Molecular Mechanism of Modified Guizhi Fulingwan Intervention on Uterine Fibroids in Rats Based on micRNA Expression Profiling
Objective： To explore the molecular mechanism of modified Guizhi Fulingwan in rats with uterine fibroids. Method： Seventy-two female adult SD rats of SPF grade were randomly divided into a model group，a normal group，and a preventive administration group. The model group and preventive administration group were established by estrogen and progestin loading method. After successful modeling，the rats in the model group were randomly divided into a western medicine group（mifepristone），the high-dose traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）group，and a low-dose TCM group. All the rats were dosing as required once a day for 28 consecutive days. Hematoxylin-eosin（HE）staining was used to observe the morphological changes of the uterus. The micRNA gene chip was used to detect the expression profile of uterine micRNA gene. Differential expressions of micRNA were screened by bioinformatics methods. Gene function enrichment was used to predict the possible signaling pathways in rats with uterine fibroids by modified Guizhi Fulingwan. Result： Compared with the normal group，microRNA of the model group was 1 up-regulated and 9 down-regulated. Compared with the model group，microRNA of the high-dose group of TCM group was 2 up-regulated and 1 down-regulated，in the preventive administration group，9 was up-regulated and 2 was down-regulated. Gene function enrichment analysis indicated that four signaling pathways were closely related to uterine fibroids. They were mitogen-activated protein kinase（MAPK）signaling pathway，Wnt signaling pathway，mammalian rapamycin target protein（mTOR）signaling pathway and vascular endothelial cell growth factor（VEGF）signaling pathway. Conclusion： Modified Guizhi Fulingwan affected the expression profile of micRNA in rat model of uterine fibroids induced by estrogen and progesterone，suggesting that modified Guizhi Fulingwan may involve in a variety of biological processes such as signal transduction and gene regulation in the treatment of uterine fibroids.
