Safe and effective! Chinese scholars use Chinese tea as raw materials to obtain new results in the treatment of pneumonia, which has aroused international attention!

Clinically, due to the complex interaction between the pathogen and the host, virus-bacterial mixed pneumonia will cause a very high mortality rate and pose a serious threat to human health worldwide. In an interview with CCTV, academician Li Lanjuan also mentioned that the intestinal microecology of patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) is disordered, which can easily lead to secondary infections. In the end, patients often don’t die from viral infections. But died of secondary bacterial infection. Therefore, urgently needs a safe and effective treatment strategy that will eradicate viruses and bacterial pathogens without causing tissue damage caused by excessive inflammation, in order to achieve the goal of treating virus-bacterial mixed pneumonia.

Recently, Tianjin University School of Materials Science and Engineering Professor Shuilin Wu's research group and its partner team published a new research result "Material-herbology: An effective and safe strategy to eradicate lethal viral-bacterial pneumonia” may bring a safe and effective alternative to the current clinical treatment of lethal bacterial-viral mixed pneumonia.

Schematic diagram

The team first proposed the concept of Chinese medicine materials science , through the material science method processed Chinese herbal medicine into a nano-biofunctional material to enhance its therapeutic effect . Based on this concept, in this work, uses Chinese tea as the raw material ,The team extracted natural tea nanodots (TNDs, with an average size of about 3 nm) composed of a variety of catechins. Then, the author explored the antibacterial mechanism of TNDs against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (transmembrane interaction and amino acid specific targets) and the antiviral mechanism against H1N1 influenza virus (inhibiting the active site of neuraminidase). point). The TNDs material has excellent biological safety in piglets . In addition, in the treatment of lethal H1N1-MRSA mixed pneumonia in a mouse model, after TNDs combined with luteolin, the use of nebulized inhalation therapy showed greater advantages than clinically reported therapies. This is due to the rapidity of H1N1 and MRSA. Clear and anti-oxidant related anti-inflammatory effects.

The picture shows the antibacterial phenotype and mechanism

First, the antibacterial phenotype and mechanism of TNDs against MRSA were studied. Over time, TNDs will accumulate on the surface of MRSA bacteria in large quantities, and induce the gradual infiltration of the MRSA membrane. destroys the entire membrane structure and kills the bacteria . There is a certain attraction between TNDs and the phospholipid bilayer. This interaction (hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction) confirms the successful completion of the TNDs transmembrane molecular dynamics simulation.

The picture shows the antiviral phenotype and mechanism

Then, the antiviral mechanism of TNDs against H1N1 virus was studied. When TNDs kill viruses, they will adsorb and accumulate on the surface of H1N1 virus. The nine key residues surrounding the active site of neuraminidase act as hydrogen bond donors, which can form a large number of hydrogen bonds interactions between and TNDs. The dense hydrogen bond network between TNDs and the active site of H1N1 virus neuraminidase can effectively inhibit the activity of H1N1 virus .