Jiao-Ai Decoction and active ingredients promoted angiogenesis to alleviate threatened abortion through miR-16 mediated VEGF/VEGFR signaling pathway.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Jiao-Ai Decoction (JAD), a classical traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, demonstrates remarkable efficacy in treating blood loss due to debility of thoroughfare and conception vessels. While clinically effective for threatened abortion (TA), its pharmacologically active ingredients and underlying mechanism remain elusive.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate the active ingredients and therapeutic mechanism of JAD against TA, with particular focus on vascular endothelial growth factor/vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGF/VEGFR) signaling pathway modulation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The anti-TA effects of JAD were evaluated in a mifepristone-induced rat model, with subsequent chemical profiling performed by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS. Network pharmacology analysis identified potential active ingredients and targets, which were then experimentally validated through miR-16-modulated JEG-3/HUVEC co-cultures assays assessing angiogenesis-related markers.

RESULTS: Compared with the model group, JAD improved uterine tissue morphology (evidenced by endometrial thickening, glandular proliferation, and enhanced secretory function), reduced embryo loss by approximately 30 %, modulated inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-17, TGF-β and IL-4) and enhanced uterine microvessel density. A total of 184 compounds from JAD were identified. Network analysis revealed 12 potential active ingredients (e.g., paeoniflorin, liquiritin, glycyrrhizin) interacting with 22 core targets through AGE-RAGE, VEGFA, HIF-1, and TNF pathways. In vitro experiments showed that JAD and 12 active ingredients effectively promoted cell proliferation, inhibiting miR-16 expression in exosomes and upregulating VEGFA/VEGFR2 expression in JEG-3/HUVECs.

CONCLUSIONS: JAD alleviated threatened abortion in rats through mitigating miscarriage symptoms, modulating immune balance, and promoting angiogenesis via the miR-16-mediated VEGF/VEGFR signaling pathway, with twelve identified active ingredients as the primary pharmacodynamic components.