Background. The Traditional Chinese Medicine NiuBeiXiaoHe (NBXH) is a valid antituberculosis (TB) prescription from the experience of clinical practice. However, the mechanism of NBXH extracts’ immunotherapy has been poorly understood. Herein, the immunotherapeutic efficacy and the differentially expressed (DE) genes of NBXH extracts were evaluated and identified in BALB/c mice. Methods. The total RNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and the DE genes were identified by gene chip. The enrichment and signaling pathway analyses were performed using Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG database. Results. It was shown that the treatment of NBXH extracts (high dose) significantly reduced mycobacteria loads and histopathological lesions in mice infected by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and resulted in 3,454 DE upregulated genes and 3,594 downregulated DE genes. Furthermore, NBXH extracts killed mycobacteria by inhibiting the supply of necessary ingredients for their growth and proliferation. They restored the disordered immune microenvironments by up- or downregulating immune and inflammation-related pathways. Conclusions. Taken together, NBXH extracts not only efficiently decreased the mycobacteria loads but also balanced the immune disorders in mice. These new findings provide a fresh perspective for elucidating the immunotherapeutic mechanism of NBXH extracts and pointed out the direction for improving the treatment efficacy of NBXH extracts.

中文翻译：

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中药牛蓓消核(NBXH)提取物对BALB/c小鼠具有抗结核和免疫恢复作用

背景。从临床实践经验来看，中药牛背消核（NBXH）是一种有效的抗结核（TB）方剂。然而，人们对 NBXH 提取物的免疫治疗机制知之甚少。在此，在 BALB/c 小鼠中评估和鉴定了 NBXH 提取物的免疫治疗功效和差异表达 (DE) 基因。方法。外周血单个核细胞提取总RNA，基因芯片鉴定DE基因。使用 Gene Ontology (GO) 和 KEGG 数据库进行富集和信号通路分析。结果。结果表明，NBXH 提取物（高剂量）的处理显着降低了感染小鼠的分枝杆菌负荷和组织病理学损伤。结核分枝杆菌导致 3,454 个 DE 上调基因和 3,594 个下调 DE 基因。此外，NBXH 提取物通过抑制其生长和增殖所需成分的供应来杀死分枝杆菌。他们通过上调或下调免疫和炎症相关通路来恢复紊乱的免疫微环境。结论。总之，NBXH 提取物不仅有效地降低了分枝杆菌的负荷，而且还平衡了小鼠的免疫紊乱。这些新发现为阐明NBXH提取物的免疫治疗机制提供了新的视角，并为提高NBXH提取物的治疗效果指明了方向。