Qingfei Jiedu Granules fight influenza by regulating inflammation, immunity, metabolism, and gut microbiota

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Qingfei Jiedu Granules (QFJD) are a new Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which has been clinically used against coronavirus pneumonia in China. In this study, the therapeutic effect and the underlying mechanisms of QFJD against influenza were investigated. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE: Pneumonia mice were induced by influenza A virus. Survival rate, weight loss, lung index and lung pathology were measured to evaluate the therapeutic effect of QFJD. The expression of inflammatory factors and lymphocytes was used to assess anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effect of QFJD. Gut microbiome analysis was performed to decipher the potential effect of QFJD on intestinal microbiota. Metabolomics approach was conducted to explore the overall metabolic regulation of QFJD. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: QFJD shows a significant therapeutic effect on the treatment of influenza and the expression of many pro-inflammatory cytokines were obviously inhibited. QFJD also markedly modulates the level of T and B lymphocytes. The high-dose QFJD has shown similar therapeutic efficiency compared to positive drugs. QFJD profoundly enriched Verrucomicrobia and maintained the balance between Bacteroides and Firmicutes. QFJD associated with 12 signaling pathways in metabolomics study, 9 of which were the same as the model group and were closely related to citrate cycle and amino acid metabolism. To sum up, QFJD is a novel and promising drug against influenza. It can regulate inflammation, immunity, metabolism, and gut microbiota to fight influenza. Verrucomicrobia shows great potential to improve influenza infection and may be an important target.