肺炎是一种常见的疾病，在滥用抗生素导致细菌耐药的严峻形势下，从中药中寻找不仅能改善炎性症状，又能减少机体损伤的有效组分，成为了新的研究热点。而近期调研发现，丹参在肺炎的临床治疗上效果显著，但由于其物质基础及其分子机制不清楚，限制了其在肺炎治疗中的应用。本课题组前期研究发现，总丹参酮具有明显的抗炎作用：（1）总丹参酮体内外能明显减少TNF-α、IL-6、IL-1β炎症因子释放；（2）在机制初步研究中发现，与抗生素及激素不同，总丹参酮抗炎作用涉及到ROS以及NLRP3/Caspase-1炎症小体；（3）分子对接结果显示总丹参酮主要成分丹参酮IIA与TLR4结合，抑制TLR4形成二聚体，从而达到抗炎作用。因此，本课题拟采用体内外药效学评价模型，明确丹参治疗肺炎的药效物质基础，阐明其治疗肺炎的作用特点和分子机制，为丹参在肺炎治疗中的临床应用提供科学理论依据和实验基础。

Pneumonia is a common disease. Under the circumstance of the abuse of antibiotics to lead to antimicrobial resistance, to sniff out effective components from traditional Chinese medicines that could alleviate the inflammatory syndromes and decrease the damage to organisms is an effective and practical strategy. In terms of our recent investigation, we found that the therapeutic effect of Salvia Miltiorrhiza Bunge (Danshen) on pneumonia in the clinic was significant. However, due to the unknown pharmacodynamic material basis and mechanism of action of Danshen, its wide application is limited in the clinic. In this study, our previous data indicated that total tanshinones (TTN) exhibited a significant anti-inflammatory effect in vitro and in vivo. (1) TTN significantly decreased LPS-induced TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β release. (2) In stark contrast to antibiotics and hormone, the initial mechanism exploration demonstrated that ROS and NLRP3/Caspase-1 inflammasome were involved in the process of TTN’s anti-inflammation. (3) The result of molecular docking of tanshinone IIA, the major ingredients of TTN, and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) showed that tanshinone IIA suppressed TLR4 dimerization, which suggested that the anti-inflammatory effect of TTN may be through suppression of TLR4 dimerization. Collectively, using the appropriate evaluation model of pharmacodynamics in vitro and in vivo, this project aims to corroborate the pharmacodynamic material basis for Danshen’s treatment with pneumonia, which will further unravel the hallmarks and the mechanism of Danshen’s effect. Furthermore, this study will provide with a scientific theoretical foundation and experimental basis for Danshen’s application in the clinic of treatment with pneumonia.