The effect of Jiedu Huoxue decoction on rat model of experimental nonbacterial prostatitis via regulation of miRNAs

CONTEXT: The underlying mechanisms of Jiedu Huoxue decoction (JDHXD) in treating chronic prostatitis have not been fully explored. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the miRNAs as potential biomarkers and the effect of JDHXD on the rat model of experimental nonbacterial prostatitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-four Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into normal control, model, JDHXD low dose (0.5 g/kg/day), medium dose (1 g/kg/day), high dose (2 g/kg/day) and western medicine (cernilton 0.094 g/kg/day) groups, and intragastrically administered once daily for 30 days. The control and model (upon successful establishment) groups received distilled water. Differential expression of miRNAs was analysed with high-throughput miRNA sequencing and validated with qRT-PCR and Northern blot. Prediction of specific target genes and functional enrichment analysis were performed with bioinformatics. RESULTS: LD(50) test showed no sign of toxicity with maximum feasible dose 4 g/kg JDHXD. Compared with control, 495 miRNAs showed expression changes in CAP/CPPS rats, of which 211 were significantly different and 37 were prostatic-related. There were 181 differentially expressed miRNAs between the model and high dose JDHXD groups, of which 23 were identical with the control and model groups. Compared with control, miR-146a, miR-423 and miR-205 expression increased significantly in the model group, decreased dose-dependently in the JDHXD groups (p < 0.05), and vice-versa for miR-96 (p < 0.05). The effect of low dose JDHXD was comparable to cernilton (p > 0.05). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Future studies may explore the contributions of the active components in JDHXD. The study design is generalisable. The effect can be repeatedly verified in clinical trials.