomes and as such may warrant treatment considerations. So far no clinical studies used IL-6 baseline assessment to stratify the patient population participating in clinical studies. We believe that careful examination and interpretation of the IL-6 levels and genetic variants can help to determine a patient population with a potentially very robust clinical response to IL-6 inhibition.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov: NCT04326426.

Project description:BackgroundHigh interleukin-6 levels correlate with diseases like cancer, autoimmune disorders, and infections. IL-6 receptor inhibitors (IL-6Ri), used for rheumatoid arthritis and COVID-19, may have wider uses. We apply drug-target Mendelian Randomization (MR) to study IL-6Ri's effects.MethodTo simulate the effects of genetically blocking the IL-6R, we selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within or near the IL6R gene that show significant genome-wide associations with C-reactive protein. Using rheumatoid arthritis and COVID-19 as positive controls, our primary research outcomes included the risk of asthma, asthmatic pneumonia, cor pulmonale, non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, type 1 diabetes, and type 2 diabetes. The Inverse Variance Weighted (IVW) method served as our principal analytical approach, with the hypotheses of MR being evaluated through sensitivity and colocalization analyses. Additionally, we conducted Bayesian Mendelian Randomization analyses to minimize confounding and reverse causation biases to the greatest extent possible.ResultsIL-6 inhibitors significantly reduced the risk of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (OR= 0.278, 95% [CI], 0.138-0.558; P <0.001), Parkinson's disease (OR = 0.354, 95% CI, 0.215-0.582; P <0.001), and positively influenced the causal relationship with Type 2 diabetes (OR = 0.759, 95% CI, 0.637-0.905; P = 0.002). However, these inhibitors increased the risk for asthma (OR = 1.327, 95% CI, 1.118-1.576; P = 0.001) and asthmatic pneumonia (OR = 1.823, 95% CI, 1.246-2.666; P = 0.002). The causal effect estimates obtained via the BWMR method are consistent with those based on the IVW approach. Similarly, sIL-6R also exerts a significant influence on these diseases.Diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Crohn's disease, pulmonary heart disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, Type 1 diabetes, Non-small cell lung cancer and ulcerative colitis showed non-significant associations (p > 0.05) and were excluded from further analysis. Similarly, Small cell lung cancer were excluded due to inconsistent results. Notably, the colocalization evidence for asthmatic pneumonia (coloc.abf-PPH4 = 0.811) robustly supports its association with CRP. The colocalization evidence for Parkinson's disease (coloc.abf-PPH4 = 0.725) moderately supports its association with CRP.ConclusionIL-6Ri may represent a promising therapeutic avenue for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Parkinson's disease, and Type 2 diabetes.

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New tale on LianHuaQingWen: IL6R/IL6/IL6ST complex is a potential target for COVID-19 treatment.

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