System Pharmacology-Based Strategy to Decode the Synergistic Mechanism of Zhi-zhu Wan for Functional Dyspepsia

Total Flavonoids of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus Regulate miR-5100 to Improve Constipation by Targeting Fzd2 to Alleviate Calcium Balance and Autophagy in Interstitial Cells of Cajal

Aurantii Fructus Immaturus total flavonoids (AFIF) is the main effective fraction extracted from AFI, which has a good effect on promoting gastrointestinal motility. This study aimed to investigate AFIF which regulates miR-5100 to improve constipation symptoms in mice by targeting Frizzled-2 (Fzd2) to alleviate interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) calcium ion balance and autophagy apoptosis. The constipated mouse model was induced by an antibiotic suspension, and then treated with AFIF. RNA-seq sequencing, luciferase assay, immunofluorescence staining, transmission electron microscopy, ELISA, flow cytometry, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and Western blot were applied in this study. The results showed that AFIF improved constipation symptoms in antibiotic-induced constipated mice, and decreased the autophagy-related protein Beclin1 levels and the LC3-II/I ratio in ICCs. miR-5100 and its target gene Fzd2 were screened as key miRNAs and regulator associated with autophagy. Downregulation of miR-5100 caused increased expression of Fzd2, decreased proliferation activity of ICCs, increased apoptotic cells, and enhanced calcium ion release and autophagy signals. After AFIF treatment, miR-5100 expression was upregulated and Fzd2 was downregulated, while autophagy-related protein levels and calcium ion concentration decreased. Furthermore, AFIF increased the levels of SP, 5-HT, and VIP, and increased the expression of PGP9.5, Sy, and Cx43, which alleviated constipation by improving the integrity of the enteric nervous system network. In conclusion, AFIF could attenuate constipation symptoms by upregulating the expression of miR-5100 and targeting inhibition of Fzd2, alleviating calcium overload and autophagic death of ICCs, regulating the content of neurotransmitters, and enhancing the integrity of the enteric nervous system network.

Zhizhu decoction alleviates slow transit constipation by regulating aryl hydrocarbon receptor through gut microbiota

CONTEXT

Slow transit constipation (STC), the most common type of constipation, seriously affects the life of patients. Zhizhu decoction (ZZD), a traditional Chinese medicine compound, has is effective against functional constipation, but the mechanism is still unclear.

OBJECTIVE

This research explores the mechanism of ZZD on STC from the perspective of metabolomics and gut microbiota.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fifty-four C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into six groups (n = 9): control (control); STC (model); positive control (positive); low-dose (5 g/kg; L-ZZD), medium-dose (10 g/kg; M-ZZD), and high-dose (20 g/kg; H-ZZD) ZZD treatment. Following treatment of mice with ZZD for two weeks, the changes in intestinal motility, colon histology, intestinal neurotransmitters, and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) pathway determined the effects of ZZD on the pathophysiology of STC. LC-MS targeting serum metabolomics was used to analyze the regulation of ZZD on neurotransmitters, and 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing was used to detect the regulation of the gut microbiome.

RESULTS

ZZD had the highest content of naringin (6348.1 mg/L), and could significantly increase the 24 h defecations (1.10- to 1.42-fold), fecal moisture (1.14-fold) and intestinal transport rate (1.28-fold) of STC mice, increased the thickness of the mucosal and muscular tissue (1.18- to 2.16-fold) and regulated the neurotransmitters in the colon of STC mice. Moreover, ZZD significantly activated the AHR signaling pathway, and also affected the composition of gut microbiota in STC mice.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The beneficial effect and the possible mechanism of ZZD on STC could provide a theoretical basis for the broader clinical application of ZZD.

Zhizhu Decoction Alleviates Intestinal Barrier Damage via Regulating SIRT1/FoxO1 Signaling Pathway in Slow Transit Constipation Model Mice

OBJECTIVE

To explore the possible effects and mechanism of Zhizhu Decoction (ZZD) on the pathophysiology of slow transit constipation (STC).

METHODS

A total of 54 C57BL/6 mice was randomly divided into the following 6 groups by a random number table, including control, STC model (model), positive control, and low-, medium- and high-doses ZZD treatment groups (5, 10, 20 g/kg, namely L, M-, and H-ZZD, respectively), 9 mice in each group. Following 2-week treatment, intestinal transport rate (ITR) and fecal water content were determined, and blood and colon tissue samples were collected. Hematoxylin-eosin and periodic acid-Schiff staining were performed to evaluate the morphology of colon tissues and calculate the number of goblet cells. To determine intestinal permeability, serum levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and mannose were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Western blot analysis was carried out to detect the expression levels of intestinal tight junction proteins zona-occludens-1 (ZO-1), claudin-1, occludin and recombinant mucin 2 (MUC2). The mRNA expression levels of inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-4, IL-10 and IL-22 were determined using reverse transcription-quantitative reverse transcription reaction. Colon indexes of oxidative stress were measured by ELISA, and protein expression levels of colon silent information regulator 1/forkhead box O transcription factor 1 (SIRT1/FoxO1) antioxidant signaling pathway were detected by Western blot.

RESULTS

Compared with the model group, ITR and fecal moisture were significantly enhanced in STC mice in the M-ZZD and H-ZZD groups (P<0.01). Additionally, ZZD treatment notably increased the thickness of mucosal and muscular tissue, elevated the number of goblet cells in the colon of STC mice, reduced the secretion levels of LPS, LDL and mannose, and upregulated ZO-1, claudin-1, occludin and MUC2 expressions in the colon in a dose-dependent manner, compared with the model group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). In addition, ZZD significantly attenuated intestinal inflammation and oxidative stress and activated the SIRT1/FoxO1 signaling pathway (P<0.05 or P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

ZZD exhibited beneficial effects on the intestinal system of STC mice and alleviated intestinal inflammation and oxidative stress via activating SIRT1/FoxO1 antioxidant signaling pathway in the colon.

Chalcones reloaded: an integration of network pharmacology and molecular docking for type 2 diabetes therapy

Chalcones have various biological effects, from immune boosting to anti-cancer and anti-diabetic. Structurally modified chalcones (SMC) are clinically relevant for diabetes and cardiometabolic complications. From the original research articles, a structurally proven and biologically outstanding 14 structurally modified chalcones were screened and inducted in this study. This study evaluated the effects of SMC towards diabetes via network pharmacology analysis. The network data shows compounds S2, S3, S5, S9 &S12 suit the diabetes target. Especially Compounds S5 and S9 have a higher binding affinity towards the targets of TNF, PI3K, MAPK1 and AKT1 active sites. Compound S9 [(E)-3-(4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)phenyl)-1-(4-(2,4-difluorobenz-yloxy)phenyl)prop-2-en-1-one] have identified with stronger binding affinities towards the active sites of MAPK3 (PDB:4QTB) -10.5(Kcal/mol). To provide a more effective mechanism for demonstrating protein-ligand interaction, one of the molecular docking complex (ERK2 kinase-S5) was subjected to a molecular dynamic at 300K for 100 ns. In term of structural stability, structure compactness, residual flexibility and hydrogen bond interaction of the complex was evaluated Integrating network pharmacology, in silico virtual screening, and molecular docking analysis shows that structurally modified compounds are effective and may help identify lead compounds towards glycemic control.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Bioinformatics-based and molecular docking study on the mechanism of action of Galla chinensis in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers

Based on transcriptome sequencing and molecular biology, the active ingredient of Galla chinensis in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers was identified, and its mechanism of action was analyzed.

