Anti-inflammatory effects of a traditional medicinal plant in drosophila have been identified

Immune responses to infection or injury are causes of systemic or local inflammation, respectively. Inflammation is a complex biological response, leading to many diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, chronic asthma, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis. Specifically, inflammatory bowel disease and ulcerative colitis are chronic debilitating diseases that affect millions of people worldwide. Drosophila melanogaster is a well-established model organism for studying various diseases, including inflammatory bowel diseases. Intestinal stem cells (ISCs) have been identified in Drosophila midgut and hindgut, which are equivalent to mammalian intestine and colon, respectively. To maintain gut homeostasis, intestinal epithelial cells turn over rapidly after damage from ingested pathogens, chemicals, and toxic compounds. In the Drosophila midgut, cell turnover is functionally equivalent to that occurring in the mammalian small intestine. An ISC divides into both a new ISC and a post-mitotic enteroblast (EB), which differentiates into either an absorptive enterocyte or a secretory enteroendocrine cell. Gut cell turnover is regulated by a balance between cell death and stem cell proliferationhttp://www.cusabio.com/.

In the Drosophila gut, the immune response mainly relies on the local production of microbicidal reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the release of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). The production of ROS in the gut by the NADPH oxidase Duox provides an efficient barrier against most ingested microbes. However, the excessive accumulation of ROS can disrupt mitochondrial DNA, protein oxidation, and lipid peroxidation, which result in impaired function of mitochondria and metabolism. The local production of AMPs plays a critical role in the inducible defense mechanisms in the gut. AMPs are triggered by the Imd pathway through the recognition of Gram-negative peptidoglycan.

Traditional medicinal plants are used globally and have rapidly grown in economic importance. Intrinsically active compounds are well-known for their anti-oxidant, anti-tumor, anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory activities, and for improving immunity in general. In this study, we used Drosophila, a model organism to identify the anti-inflammatory effects of different traditional medicinal plant extracts that are known to have curative or beneficial effects on the symptoms of various disorders in China. Among these medicinal plants, we demonstrated that aqueous extracts of four species (Codonopsis pilosula, Saussurea lappa, Imperata cylindrical var. major, and Melia toosendan) can dramatically increase organism survival rates after treatment with the toxic compounds SDS, NaCl, and DSS. Moreover, a decrease in epithelial cell damage, an increase in AMP levels, and the maintenance of normal adult gut morphology were observed.

These findings suggest that the anti-inflammatory effects of these four traditional medicinal plant extracts may help clinical researchers better understand the complex roles of medicinal plants in gut inflammatory diseases, such as inflammatory bowel diseases.

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