Effect of Shufeng Xingbi Therapy on Th1/Th2 immune balance and intestinal flora in rats with allergic rhinitis

Abstract Objective To study the effect of Shufeng Xingbi Therapy (SFXBT) on Th1/Th2 immune balance and intestinal flora in allergic rhinitis (AR) rats. Methods 32 SD rats were randomly divided into control group, OVA group, antibiotic + SFXBT group and acetic acid + SFXBT group. Evaluate the AR behavioral score, observe the pathological changes of nasal mucosa with H&E, detect the composition and content of colonic contents with 16S rDNA, the levels of serum IgE, IL-4 and short-chain fatty acid (SCFAs) with ELISA, the mRNA expressions of STAT5, STAT6 and GATA3 in nasal mucosa with RT-qPCR, and the protein expressions of IL-4, STAT5, STAT6 and GATA3 in nasal mucosa with Western Blot. Results Compared with the OVA group, the AR behavioral score in the antibiotic + SFXBT group and acetic acid + SFXBT group decreased ( P < 0.01), and the pathological changes of nasal mucosa were alleviated. At the door level, the relative abundance of Firmicutes in feces increased significantly, while the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes decreased significantly. At the genus level, The relative abundance of fecal Lactobacillus, Romboutsia, Allobaculum and Dubosiella increased significantly, the levels of serum IgE and IL-4 decreased ( P < 0.05), the content of SCFAs increased significantly ( P < 0.05), and the expression levels of STAT5, STAT6 and GATA3 mRNA and protein in nasal mucosa decreased significantly ( P < 0.05). Conclusion Shufeng Xingbi Therapy can significantly improve the inflammatory symptoms of nasal mucosa in AR rats, and its mechanism may be closely related to regulating Th1/Th2 immune balance and intestinal flora.