Decoding the Key Functional Combined Components Group and Uncovering the Molecular Mechanism of Longdan Xiegan Decoction in Treating Uveitis

Objective

Longdan Xiegan Decoction (LXD) is a famous herbal formula in China. It has been proved that LXD has been shown to have a significant inhibitory effect on suppresses the inflammatory cells associated with uveitis. However, the key functional combination of component groups and their possible mechanisms remain unclear.

Methods

The community detecting model of the network, the functional response space, and reverse prediction model were utilized to decode the key components group (KCG) and possible mechanism of LXD in treating uveitis. Finally, MTT assay, NO assay and ELISA assay were applied to verify the effectiveness of KCG and the accuracy of our strategy.

Results

In the components-targets-pathogenic genes-disease (CTP) network, a combination of Huffman coding and random walk algorithm was used and eight foundational acting communities (FACs) were discovered with important functional significance. Verification has shown that FACs can represent the corresponding C-T network for treating uveitis. A novel node importance calculation method was designed to construct the functional response space and pick out 349 effective proteins. A total of 54 components were screened and defined as KCG. The pathway enrichment results showed that KCG and their targets enriched signal pathways of IL-17, Toll-like receptor, and T cell receptor played an important role in the pathogenesis of uveitis. Furthermore, experimental verification results showed that important KCG quercetin and sitosterol markedly inhibited the production of nitric oxide and significantly regulated the level of TNF-α and IFN-γ in Lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW264.7 cells.

Discussion

In this research, we decoded the potential mechanism of the multi-components-genes-pathways of LXD’s pharmacological action mode against uveitis based on an integrated pharmacology approach. The results provided a new perspective for the future studies of the anti-uveitis mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine.

Methodology of network pharmacology for research on Chinese herbal medicine against COVID-19: A review

Traditional Chinese medicine, as a complementary and alternative medicine, has been practiced for thousands of years in China and possesses remarkable clinical efficacy. Thus, systematic analysis and examination of the mechanistic links between Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) and the complex human body can benefit contemporary understandings by carrying out qualitative and quantitative analysis. With increasing attention, the approach of network pharmacology has begun to unveil the mystery of CHM by constructing the heterogeneous network relationship of "herb-compound-target-pathway," which corresponds to the holistic mechanisms of CHM. By integrating computational techniques into network pharmacology, the efficiency and accuracy of active compound screening and target fishing have been improved at an unprecedented pace. This review dissects the core innovations to the network pharmacology approach that were developed in the years since 2015 and highlights how this tool has been applied to understanding the coronavirus disease 2019 and refining the clinical use of CHM to combat it.

Mechanistic Prediction of Chinese Herb Compound (Zhi Zhu Ma Ren Pill) in the Treatment of Constipation Using Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

Background: Constipation is one of the most prevalent chronic gastrointestinal diseases. Notably, previous studies have demonstrated that Chinese herbal compounds may exert effects on constipation. The present study aimed to predict the mechanisms underlying the effects of Zhi Zhu Ma Ren Pill (ZZMRP), which includes Aurantii Fructus Immaturus, Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma, Fructus Cannabis, Paeonia lactiflora and Radix Asteris in the treatment of constipation, using network pharmacology and molecular docking. Methods: The components and target information of ZZMRP were accessed using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database and analysis platform, and the associated targets of constipation were obtained from the GeneCards, Disgenet, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, DrugBANK and Therapeutic Target Database databases. The major targets were subsequently selected using a Venn diagram and network topology analysis, which was followed by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. Molecular docking was performed to authenticate the binding activity between active components and core targets. Results: A total of 44 active components, 249 targets of ZZMRP and 1501 targets associated with constipation were acquired. A total of 122 intersection targets were discovered between ZZMRP and constipation. Subsequently, 18 key targets were authenticated, including tumor protein 53, RAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase, JUN and caspase-3. GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis indicated that mitogen-activated protein kinase, tumor necrosis factor, and phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B signaling pathways may be involved in the treatment of constipation using ZZMRP. Molecular docking suggested that quercetin, kaempferol, and luteolin exhibited high binding affinities with several of the primary targets. Conclusions: The active components, core targets, and signaling pathways of ZZMRP in the treatment of constipation were predicted, which may be applicable to the development of treatments for constipation and application of ZZMRP.

Study on the action mechanism of the peptide compounds of Wuguchong on diabetic ulcers, based on UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS, network pharmacology and experimental validation

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Diabetic foot ulcers mainly refer to people who are initially diabetic and do not have peripheral neuropathy or peripheral vascular disease, but have developed foot infection, septicemia, and ulceration. Diabetic trauma disease is characterized by high sugar and very slow wound healing, which is the reason why some patients with severe diabetic trauma require amputation. Prolonged hyperglycemia can lead to changes in bodily functions and endocrine changes, which can lead to permeability damage of epidermal tissue structure, microvascular damage and, in more severe cases, nerve damage, which are also the main causes of diabetic trauma. Small molecule peptides have various biological activities, such as: lowering blood pressure, antibacterial and wound healing activities, etc. It is a drug recorded in classical Chinese medicine, it is safer to use natural active peptides to treat wounds compared to the listed drugs, and there are no side effects in its use.The wound healing effect of Wuguchong dry product has been confirmed but the mechanism is still unclear, whether it is related to the small molecule active peptides contained in it remains to be studied.

AIM OF STUDY

Objective To investigate the potential mechanism of the peptide compounds of Wuguchong (PCW) on diabetic wound healing and the relevant targets in the pathway associated with the treatment of diabetic ulcers using a systematic pharmacological and pharmacological experimental validation approach.

METHODS

1) PCW was prepared by enzymatic digestion of TCMW and analyzed by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS. 2) Further screening of the active chemical components of PCW using PubChem, Swiss Target Prediction data. 3) Prediction of its targets using Drug Bank, CTD, and Genecards databases. 4) Construct protein/gene interactions network diagrams for PCWs acting by using Cytoscape 3.7.0 software. 5) GO and KEGG analysis of PCW targets were performed by David database. 6) Validated by AO/EB staining, scratching and in vitro tube formation methods. 7) Explored the mechanism of PCW to promote diabetic wound healing by protein blotting and immunohistochemical detection of relevant protein expression.

RESULTS

and finally: 1) After the above screening, 81 active ingredients of PCW and 94 targets acting on diabetic ulcers were obtained. 2) 30 biological processes, 30 cellular compositions and 30 molecular functions were obtained by GO analysis; 28 signaling pathways were obtained by KEGG analysis. 3) The results of AO/EB staining assay, scratch assay and in vitro tube-forming assay showed that PCW has significant pro-vascular endothelial cell proliferation and pro-angiogenic effects in vitro.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study confirmed the effect of the PCW in treating diabetic ulcers to a certain extent, and further revealed its mechanism of action in depth, which provides a new reference for the next step of Chinese medicine in treating diabetic ulcers.

