title: The Therapeutic Effects of the Chinese Herbal Medicine, Lang Chuang Fang Granule, on Lupus-Prone MRL/lpr Mice.
abstract: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that leads to severe multiorgan damage. Lang Chuang Fang (LCF) is a Chinese herbal medicine that is clinically prescribed for treating SLE. In this study, we examined the therapeutic effects of LCF granule on lupus-prone MRL/lpr mice. Female mice were randomly separated into six groups, and LCF treatment groups received LCF granule at the dosage of 0.97 g/kg/d, 1.95 g/kg/d, and 3.90 g/kg/d, respectively. Here, we found that, compared to the MRL/lpr mice, both the spleen coefficient and thymus coefficient were reduced in the LCF granule-treated mice. There was a marked downregulation in CRP and anti-dsDNA autoantibody and an evident upregulation of CH50 in LCF granule-treated mice. LCF granule treatment also obviously reduced the proteinuria, BUN, and SCr levels in MRL/lpr mice at the dosage of 0.97 g/kg/d, 1.95 g/kg/d, and 3.90 g/kg/d, indicating that LCF granule alleviated the renal injury of MRL/lpr mice. Furthermore, LCF granule decreased p65 NF-κB levels and increased Sirt1 and Nrf2 levels in the kidney tissues of MRL/lpr mice, which might elucidate the beneficial effects of LCF on lupus nephritis. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that LCF granule has therapeutic effects on lupus-prone MRL/lpr mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: Kai-Peng
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Hao
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: Rui-Ming
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen