ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1594089
Gastric Mucosal Repair by Men's Huwei Powder via EGF-NO/PGE2-PI3K-TLR4 in RELISH: Restoring Equilibrium through Long-term Integration of Synergistic Health
Provisionally accepted
- 1College of Chinese Materia Medica and Food Engineering, Shanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Yuci, China
- 2College of Veterinary Medicine, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, Shanxi Province, China
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Gastric mucosal injury (GMI) presents multifaceted challenges requiring a holistic therapeutic approach. Here, Men's Huwei Powder (MHWP), a TCM formula, promotes gastric mucosal repair and systemic homeostasis by integrating Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) principles within the Restoring Equilibrium through Long-term Integration of Synergistic Health (RELISH) framework. RELISH emphasizes an enjoyable and proactive approach to supporting Wei-Qi, a core TCM concept that integrates gastrointestinal health, immune regulation, and tissue repair.MHWP promotes the activation of the EGF-NO/PGE2 axis and concurrently suppresses the expression of key components within the PI3K/Akt/NF-κB pathways, resulting in the downregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, in both serum and gastric tissue. These molecular effects support vascular integrity, facilitate epithelial restitution, and contribute to the attenuation of systemic inflammatory responses. Additionally, MHWP downregulates the expression of hepatic TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB, further inhibiting liver-derived pro-inflammatory cytokines, thereby alleviating ethanol-induced liver injury and promoting gastric mucosal repair. Furthermore, MHWP modulates the composition of the gut microbiota, contributing to immunoregulatory effects and promoting enhanced mucosal repair. Active serum metabolites derived from MHWP further enhance these effects by synergizing with gut microbiota interactions and modulating key pathways.This study underscores MHWP's multi-targeted efficacy, bridging TCM's systemic perspectives with molecular insights, advancing a sustainable and comprehensive therapeutic model through the RELISH framework.
Keywords: Gastric mucosal injury (GMI), RELISH framework, EGF-NO/PGE2, PI3K/Akt/NF-κB, TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB, Gut Microbiota, Serum metabolite
Received: 15 Mar 2025; Accepted: 19 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Li, Guo, Zhang and Zhang. 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: Xichun Zhang, College of Chinese Materia Medica and Food Engineering, Shanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Yuci, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.