Uncovering the potential mechanism of Xue Fu Zhu Yu Decoction in the treatment of intracerebral hemorrhage

Background

Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is characterized by “multi- compounds, multi-targets and multi-pathway”, which has advanced benefits for preventing and treating complex diseases, but there still exists unsolved issues, mainly include unclear material basis and underlying mechanism of prescription. Integrated pharmacology is a hot cross research area based on system biology, mathematics and poly-pharmacology. It can systematically and comprehensively investigate the therapeutic reaction of compounds or drugs on pathogenic genes network, and is especially suitable for the study of complex CHM systems. Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH) is one of the main causes of death among Chinese residents, which is characterized with high mortality and high disability rate. In recent years, the treatment of ICH by CHM has been deeply researched. Xue Fu Zhu Yu Decoction (XFZYD), one of the commonly used prescriptions in treating ICH at clinic level, has not been clear about its mechanism.

Methods

Here, we established a strategy, which based on compounds-targets, pathogenetic genes, network analysis and node importance calculation. Using this strategy, the core compounds group (CCG) of XFZYD was predicted and validated by in vitro experiments. The molecular mechanism of XFZYD in treating ICH was deduced based on CCG and their targets.

Results

The results show that the CCG with 43 compounds predicted by this model is highly consistent with the corresponding Compound-Target (C-T) network in terms of gene coverage, enriched pathway coverage and accumulated contribution of key nodes at 89.49%, 88.72% and 90.11%, respectively, which confirmed the reliability and accuracy of the effective compound group optimization and mechanism speculation strategy proposed by us.

Conclusions

Our strategy of optimizing the effective compound groups and inferring the mechanism provides a strategic reference for explaining the optimization and inferring the molecular mechanism of prescriptions in treating complex diseases of CHM.

Investigating the Mechanisms of Pollen Typhae in the Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

OBJECTIVE

To explore the main bioactive compounds and investigate the underlying mechanism of Pollen Typhae (PT) against diabetic retinopathy (DR) by network pharmacology and molecular docking analysis.

METHODS

Bioactive ingredients and the target proteins of PT were obtained from TCMSP, and the related target genes were acquired from the SwissTargetPrediction database. The target genes of DR were obtained from GeneCards, TTD database, DisGeNET database, and DrugBank. The compound-target interaction network was established based on Cytoscape 3.7.2. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed via STRING database and Cytoscape 3.7.2. Gene ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were visualized through DAVID database and Bioinformatics. Ingredient-gene-pathway network analysis was conducted to further screen the ingredients, target proteins, and pathways closely related to the biological mechanism on PT for DR, and molecular docking analysis was performed by SYBYL-X 2.1.1 software. Finally, the mechanism and underlying targets of PT in the treatment of DR were predicted.

RESULTS

A total of 8 compounds and 171 intersection targets were obtained based on the online network database. 7 main compounds were screened from compound-target network, and 53 targets including the top six key targets (PTGS2, AKT1, VEGFA, MAPK3, TNF, and EGFR) were further acquired from PPI analysis. The 53 key targets covered 80 signaling pathways, among which PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, focal adhesion, Rap1 signaling pathway, VEGF signaling pathway, and HIF-1 signaling pathway were closely connected with the biological mechanism involved in the alleviation of DR by PT. Ingredient-gene-pathway network shows that AKTI, EGFR, and VEGFA were core genes, kaempferol and isorhamnetin were pivotal ingredients, and VEGF signaling pathway and Rap1 signaling pathway were closely involved in anti-DR. The docking results indicated that five main compounds (arachidonic acid, isorhamnetin, quercetin, kaempferol, and (2R)-5,7-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)chroman-4-one) had good binding activity with EGFR and AKT1 targets.

CONCLUSION

The active ingredients in PT may regulate the levels of inflammatory factors, suppress the oxidative stress, and inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of retinal pericytes by acting on PTGS2, AKT1, VEGFA, MAPK3, TNF, and EGFR targets through VEGF signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, Rap1 signaling pathway, and HIF-1 signaling pathway to play a therapeutic role in diabetic retinopathy.

Quercetin Improves Mitochondrial Function and Inflammation in H2O2-Induced Oxidative Stress Damage in the Gastric Mucosal Epithelial Cell by Regulating the PI3K/AKT Signaling Pathway

Functional dyspepsia (FD) is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders, the therapeutic strategy of which it is limited due to its complex pathogenesis. Oxidative stress-induced damage in gastric mucosal epithelial cells is related to the pathogenesis and development of FD. Quercetin (Que) is one of the active ingredients of Zhishi that showed antioxidant, antiapoptotic, and anti-inflammatory effects. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of Que on oxidative stress-induced gastric mucosal epithelial cells damage and its underlying molecular mechanism. The gastric mucosal epithelial cell line GES-1 was treated with 200 μM of H₂O₂ to construct an oxidative stress-induced damage model. The H₂O₂ cells were then administrated with different concentrations of Que. The results indicated that high concentration of Que (100 μM) showed cytotoxicity in H₂O₂-induced GES-1 cells. However, appropriate concentration of Que (25 and 50 μM) alleviated the oxidative stress damage induced by H₂O₂, as demonstrated by the increase of proliferation, decrease of ROS generation, apoptosis, inflammation, and alleviation of mitochondrial function and cell barrier. In addition, Que increased the activation of phosphorylation of PI3K and AKT decreased by H₂O₂. To investigate whether Que alleviated the oxidative stress damage in GES-1 cells by the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, the GES-1 cells were treated with Que (25 μM) combined with and without LY294002, the PI3K inhibitor. The results showed that LY294002 suppressed the alleviation effect on Que in H₂O₂-induced GES-1 cells. In conclusion, the current study demonstrates that Que alleviates oxidative stress damage in GES-1 cells by improving mitochondrial function and mucosal barrier and suppressing inflammation through regulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, indicating the potential therapeutic effects of Que on FD.

Computational Network Pharmacology-Based Strategy to Capture Key Functional Components and Decode the Mechanism of Chai-Hu-Shu-Gan-San in Treating Depression

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) usually plays therapeutic roles on complex diseases in the form of formulas. However, the multicomponent and multitarget characteristics of formulas bring great challenges to the mechanism analysis and secondary development of TCM in treating complex diseases. Modern bioinformatics provides a new opportunity for the optimization of TCM formulas. In this report, a new bioinformatics analysis of a computational network pharmacology model was designed, which takes Chai-Hu-Shu-Gan-San (CHSGS) treatment of depression as the case. In this model, effective intervention space was constructed to depict the core network of the intervention effect transferred from component targets to pathogenic genes based on a novel node importance calculation method. The intervention-response proteins were selected from the effective intervention space, and the core group of functional components (CGFC) was selected based on these intervention-response proteins. Results show that the enriched pathways and GO terms of intervention-response proteins in effective intervention space could cover 95.3 and 95.7% of the common pathways and GO terms that respond to the major functional therapeutic effects. Additionally, 71 components from 1,012 components were predicted as CGFC, the targets of CGFC enriched in 174 pathways which cover the 86.19% enriched pathways of pathogenic genes. Based on the CGFC, two major mechanism chains were inferred and validated. Finally, the core components in CGFC were evaluated by in vitro experiments. These results indicate that the proposed model with good accuracy in screening the CGFC and inferring potential mechanisms in the formula of TCM, which provides reference for the optimization and mechanism analysis of the formula in TCM.

