The effects of quercetin combined with nucleopolyhedrovirus on the growth and immune response in the silkworm (Bombyx mori)

Abstract

Flavonoids are secondary metabolites that help plants resist insect attack. It can resist insect attack by inhibiting insect immune defense, and pathogens can also inhibit insect immune defense. It is speculated that the combination of flavonoids and pathogens may inhibit the immune defense and have stronger toxicity to silkworm. In this study, the combined treatment of quercetin with Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) had significant negative effects on the growth and survival of silkworm compared with BmNPV group. The detoxifying enzyme activity of BmNPV group was significantly increased at 96 h, while the activity of the combined treatment group was significantly decreased with the increase of quercetin exposure time (72 or 96 h). The activity of antioxidant enzymes also showed a similar trend, that was, the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the combined treatment group also decreased significantly with the increase of quercetin exposure time, which led to the increase of reactive oxygen species content. The silkworm cells would produce lipid peroxidation, malondialdehyde content was significantly increased, so that the expression of immune‐related genes (the antimicrobial peptide, Toll pathway, IMD pathway, JAK‐STAT pathway, and melanin genes) were decreased, leading to the damage of the immune system of silkworm. These results indicated that quercetin combined with BmNPV could inhibit the activities of protective enzymes and lead to oxidative damage to silkworm. It can also affect the immune response of the silkworm, and thus resulting in abnormal growth. This study provides the novel conclusion that quercetin accumulation will increase the susceptibility of silkworm to pathogens.

Antidepressant Potential of Quercetin and its Glycoside Derivatives: A Comprehensive Review and Update

“…Quercetin (C5H10O7; Figure 1), a flavonol widely present in nature in the form of glucosides (Ulusoy and Sanlier, 2020), is one of the main components of different TCM, including Radix Bupleuri, Mulberry leaves, Sophorae Fructus, Inulae Flos, and Crataegi Fructus (Ding et al, 2021a;Shi et al, 2021;Tu et al, 2022). Many studies have demonstrated that quercetin has a wide range of pharmacological effects such as anti-cancer, antibacterial, anti-oxidation, and memory impairment improvement (Horowitz and Zunszain, 2015;Suganthy et al, 2016;Babaei et al, 2018a;Kashyap et al, 2019).…”

Plant quercetin degradation by gut bacterium Raoultella terrigena of ghost moth Thitarodes xiaojinensis

“…and Callosobruchus chinensis (Lattanzio et al, 2000;Salunke et al, 2005;Selin-Rani et al, 2016;Cui et al, 2019). The synergistic effect of quercetin and nucleopolyhedrovirus was also found (Shi et al, 2021). However, quercetin metabolism by microbes is still unclear (Aboshi et al, 2014).…”

“…Quercetin is considered to be a kind of flavonoid widely present in terrestrial plants and herbal medicines which helps plants resist herbivore attack ( Simmonds, 2003 ; Selin-Rani et al, 2016 ; Shi et al, 2021 ), and induces expressions of some detoxification enzymes in insects ( Zhang et al, 2012 ; Shi et al, 2021 ). Quercetin is assumed to be an ecofriendly alternative compound not only for S. litura but also for Lymantria dispar , Helicoverpa zea , Oedaleus asiaticus , Aphis spp.…”

Exosomes: A novel insight into traditional Chinese medicine

“…Shikonin, a naphthoquinone isolated from Lithospermum erythrorhizon , is well-known for its strong anti-tumor effects ( Sun et al, 2022 ). It has been used to treat various cancers, such as colon, renal, and lung cancer ( Pan et al, 2021 ; Shi G. et al, 2021 ; Tsai et al, 2021 ). To elucidate the roles and mechanisms of Shikonin on breast cancer, Wei et al performed a study on MCF-7 cells with Shikonin treatment ( Wei et al, 2016 ).…”

“…Shikonin, a naphthoquinone isolated from Lithospermum erythrorhizon, is well-known for its strong anti-tumor effects (Sun et al, 2022). It has been used to treat various cancers, such as colon, renal, and lung cancer (Pan et al, 2021;Shi G. et al, 2021;Tsai et al, 2021) Frontiers in Pharmacology frontiersin.org 7 cells with Shikonin treatment (Wei et al, 2016). Shikonin inhibited MCF-7 cell proliferation and exosome secretion from MCF-7 cells with a positive relationship.…”