An anti-complement homogeneous polysaccharide from Houttuynia cordata ameliorates acute pneumonia with H1N1 and MRSA coinfection through rectifying Treg/Th17 imbalance in the gut–lung axis and NLRP3 inflammasome activation
en-GBde-DEes-ESfr-FR

An anti-complement homogeneous polysaccharide from Houttuynia cordata ameliorates acute pneumonia with H1N1 and MRSA coinfection through rectifying Treg/Th17 imbalance in the gut–lung axis and NLRP3 inflammasome activation

09/07/2025 Compuscript Ltd

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.04.008
This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses how an anti-complement homogeneous polysaccharide from Houttuynia cordata ameliorates acute pneumonia with H1N1 and MRSA coinfection through rectifying Treg/Th17 imbalance in the gut–lung axis and NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

The coinfection of respiratory viruses and bacteria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, despite the development of vaccines and powerful antibiotics. As a macromolecule that is difficult to absorb in the gastrointestinal tract, a homogeneous polysaccharide from Houttuynia cordata (HCPM) has been reported to exhibit anti-complement properties and alleviate influenza A virus (H1N1)-induced lung injury; however, the effects of HCPM without in vitro antiviral and antibacterial activities on more complicated pulmonary diseases resulting from viral-bacterial coinfection remains unclear.

This study established a representative coinfection murine pneumonia model infected with H1N1 (0.2 LD50) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, 107 CFU). HCPM significantly improved survival rate and weight loss, and ameliorated gut–lung damage and inflammatory cytokine production. Interestingly, the therapeutic effect of HCPM on intestinal damage preceded that in the lungs. Mechanistically, HCPM inhibited the overactivation of the intestinal complement (C3a and C5a) and suppressed the activation of the NLR family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) pathway, which contributes to the regulation of the Treg/Th17 cell balance in the gut–lung axis.

The results indicate the beneficial effects of an anti-complement polysaccharide against viral–bacterial coinfection pneumonia by modulating crosstalk between multiple immune regulatory networks.

Keywords: Houttuynia cordata, Polysaccharides, H1N1, MRSA, Pneumonia, Complement, NLRP3, Treg/Th17 cell balance, Gut-lung axis

Graphical Abstract: available at https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2211383525002400-ga1_lrg.jpg
This study uncovers HCPM alleviates severe pneumonia induced by H1N1–MRSA coinfection, and the mechanisms may be related to the Treg/Th17 balance in the gut–lung axis and NLRP3 inflammasome.
# # # # # #
The Journal of the Institute of Materia Medica, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.
For more information please visit https://www.journals.elsevier.com/acta-pharmaceutica-sinica-b/
Editorial Board: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/acta-pharmaceutica-sinica-b/editorial-board

APSB is available on ScienceDirect (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/acta-pharmaceutica-sinica-b).

Submissions to APSB may be made using Editorial Manager® (https://www.editorialmanager.com/apsb/default.aspx).

CiteScore: 24.3
Impact Factor: 14.6 (Top 6 journal in the category of Pharmacology and pharmacy)
JIF without self-citation: 13.8

ISSN 2211-3835
# # # # #
Xinxing Li, Wenxin Ding, Yan Lu, Haiyan Zhu, Weilian Bao, Yang Liu, Jiaren Lyu, Lishuang Zhou, Hong Li, Jiyang Li, Daofeng Chen, An anti-complement homogeneous polysaccharide from Houttuynia cordata ameliorates acute pneumonia with H1N1 and MRSA coinfection through rectifying Treg/Th17 imbalance in the gut–lung axis and NLRP3 inflammasome activation, Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B,
Volume 15, Issue 6, 2025, Pages 3073-3091, ISSN 2211-3835, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.04.008
Xinxing Li, Wenxin Ding, Yan Lu, Haiyan Zhu, Weilian Bao, Yang Liu, Jiaren Lyu, Lishuang Zhou, Hong Li, Jiyang Li, Daofeng Chen, An anti-complement homogeneous polysaccharide from Houttuynia cordata ameliorates acute pneumonia with H1N1 and MRSA coinfection through rectifying Treg/Th17 imbalance in the gut–lung axis and NLRP3 inflammasome activation, Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B,
Volume 15, Issue 6, 2025, Pages 3073-3091, ISSN 2211-3835, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.04.008
09/07/2025 Compuscript Ltd
Regions: Europe, Ireland
Keywords: Health, Medical, People in health research

Disclaimer: AlphaGalileo is not responsible for the accuracy of content posted to AlphaGalileo by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the AlphaGalileo system.

Témoignages

We have used AlphaGalileo since its foundation but frankly we need it more than ever now to ensure our research news is heard across Europe, Asia and North America. As one of the UK’s leading research universities we want to continue to work with other outstanding researchers in Europe. AlphaGalileo helps us to continue to bring our research story to them and the rest of the world.
Peter Dunn, Director of Press and Media Relations at the University of Warwick
AlphaGalileo has helped us more than double our reach at SciDev.Net. The service has enabled our journalists around the world to reach the mainstream media with articles about the impact of science on people in low- and middle-income countries, leading to big increases in the number of SciDev.Net articles that have been republished.
Ben Deighton, SciDevNet
AlphaGalileo is a great source of global research news. I use it regularly.
Robert Lee Hotz, LA Times

Nous travaillons en étroite collaboration avec...


  • e
  • The Research Council of Norway
  • SciDevNet
  • Swiss National Science Foundation
  • iesResearch
Copyright 2025 by DNN Corp Terms Of Use Privacy Statement