Evaluation of the key active ingredients of 'Radix Astragali and Rehmanniae Radix Mixture' and related signaling pathways involved in ameliorating diabetic foot ulcers from the perspective of TCM-related theories

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Traditional Chinese Medicine is more inclined to holistic thinking than most modern pharmacological research. The multiple components and targets of traditional Chinese medicine have become a stumbling block in the study of drug action mechanisms in the life sciences. The current study aimed to reveal the active ingredients of "Radix Astragali and Rehmanniae Radix Mixture (RA-RRM)" involved in ameliorating diabetic foot ulcers and to analyze the related signaling pathways.

METHOD

The Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Data base and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) was used to screen the active ingredients in RA-RRM based on the evaluation of the molecular weight (MW), bioavailability (OB), and transport of these active ingredients across intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2) and the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The PubChem database was used to illustrate the structural formula and SMILES of these active ingredients in RA-RRM. The Swiss Target Prediction Database, DrugBank, Genecards, and CTD were used to predict the targets that were correlated with RA-RRM-based treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. Cytoscape 3.7.0 software was used to construct the protein/gene interaction network diagram, compound target interaction network diagram, and target pathway network diagram for these active ingredients in the amelioration of diabetic foot ulcers in RA-RRM. Topological parameter calculations of target information using Cytoscape 3.7.0 software yielded drug-disease targets were used to reveal the relationship between key active ingredients in RA-RMM and targets of interest for the treatment of diabetic foot. The disease targets of drug action were imported into the David database (GO and KEGG analysis) to analyze the enriched pathways and biological processes.

RESULTS

The following results were obtained using the abovementioned screening and analysis. Fourteen key active ingredients in RA-RRM and 309 targets were found; among them, 85 targets were found to be related to diabetic foot ulcers using TCMSP. Twenty-three biological processes, 7 cell components and 14 molecular functions were found to ameliorate diabetic foot ulcers using GO analysis. In addition, 29 signaling pathways were found to be involved in RA-RRM-induced amelioration, including the NF-κB, TNF, TGF-β, VEGF, and HIF-1 signaling pathways, using KEGG analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on current available evidence obtained from the abovementioned data/information databases and based on the perspective of TCM-related theories, the present study revealed the key active ingredients in RA-RRM and related signaling pathways in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, promoting further studies on and clinical applications of RA-RRM.

A metabolic data-driven systems pharmacology strategy for decoding and validating the mechanism of Compound Kushen Injection against HCC

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Compound Kushen Injection (CKI) is a widely used TCM formula for treatment of carcinomatous pain and tumors of digestive system including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the potential mechanisms of CKI for treatment of HCC have not been systematically and deeply studied.

AIM OF STUDY

A metabolic data-driven systems pharmacology approach was utilized to investigate the potential mechanisms of CKI for treatment of HCC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Based on phenotypic data generated by metabolomics and genotypic data of drug targets, a propagation model based on Dijkstra program was proposed to decode the effective network of key genotype-phenotype of CKI in treating HCC. The pivotal pathway was predicted by target propagation mode of our proposed model, and was validated in SMMC-7721 cells and diethylnitrosamine-induced rats.

RESULTS

Metabolomics results indicated that 12 differential metabolites, and 5 metabolic pathways might be involved in the anti-HCC effect of CKI. A total of 86 metabolic related genes that affected by CKI were obtained. The results calculated by propagation model showed that 6475 shortest distance chains might be involved in the anti-HCC effect of CKI. According to the results of propagation mode, EGFR was identified as the core target of CKI for the anti-HCC effect. Finally, EGFR and its related pathway EGFR-STAT3 signaling pathway were validated in vivo and in vitro.

CONCLUSION

The proposed method provides a methodological reference for explaining the underlying mechanism of TCM in treating HCC.

Analysis of Molecular Mechanism of Erxian Decoction in Treating Osteoporosis Based on Formula Optimization Model

Osteoporosis (OP) is a highly prevalent orthopedic condition in postmenopausal women and the elderly. Currently, OP treatments mainly include bisphosphonates, receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) antibody therapy, selective estrogen receptor modulators, teriparatide (PTH1-34), and menopausal hormone therapy. However, increasing evidence has indicated these treatments may exert serious side effects. In recent years, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has become popular for treating orthopedic disorders. Erxian Decoction (EXD) is widely used for the clinical treatment of OP, but its underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear thanks to its multiple components and multiple target features. In this research, we designed a network pharmacology method, which used a novel node importance calculation model to identify critical response networks (CRNs) and effective proteins. Based on these proteins, a target coverage contribution (TCC) model was designed to infer a core active component group (CACG). This approach decoded the mechanisms underpinning EXD's role in OP therapy. Our data indicated that the drug response network mediated by the CACG effectively retained information of the component-target (C-T) network of pathogenic genes. Functional pathway enrichment analysis showed that EXD exerted therapeutic effects toward OP by targeting PI3K-Akt signaling (hsa04151), calcium signaling (hsa04020), apoptosis (hsa04210), estrogen signaling (hsa04915), and osteoclast differentiation (hsa04380) via JNK, AKT, and ERK. Our method furnishes a feasible methodological strategy for formula optimization and mechanism analysis and also supplies a reference scheme for the secondary development of the TCM formula.

Synergistic Network Pharmacology for Traditional Chinese Medicine Liangxue Tongyu Formula in Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhagic Stroke

Background

Nowadays, acute intracerebral hemorrhage stroke (AICH) still causes higher mortality. Liangxue Tongyu Formula (LXTYF), originating from a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription, is widely used as auxiliary treatment for AICH.

Objective

To dig into the multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway mechanism of LXTYF on treating AICH via network pharmacology and RNA-seq.

Methods

Network pharmacology analysis was used by ingredient collection, target exploration and prediction, network construction, and Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG analysis, with the Cytoscape software and ClusterProfiler package in R. The RNA-seq data of the AICH-rats were analyzed for differential expression and functional enrichments. Herb-Compound-Target-Pathway (H-C-T-P) network was shown to clarify the mechanism of LXTYF for AICH.

Results

76 active ingredients (quercetin, Alanine, kaempferol, etc.) of LXTYF and 376 putative targets to alleviate AICH (PTGS2, PTGS1, ESR1, etc.) were successfully identified. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network indicated the important role of STAT3. The functional enrichment of GO and KEGG pathway showed that LXTYF is most likely to influence MAPK and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways for AICH treatment. From the RNA-seq of AICH-rats, 583 differential mRNAs were identified and 14 of them were consistent with the putative targets of LXTYF for AICH treatment. The KEGG pathway enrichment also implied that the MAPK signaling pathway was the most correlated one among all the related signaling pathways. Many important targets with expression changes of LXTYF for AICH treatment and their related pathways are great markers of antioxidation, anti-inflammatory, antiapoptosis, and lowering blood pressure, which indicated that LXTYF may play mutiroles in the mechanisms for AICH treatment.

Conclusion

The LXTYF attenuates AICH partially by antioxidation, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptosis and lowers blood pressure roles through regulating the targets involved MAPK, calcium, apoptosis, and TNF signaling pathway, which provide notable clues for further experimental validation.

Identifying the essential nodes in network pharmacology based on multilayer network combined with random walk algorithm

Compared with the general complex network, the multilayer network is more suitable for the description of reality. It can be used as a tool of network pharmacology to analyze the mechanism of drug action from an overall perspective. Combined with random walk algorithm, it measures the importance of nodes from the entire network rather than a single layer. Here a four-layer network was constructed based on the data about the action process of prescriptions, consisting of ingredients, target proteins, metabolic pathways and diseases. The random walk algorithm was used to calculate the betweenness centrality of the protein layer nodes to get the rank of their importance. According to above method, we screened out the top 10% proteins that play a key role in treatment. Prescriptions Xiaochaihu Decoction was taken as example to prove our method. The selected proteins were measured with the ones that have been validated to be associated with the treated diseases. The results showed that its accuracy was no less than the topology-based method of single-layer network. The applicability of our method was proved by another prescription Yupingfeng Decoction. Our study demonstrated that multilayer network combined with random walk algorithm was an effective method for pre-screening vital target proteins related to prescriptions.

Integrating Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation to Investigate the Mechanisms of Huazhuojiedu Decoction to Treat Chronic Atrophic Gastritis

Background

Chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) is an important stage in the normal gastric mucosa's transformation into gastric cancer. Huazhuojiedu decoction (HZJD), a Chinese herbal preparation, has proven clinically effective to treat CAG. However, few studies have explored the mechanism of HZJD in CAG treatment.

Purpose

This study aimed to shed light on the mechanisms underlying HZJD decoction CAG treatment using a network pharmacology approach and experimental validation.

Methods

The active components of HZJD decoction were obtained from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform. Their targets were predicted through the SwissTargetPrediction database. Disease targets were screened using the GeneCards database. The disease and drug prediction targets were intersected to select the common potential therapeutic targets, which then were input into the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes to build a protein-protein interaction network. The “herb-compound-target-disease” and the “herb-target-pathway” network diagrams were constructed in Cytoscape 3.3.0. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis of effective targets were performed using the Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery. Finally, the core targets were preliminarily verified by CAG rat model. The gastric mucosa's histopathological changes were observed via hematoxylin-eosin staining. The expressions of MAPK1, AKT1, TNF, VEGFA, and EGFR were detected by western blot and quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.

Results

A total of 155 nodes, including 20 putative targets of HZJD decoction, were selected as core hubs based on topological importance and were closely associated with the regulation of cell proliferation, apoptotic process, and cancer-related pathways (AKT1, TNF, VEGFA, and EGFR) in CAG. Further animal experiments showed that the expression of AKT1 in CAG rats was significantly increased, which was suppressed by HZJD decoction. TNF and VEGFA expression increased in the model group, but did not change in the HZJD group. MAPK1 and EGFR expression showed no significant differences among control, model, and HZJD groups.

Conclusion

Taken together, the results suggest that the components of HZJD decoction can alleviate and prevent the severity of gastric precancerous lesions via AKT1 inhibition in CAG.

A Novel Strategy for Decoding and Validating the Combination Principles of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction From Multi-Scale Perspective

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulas treat complex diseases through combined botanical drugs which follow specific compatibility rules to reduce toxicity and increase efficiency. "Jun, Chen, Zuo and Shi" is one of most used compatibility rules in the combination of botanical drugs. However, due to the deficiency of traditional research methods, the quantified theoretical basis of herbal compatibility including principles of "Jun, Chen, Zuo and Shi" are still unclear. Network pharmacology is a new strategy based on system biology and multi-disciplines, which can systematically and comprehensively observe the intervention of drugs on disease networks, and is especially suitable for the research of TCM in the treatment of complex diseases. In this study, we systematically decoded the "Jun, Chen, Zuo and Shi" rules of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction (HJD) in the treatment of diseases for the first time. This interpretation method considered three levels of data. The data in the first level mainly depicts the characteristics of each component in single botanical drug of HJD, include the physical and chemical properties of component, ADME properties and functional enrichment analysis of component targets. The second level data is the characterization of component-target-protein (C-T-P) network in the whole protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, mainly include the characterization of degree and key communities in C-T-P network. The third level data is the characterization of intervention propagation properties of HJD in the treatment of different complex diseases, mainly include target coverage of pathogenic genes and propagation coefficient of intervention effect between target proteins and pathogenic genes. Finally, our method was validated by metabolic data, which could be used to detect the components absorbed into blood. This research shows the scientific basis of "Jun-Chen-Zuo-Shi" from a multi-dimensional perspective, and provides a good methodological reference for the subsequent interpretation of key components and speculation mechanism of the formula.

Atractylenolides, essential components of Atractylodes-based traditional herbal medicines: Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties

The rhizome of the plant Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz is the major constituent of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Baizhu, frequently used to treat gastro-intestinal diseases. Many traditional medicine prescriptions based on Baizhu and the similar preparation Cangzhu are used in China, Korea and Japan as Qi-booster. These preparations contain atractylenolides, a small group of sesquiterpenoids endowed with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Atractylenolides I, II and III also display significant anticancer properties, reviewed here. The capacity of AT-I/II/IIII to inhibit cell proliferation and to induce cancer cell death have been analyzed, together with their effects of angiogenesis, metastasis, cell differentiation and stemness. The immune-modulatory properties of ATs are discussed. AT-I has been tested clinically for the treatment of cancer-induced cachexia with encouraging results. ATs, alone or combined with cytotoxic drugs, could be useful to treat cancers or to reduce side effects of radio and chemotherapy. Several signaling pathways have been implicated in their multi-targeted mechanisms of action, in particular those involving the central regulators TLR4, NFκB and Nrf2. A drug-induced reduction of inflammatory cytokines production (TNFα, IL-6) also characterizes these molecules which are generally weakly cytotoxic and well tolerated in vivo. Inhibition of Janus kinases (notably JAK2 and JAK3 targeted by AT-I and AT-III, respectively) has been postulated. Information about their metabolism and toxicity are limited but the long-established traditional use of the Atractylodes and the diversity of anticancer effects reported with AT-I and AT-III should encourage further studies with these molecules and structurally related natural products.

Systemic elucidation on the potential bioactive compounds and hypoglycemic mechanism of Polygonum multiflorum based on network pharmacology

BACKGROUND

Diabetes is a complex metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia, plaguing the whole world. However, the action mode of multi-component and multi-target for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) could be a promising treatment of diabetes mellitus. According to the previous research, the TCM of Polygonum multiflorum (PM) showed noteworthy hypoglycemic effect. Up to now, its hypoglycemic active ingredients and mechanism of action are not yet clear. In this study, network pharmacology was employed to elucidate the potential bioactive compounds and hypoglycemic mechanism of PM.

METHODS

First, the compounds with good pharmacokinetic properties were screened from the self-established library of PM, and the targets of these compounds were predicted and collected through database. Relevant targets of diabetes were summarized by searching database. The intersection targets of compound-targets and disease-targets were obtained soon. Secondly, the interaction net between the compounds and the filtered targets was established. These key targets were enriched and analyzed by protein-protein interactions (PPI) analysis, molecular docking verification. Thirdly, the key genes were used to find the biologic pathway and explain the therapeutic mechanism by genome ontology (GO) and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analysis. Lastly, the part of potential bioactive compounds were under enzyme activity inhibition tests.

RESULTS

In this study, 29 hypoglycemic components and 63 hypoglycemic targets of PM were filtrated based on online network database. Then the component-target interaction network was constructed and five key components resveratrol, apigenin, kaempferol, quercetin and luteolin were further obtained. Sequential studies turned out, AKT1, EGFR, ESR1, PTGS2, MMP9, MAPK14, and KDR were the common key targets. Docking studies indicated that the bioactive compounds could stably bind the pockets of target proteins. There were 38 metabolic pathways, including regulation of lipolysis in adipocytes, prolactin signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, VEGF signaling pathway, FoxO signaling pathway, estrogen signaling pathway, linoleic acid metabolism, Rap1 signaling pathway, arachidonic acid metabolism, and osteoclast differentiation closely connected with the hypoglycemic mechanism of PM. And the enzyme activity inhibition tests showed the bioactive ingredients have great hypoglycemic activity.

CONCLUSION

In summary, the study used systems pharmacology to elucidate the main hypoglycemic components and mechanism of PM. The work provided a scientific basis for the further hypoglycemic effect research of PM and its monomer components, but also provided a reference for the secondary development of PM.

An integrated approach based on phytochemistry, network pharmacology and metabolomics reveals the mechanism of action of Xanthium strumarium L. for allergic rhinitis

Xanthium strumarium L. (XS) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that has been widely used in Chinese medicine prescription for allergic rhinitis (AR). However, the action mechanisms of XS on the therapeutic effects on AR remain elusive. Herein, an integrated approach of phytochemistry, network pharmacology and metabolomics was first applied to uncover the action mechanisms of XS for AR. The therapeutic effect of XS extract on AR was evaluated in rat models of ovalbumin (OVA)-induced AR. The cytokine levels in rat serum and histopathological changes of nasal mucosa were assessed after oral treatment with XS. Chemical compositions of XS were elucidated by phytochemical methods, and active ingredients were identified via ADME-TOX screening in silico. Network pharmacology was performed to establish and analyze the compound-target-disease network so as to find the possible mechanism of XS in treating AR. In addition, metabolomics analysis was applied to investigate the changes in the endogenous metabolite levels that result from XS treatments. As result, the XS extract significantly increased the serum concentrations of IL-2 and reduced the levels of serum IL-4, while XS could ameliorate inflammation in the nasal sub-mucosal area, indicating that XS has significant therapeutic effects on AR model rats. Furthermore, a total of 119 compounds were isolated from XS, and 59 of these compounds were identified as active ingredients through ADME-TOX screening in silico. An in-depth analysis of the network pharmacology implied that the active ingredients of XS could regulate the inflammatory response via “multi-component, multi-target” patterns. In combination with the results of metabolomics, we found that the active ingredients of XS have a beneficial effect on AR through regulating the metabolism of arachidonic acid, which was reflected by medicating the Fc epsilon RI signaling pathway, and the neuroactive ligand–receptor interaction pathway, as well as the key proteins in arachidonic acid metabolism, such as PTGS2, PTGS1, PTGES and ALOX5. Additionally, molecular docking showed that multiple compounds have better binding with PTGS2 and ALOX5, which might be two crucial targets. Overall, these results suggest that the treatment of XS for AR is realized by regulating the metabolism of arachidonic acid via a combination form. This study provides the basis for clinical applications of XS.

This study investigated the mechanism of Xanthium strumarium L. for allergic rhinitis through an integrated approach of phytochemistry, network pharmacology and metabolomics.

A Novel Network Pharmacology Strategy to Decode Mechanism of Lang Chuang Wan in Treating Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Complex disease is a cascade process which is associated with functional abnormalities in multiple proteins and protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. One drug one target has not been able to perfectly intervene complex diseases. Increasing evidences show that Chinese herb formula usually treats complex diseases in the form of multi-components and multi-targets. The key step to elucidate the underlying mechanism of formula in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is to optimize and capture the important components in the formula. At present, there are several formula optimization models based on network pharmacology has been proposed. Most of these models focus on the 2D/3D similarity of chemical structure of drug components and ignore the functional optimization space based on relationship between pathogenetic genes and drug targets. How to select the key group of effective components (KGEC) from the formula of TCM based on the optimal space which link pathogenic genes and drug targets is a bottleneck problem in network pharmacology. To address this issue, we designed a novel network pharmacological model, which takes Lang Chuang Wan (LCW) treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as the case. We used the weighted gene regulatory network and active components targets network to construct disease-targets-components network, after filtering through the network attribute degree, the optimization space and effective proteins were obtained. And then the KGEC was selected by using contribution index (CI) model based on knapsack algorithm. The results show that the enriched pathways of effective proteins we selected can cover 96% of the pathogenetic genes enriched pathways. After reverse analysis of effective proteins and optimization with CI index model, KGEC with 82 components were obtained, and 105 enriched pathways of KGEC targets were consistent with enriched pathways of pathogenic genes (80.15%). Finally, the key components in KGEC of LCW were evaluated by in vitro experiments. These results indicate that the proposed model with good accuracy in screening the KGEC in the formula of TCM, which provides reference for the optimization and mechanism analysis of the formula in TCM.

Herbal pair Huangqin-Baishao: mechanisms underlying inflammatory bowel disease by combined system pharmacology and cell experiment approach

BACKGROUND

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a severe digestive system condition, characterized by chronic and relapsing inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (Huangqin, HQ) and Paeonia lactiflora Pall (Baishao, BS) from a typical herbal synergic pair in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for IBD treatments. However, the mechanisms of action for the synergy are still unclear. Therefore, this paper aimed to predict the anti-IBD targets and the main active ingredients of the HQ-BS herbal pair.

METHODS

A systems pharmacology approach was used to identify the bioactive compounds and to delineate the molecular targets and potential pathways of HQ-BS herbal pair. Then, the characteristics of the candidates were analyzed according to their oral bioavailability and drug-likeness indices. Finally, gene enrichment analysis with DAVID Bioinformatics Resources was performed to identify the potential pathways associated with the candidate targets.

RESULTS

The results showed that, a total of 38 active compounds were obtained from HQ-BS herbal pair, and 54 targets associated with IBD were identified. Gene Ontology and pathway enrichment analysis yielded the top 20 significant results with 54 targets. Furthermore, the integrated IBD pathway revealed that the HQ-BS herbal pair probably acted in patients with IBD through multiple mechanisms of regulation of the nitric oxide biosynthetic process and anti-inflammatory effects. In addition, cell experiments were carried out to verify that the HQ-BS herbal pair and their Q-markers could attenuate the levels of nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated THP-1-derived macrophage inflammation. In particular, the crude materials exerted a much better anti-inflammatory effect than their Q-markers, which might be due to their synergistic effect.

CONCLUSION

This study provides novel insight into the molecular pathways involved in the mechanisms of the HQ-BS herbal pair acting on IBD.

Enhancing and Complementary Mechanisms of Synergistic Action of Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma and Codonopsis Radix for Alzheimer's Disease Based on Systems Pharmacology

Materials and Methods

In this study, a systems pharmacology-based strategy was used to elucidate the synergistic mechanism of Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma and Codonopsis Radix for the treatment of AD. This novel systems pharmacology model consisted of component information, pharmacokinetic analysis, and pharmacological data. Additionally, the related pathways were compressed using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, and the organ distributions were determined in the BioGPS bank.

