Lianhua‐Qingwen Displays Antiviral and Anti‐Inflammatory Activity and Synergistic Effects with Oseltamivir against Influenza B Virus Infection in the Mouse Model

Abstract

Influenza B virus (IBV) is one of the main pathogens of the annual influenza epidemic, and the disease burden is significant, especially among children and young teenagers. In this study, the antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects of a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, the Lianhua-Qingwen capsule, were evaluated. Our results showed that Lianhua-Qingwen capsule can inhibit both Victoria and Yamagata lineages, and the 50% inhibitive concentrations ranged from 0.228 ± 0.150 to 0.754 ± 0.161 mg/mL. The time course results demonstrated that IBV yields were reduced with treatment at 0–4 h after infection, and the mechanistic research verified that Lianhua-Qingwen capsule has hemagglutination inhibition activity against B/Guangzhou/0215/2012 but not A/California/04/2009. In addition to antiviral activity, Lianhua-Qingwen capsule can also inhibit excessive expression of RANTES, IL-6, IL-8, IP-10, TNF-α, MCP-1, MIP-1β, and IFN-λ at the mRNA level and prevent a severe inflammatory response. The in vivo results confirmed that orally administered Lianhua-Qingwen capsule (100–400 mg/kg/day) does not reduce IBV-induced lung viral load and mortality in mice. However, the pathological change in lungs was alleviated, and there were fewer inflammatory cells in the lungs of Lianhua-Qingwen capsule treated mice than those in controls. Further research confirmed that the combination treatment of 200 mg/kg/day of Lianhua-Qingwen capsule with 2 mg/kg/day of oseltamivir significantly reduced IBV infection over the individual administration of either alone in vivo. Our findings prove that Lianhua-Qingwen capsule could be used as an assistant medicine to enhance the effect of oseltamivir against influenza B virus infection.

Efficacy and Outcomes of Lianhuaqingwen Capsule for Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Retrospective Propensity Score Matching Analysis

“…Besides, Rheum palmatum is found to block the interaction of SARS-CoV spike protein and ACE2 in host cells [39] and against coxsackie virus (CV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in the early infection period [40]. In mouse model, Yang et al found LH capsules inhibited in ammatory response and alleviated pathological impacts of lungs to reduce in uenza B virus infection [41]. For in uenza A (H1N1) patients, LH capsules showed similar antiviral clinical e ciency in the duration of illness and well toleration when compared with Oseltamivir in a randomized clinical trial [42].…”

Insights into forsythia honeysuckle (Lianhuaqingwen) capsules: A Chinese herbal medicine repurposed for COVID-19 pandemic

“…An analysis of the results calculated the TD 50 of LH capsules as 3.17 mg/mL. The research group conducted similar experiments in related studies on IBV and found that the TD 50 of LH capsules to MDCK cells was 4.0221±0.0471 mg/mL( Yang et al, 2020a ). The coincubation of the cells with the drug for 48 h at 37°C in a humid atmosphere of 5 % CO 2 revealed that the LH capsules exerted no obvious cytotoxic effect on MDCK cells over a concentration range of 0.075-1.0 mg/mL.…”

Lianhua Qingwen prescription for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treatment: Advances and prospects

“…Moreover, LHQW capsule also remarkably decreased the infectivity of H3N2 in vitro [ 25 ]. In addition, LHQW capsules could inhibit both Victoria and Yamagata lineages of influenza B virus (IBV) with the 50 % inhibitive concentrations ranging from 0.228 ± 0.150 to 0.754 ± 0.161 mg/mL [ 26 ]. LHQW capsules not only had hemagglutination inhibition activity against B/Guangzhou/0215/2012 of influenza B virus, but also inhibited the over-expression of RANTES, IL-6, IL-8, IP-10, TNF-α, MCP-1, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1β, and interferon (IFN)-λ at the mRNA level and prevented a severe inflammatory response [ 26 ].…”

“…Recent data indicated that orally administered LHQW capsules (100−400 mg/kg/day) could alleviate IBV-induced pathological change and decrease the abnormal increased inflammatory cells in lung tissues, but did not reduce the lung viral load and mortality in mice [ 26 ]. Further investigation confirmed that the combination treatment of LHQW capsules (200 mg/kg/day) with oseltamivir (2 mg/kg/day) markedly reduced IBV infection over the individual administration of either alone in vivo , proving that LHQW capsules could be used as an assistant drug to enhance the effect of oseltamivir against IBV infection [ 26 ].…”