ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Comparative Immunology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1683771
Deciphering the Regulatory Mechanisms of Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) on Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammatory Responses in Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) through Small RNA Sequencing
Provisionally accepted
- 1Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
- 2The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
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This study investigates the immunomodulatory effects of Lonicera japonica Thunb. extract, a perennial semi-evergreen vine of the Caprifoliaceae family, on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced immune responses in loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) through miRNA regulatory mechanisms. Small RNA libraries constructed from hepatic tissues of LPS-challenged (CK) and Lonicera japonica-treated (LJ) groups yielded 139.6 million clean reads with characteristic 21-23 nucleotide length distribution. Abundance analysis revealed significant differential expression patterns within the let-7 family: miR-let-7-9, miR-let-7-6, and miR-let-7-18 exhibited higher abundance in the infection group, whereas miR-let-7-1, miR-let-7-17, and miR-let-7-16 showed elevated abundance in the treatment group. Comparative profiling identified 55 differentially expressed miRNAs (41 upregulated, 14 downregulated), with animal-undef-351, animal-mir-21-6, and animal-undef-603 demonstrating the most significant expression differences (P<0.01). KEGG enrichment analysis highlighted predominant involvement in sphingolipid signaling pathway, glycerophospholipid metabolism, T cell receptor signaling pathway, and TNF signaling pathway. GO analysis revealed significant enrichment in biological processes related to glycosylation, cellular components of transcription regulator complexes, and molecular functions associated with double-stranded DNA binding. These findings demonstrate that L. japonica alleviates LPS-induced inflammation by modulating miRNA expression networks, particularly through sphingolipid metabolism and TNF signaling pathways, providing novel molecular evolutionary insights into the immunoregulatory mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine.
Keywords: Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, Lonicera japonica, anti-inflammatory, lipopolysaccharide, microRNA
Received: 11 Aug 2025; Accepted: 05 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fan, Sun, Dai and Jiang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Li-Shang Dai, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
Xiajuan Jiang, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
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