Results

Sixty-eight active ingredients with suitable pharmacokinetic profiles and biological activities were selected through ADME screening in silico. Based on 62 AD-related targets, such as APP, CHRM1, and PTGS1, systematic analysis showed that these two herbs were mainly involved in the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, and fluid shear stress and atherosclerosis, indicating that they had a synergistic effect on AD. However, ATR acted on the KDR gene, while CR acted on IGF1R, MET, IL1B, and CHUK, showing that they also had complementary effects on AD. The ingredient contribution score involved 29 ingredients contributing 90.14% of the total contribution score of this formula for AD treatment, which emphasized that the effective therapeutic effects of these herbs for AD were derived from both ATR and CR, not a single herb. Organ distribution showed that the targets of the active ingredients were mainly located in the whole blood, the brain, and the muscle, which are associated with AD.

Conclusions

In sum, our findings suggest that the systems pharmacology methods successfully revealed the synergistic and complementary mechanisms of ATR and CR for the treatment of AD.

Uncovering the Complexity Mechanism of Different Formulas Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis Based on a Novel Network Pharmacology Model

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with the characteristics of “multi-component-multi-target-multi-pathway” has obvious advantages in the prevention and treatment of complex diseases, especially in the aspects of “treating the same disease with different treatments”. However, there are still some problems such as unclear substance basis and molecular mechanism of the effectiveness of formula. Network pharmacology is a new strategy based on system biology and poly-pharmacology, which could observe the intervention of drugs on disease networks at systematical and comprehensive level, and especially suitable for study of complex TCM systems. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease, causing articular and extra articular dysfunctions among patients, it could lead to irreversible joint damage or disability if left untreated. TCM formulas, Danggui-Sini-decoction (DSD), Guizhi-Fuzi-decoction (GFD), and Huangqi-Guizhi-Wuwu-Decoction (HGWD), et al., have been found successful in controlling RA in clinical applications. Here, a network pharmacology-based approach was established. With this model, key gene network motif with significant (KNMS) of three formulas were predicted, and the molecular mechanism of different formula in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was inferred based on these KNMSs. The results show that the KNMSs predicted by the model kept a high consistency with the corresponding C-T network in coverage of RA pathogenic genes, coverage of functional pathways and cumulative contribution of key nodes, which confirmed the reliability and accuracy of our proposed KNMS prediction strategy. All validated KNMSs of each RA therapy-related formula were employed to decode the mechanisms of different formulas treat the same disease. Finally, the key components in KNMSs of each formula were evaluated by in vitro experiments. Our proposed KNMS prediction and validation strategy provides methodological reference for interpreting the optimization of core components group and inference of molecular mechanism of formula in the treatment of complex diseases in TCM.

Suppressive effect of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus and Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma on glutamic acid-induced autophagy of interstitial cells of Cajal

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effects of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus (Zhishi, ZS) and Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma (Baizhu, BZ)-containing serum on glutamate-induced autophagy in rat colonic interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) and to analyze the underlying mechanism.

METHODS

Rat colonic ICCs cultured in vitro were identified by fluorescence and then stimulated with glutamic acid (5 mmol/L) for 24 h to establish a cell model of autophagy. The cells were then treated with different concentrations of ZSBZ-containing serum or rat serum. The viability of the ICCs was detected with cell counting kit-8 assays, and cell apoptosis rates were examined with flow cytometry. The ultrastructure and autophagosomes in the ICCs were observed using transmission electron microscopy. The effects of ZSBZ-containing serum on apoptosis-associated mediators were assessed by Western blotting and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. In addition, microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3), p-phosphoinositide 3-kinase (p-PI3K), p-Akt and p-mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR) expression was detected via Western blotting analysis.

RESULTS

Compared to those in the model group, ICC viability and apoptosis rates were significantly increased by ZSBZ-containing serum (P < 0.05). In addition, the expression levels of Beclin-1, LC3, p-PI3K, p-Akt and p-mTOR were significantly lower (P < 0.05) and Bcl-2 expression was higher in the ZSBZ-containing serum treatment groups than in the model group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Our findings demonstrated that ZSBZ protects glutamic acid-stimulated ICCs, and this beneficial effect may be mediated by a reduction in autophagy via inhibition of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.

Effects of Endovascular Stent-Assisted Effects of Various Frequencies of Abdominal Naprapathy on Changes in Gastrointestinal Mucosal Cells in Spleen-Deficient Rabbits

Background

At certain frequencies, abdominal naprapathy effectively alleviates functional dyspepsia with spleen deficiency. The present study explored the effects of various frequencies of abdominal naprapathy on gastrointestinal mucosal cells in spleen-deficient rabbits.

Material/Methods

The model of spleen deficiency was established by the method of bitter cold and catharsis. The rabbits were treated with various frequencies (50–100 and 201–250 vibrations/min) of abdominal naprapathy.

Results

In model rabbits, gastrointestinal mucosal thickness was changed, mucosal epithelial cells were necrotic significantly, a large number of inflammatory cells were infiltrated, and duodenal villus were destroyed. The gastrointestinal mucosal cells had different degrees of regeneration and remodeling under various frequencies of abdominal naprapathy intervention. Among them, the abdominal naprapathy with manipulation frequency of 101–150 times/min showed the best effect.

Conclusions

The abdominal naprapathy, especially with frequency of 101~150 times/min, repairs gastrointestinal mucosal injury of spleen-deficiency rabbits.

Atractylenolide I inhibits colorectal cancer cell proliferation by affecting metabolism and stemness via AKT/mTOR signaling

BACKGROUND

Atractylenolide I (ATL-1) is a natural herbal compound used in traditional Chinese medicine that has exhibited anti-cancer properties. The anti-tumorigenic activity of ATL-1 against colorectal cancer (CRC) and the underlying signaling pathways involved in its mechanisms are examined here.

HYPOTHESIS

ATL-1 exerts therapeutic effect against CRC by disrupting glucose metabolism and cancer stem cell maintenance via AKT/mTOR pathway regulation.

STUDY DESIGN

In vitro studies were performed in COLO205 and HCT116 CRC cell lines and in vivo studies were conducted in a mouse xenograft model of CRC tumor.

METHODS

CRC cells were treated with ATL-1 at various concentrations, with or without inhibitors of AKT or mTOR. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, stemness maintenance, glucose metabolism, and AKT/mTOR signaling were evaluated. CRC tumor-xenografted mice were treated with an AKT inhibitor and/or ATL-1, and glucose metabolism and stemness maintenance were examined in tumor tissues.

RESULTS

ATL-1 significantly inhibited the invasion of CRC cells by inducing their apoptosis, possibly via the excessive production of reactive oxygen species. Glucose metabolism (Warburg effect) was also altered and stem-like traits were suppressed by ATL-1. In addition, ATL-1 effectively acted as an inhibitor or AKT/mTOR by downregulating the phosphorylation of proteins related to the AKT/mTOR pathway. In vivo studies showed that tumor weight and volume were reduced by ATL-1 and that aerobic glycolysis, stemness maintenance, and AKT/mTOR activation were impaired by ATL-1 in colorectal tumors.

CONCLUSIONS

ATL-1 acts as an effective agent to suppress colorectal tumor progression, mainly by inhibiting CRC cell proliferation through altering apoptosis, glucose metabolism, and stem-like behavior. These processes were mediated by the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway both in vitro and in vivo. ATL-1 may be a potential agent to be used in molecular-targeted strategies for cancer treatment.

