Synergistic Effect of Bupleuri Radix and Scutellariae Radix on Adipogenesis and AMP-Activated Protein Kinase: A Network Pharmacological Approach

Chaiqin Chengqi Decoction as an adjuvant treatment for mild/moderately severe hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis: A retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Hypertriglyceridemia is the third leading cause of acute pancreatitis (AP), and its incidence is increasing. Due to its relatively insidious etiology, it is easy to be ignored in the early stages. In China, Chaiqin Chengqi Decoction (CQCQD) has long been employed for treating AP.

AIM

To evaluate the effectiveness of CQCQD in patients diagnosed with mild/ moderately severe hypertriglyceridemic AP (HTG-AP).

METHODS

In this study, the clinical data of 39 patients with HTG-AP admitted from January 2019 to November 2022 were collected. The changes of blood lipids, gastrointestinal symptoms, and abdominal pain before and after treatment were analyzed and compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

Twenty patients were treated with the conventional HTG-AP regimen, and 19 patients were additionally treated with CQCQD. After receiving treatment, the triglycerides (TG) level of the CQCQD group was lower than that of the CQCQD group (3.14 ± 0.25 mmol/L vs 4.96 ± 0.47 mmol/L, P < 0.01). After 3 d of treatment, the patients in the CQCQD group had more bowel movements than the control group (2.51 ± 0.25 times vs 1.00 ± 0.17 times, P = 0.01). The gastrointestinal function of most patients returned to normal, and the acute gastrointestinal injury score was significantly lower than that of the control group (0.11 ± 0.07 vs 0.42 ± 0.11, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

In patients with HTG-AP, CQCQD can significantly reduce the TG level, shorten the recovery time of defecation, significantly improve the gastrointestinal function.

Exploring active ingredients and mechanisms of Coptidis Rhizoma-ginger against colon cancer using network pharmacology and molecular docking

BACKGROUND

Colon cancer is the most prevalent and rapidly increasing malignancy globally. It has been suggested that some of the ingredients in the herb pair of Coptidis Rhizoma and ginger (Zingiber officinale), a traditional Chinese medicine, have potential anti-colon cancer properties.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of the Coptidis Rhizoma-ginger herb pair in treating colon cancer, using an integrated approach combining network pharmacology and molecular docking.

METHODS

The ingredients of the herb pair Coptidis Rhizoma-ginger, along with their corresponding protein targets, were obtained from the Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology and Swiss Target Prediction databases. Target genes associated with colon cancer were retrieved from the GeneCards and OMIM databases. Then, the protein targets of the active ingredients in the herb pair were identified, and the disease-related overlapping targets were determined using the Venn online tool. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using STRING database and analyzed using Cytoscape 3.9.1 to identify key targets. Then, a compound-target-disease-pathway network map was constructed. The intersecting target genes were subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses for colon cancer treatment. Molecular docking was performed using the Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) software to predict the binding affinity between the key targets and active compounds.

RESULTS

Besides 1922 disease-related targets, 630 targets associated with 20 potential active compounds of the herb pair Coptidis Rhizoma-ginger were collected. Of these, 229 intersection targets were obtained. Forty key targets, including STAT3, Akt1, SRC, and HSP90AA1, were further analyzed using the ClueGO plugin in Cytoscape. These targets are involved in biological processes such as miRNA-mediated gene silencing, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling, and telomerase activity. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that PI3K-Akt and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) signaling pathways were closely related to colon cancer prevention by the herb pair Coptidis Rhizoma-ginger. Ten genes (Akt1, TP53, STAT3, SRC, HSP90AA1, JAK2, CASP3, PTGS2, BCl2, and ESR1) were identified as key genes for validation through molecular docking simulation.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated that the herb pair Coptidis Rhizoma-ginger exerted preventive effects against colon cancer by targeting multiple genes, utilizing various active compounds, and modulating multiple pathways. These findings might provide the basis for further investigations into the molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of Coptidis Rhizoma-ginger in colon cancer treatment, potentially leading to the development of novel drugs for combating this disease.

Network Pharmacology in Research of Chinese Medicine Formula: Methodology, Application and Prospective

Chinese medicine (CM) is usually prescribed as CM formula to treat disease. The lack of effective research approach makes it difficult to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of CM formula owing to its complicated chemical compounds. Network pharmacology is increasingly applied in CM formula research in recent years, which is identified suitable for the study of CM formula. In this review, we summarized the methodology of network pharmacology, including network construction, network analysis and network verification. The aim of constructing a network is to achieve the interaction between the bioactive compounds and targets and the interaction between various targets, and then find out and validate the key nodes via network analysis and network verification. Besides, we reviewed the application in CM formula research, mainly including targets discovery, bioactive compounds screening, toxicity evaluation, mechanism research and quality control research. Finally, we proposed prospective in the future and limitations of network pharmacology, expecting to provide new strategy and thinking on study for CM formula.