Ginkgolic acid inhibits the growth of renal cell carcinoma cells via inactivation of the EGFR signaling pathway

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the most common urological malignancies occurring in adult human kidneys worldwide. Recent research on antitumor drugs has focused on plant extracts, a class of compounds that play critical roles in cancer treatment. The present study aimed to investigate the potential antitumor effect of ginkgolic acid (GA) in RCC. Transwell invasion assay, cell counting kit-8 assay and flow cytometry were used to measure cell migration, cell viability and apoptosis, respectively. A network pharmacology approach was applied to identify pathway information, combining molecular docking techniques to screen for key target information. In the present study, GA inhibited the viability and proliferation of RCC cells (786-O and A498), both in vitro and in vivo, via G₁ arrest. GA also reduced RCC cell invasion and migration. In addition, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was identified as a critical target protein of GA, which significantly inactivated EGFR signaling in RCC (P<0.05). Collectively, the present study provided evidence that GA exerts its anticancer function by directly targeting the EGFR signaling pathway, revealing the potential of GA therapy for RCC.

Deciphering the Active Compounds and Mechanisms of Qixuehe Capsule on Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis Syndrome: A Network Pharmacology Study

BACKGROUND

Qixuehe capsule (QXH), a Chinese patent medicine, has been demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of menstrual disorders. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, qi stagnation and blood stasis syndrome (QS-BSS) is the main syndrome type of menstrual disorders. However, the pharmacodynamic effect of QXH in treating QS-BSS is not clear, and the main active compounds and underlying mechanisms remain unknown.

METHODS

A rat model of QS-BSS was established to evaluate the pharmacodynamic effect of QXH. Thereafter, a network pharmacology approach was performed to decipher the active compounds and underlying mechanisms of QXH.

RESULTS

QXH could significantly reduce the rising whole blood viscosity (WBV) and plasma viscosity (PV) but also normalize prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), and fibrinogen (FIB) content in QS-BSS rats. Based on partial least-squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), the low-dose QXH-intervened (QXH-L) and the high-dose QXH-intervened (QXH-H) groups seemed the most effective by calculating the relative distance to normality. Through network pharmacology, QXH may improve hemorheological abnormality mainly via 185 compounds-51 targets-28 pathways, whereas 184 compounds-68 targets-28 pathways were associated with QXH in improving coagulopathy. Subsequently, 25 active compounds of QXH were verified by UPLC-Q/TOF-MS. Furthermore, 174 active compounds of QXH were shared in improving hemorheological abnormality and coagulopathy in QS-BSS, each of which can act on multiple targets to be mainly involved in complement and coagulation cascades, leukocyte transendothelial migration, PPAR signaling pathway, VEGF signaling pathway, and arachidonic acid metabolism. The attribution of active compounds indicated that Angelicae Sinensis Radix (DG), Paeoniae Radix Rubra (CS), Carthami Flos (HH), Persicae Semen (TR), and Corydalis Rhizoma (YHS) were the vital herbs of QXH in treating QS-BSS.

CONCLUSION

QXH can improve the hemorheology abnormality and coagulopathy of QS-BSS, which may result from the synergy of multiple compounds, targets, and pathways.

Predicting Meridian in Chinese traditional medicine using machine learning approaches

Plant-derived nature products, known as herb formulas, have been commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for disease prevention and treatment. The herbs have been traditionally classified into different categories according to the TCM Organ systems known as Meridians. Despite the increasing knowledge on the active components of the herbs, the rationale of Meridian classification remains poorly understood. In this study, we took a machine learning approach to explore the classification of Meridian. We determined the molecule features for 646 herbs and their active components including structure-based fingerprints and ADME properties (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion), and found that the Meridian can be predicted by machine learning approaches with a top accuracy of 0.83. We also identified the top compound features that were important for the Meridian prediction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that molecular properties of the herb compounds are associated with the TCM Meridians. Taken together, the machine learning approach may provide novel insights for the understanding of molecular evidence of Meridians in TCM.

Efficacy of leflunomide combined with ligustrazine in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: prediction with network pharmacology and validation in a clinical trial

BACKGROUND

Leflunomide (LEF) is a first-line disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, there are still a few nonresponders. It is logical to suggest that employing combinations including LEF that produce synergistic effects in terms of pharmacological activity is a promising strategy to improve clinical outcomes.

METHODS

We propose a novel approach for predicting LEF combinations through investigating the potential effects of drug targets on the disease signaling network. We first constructed an RA signaling network with disease-associated driver genes. Thousands of available FDA-approved and investigational compounds were then selected based on a drug-RA network, which was generated using an algorithm model named synergistic score that combines chemical structure, functional prediction and target pathway. We then validated our predicted combination in a prospective clinical trial.

RESULTS

Ligustrazine (LIG), a key component of the Chinese herb Chuanxiong and an approved drug in China, ranked first according to synergistic score. In the clinical trial, after 48 weeks, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 20 response rate was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in the LEF group [58.8% (45.4%, 72.3%)] than in the LEF + LIG group [78.7% (68.5%, 89.0%)]. Consistently, the erosion score was lower in patients treated with LEF + LIG than in those treated with LEF (0.34 ± 0.20 vs 1.12 ± 0.30, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our algorithm combines structure and target pathways into one model that predicted that the combination of LEF and LIG can reduce joint inflammation and attenuate bone erosion in RA patients. To our knowledge, this study is the first to apply this paradigm to evaluate drug combination hypotheses.

Proteomic Analysis Provides Insights Into the Therapeutic Effect of GU-BEN-FANG-XIAO Decoction on a Persistent Asthmatic Mouse Model

Gubenfangxiao decoction (GBFXD) is a traditional Chinese medicine based on a combination of Yu-Ping-Feng-San and Erchen decoctions. GBFXD has been widely used for decades in treating asthma at the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. Previously, GBFXD was found to reduce lung inflammation and airway remodeling; however, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. In this study, the effects of GBFXD on asthmatic mice were evaluated based on pathology and lung function; airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and pathology were compared among the two different mouse models utilized. Furthermore, the mechanism of action of GBFXD on asthmatic mice was analyzed using iTRAQ labeling technology combined with ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA). Modeling analysis of pre- and post-treatment proteins identified 75 differentially expressed proteins. These proteins were related to B-cell development, calcium-induced lymphocyte apoptosis, antigen presentation, and Th1 and Th2 activation pathways. Moreover, 68 differentially expressed proteins were identified in the GBFXD treatment group compared with the model group. Upstream regulatory factors predicted that interleukin (IL)-4 (necessary for inducing polarization of type 2 [M2] macrophages), cyclooxygenase, and prostaglandin E2 are significantly elevated in the model group. Based on IPA analysis, it was concluded that several pathways, including mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative phosphorylation, are closely associated with the therapeutic effects of GBFXD in asthma. Moreover, the differential expression of several proteins, including the M2 markers, MRC1, ARG1, Retnla, Chil3, and CHIA, were validated by western blotting, confirming that GBFXD can reduce airway inflammation, which fits the pattern of an alternative M2 activation state, and attenuate AHR. Overall, our findings indicate that GBFXD significantly suppresses M2 macrophage polarization, providing further insights into the mechanism underlying the protective effects of GBFXD.

Influence Factors of the Pharmacokinetics of Herbal Resourced Compounds in Clinical Practice

Herbal medicines have been used to prevent and cure diseases in eastern countries for thousands of years. In recent decades, these phytotherapies are becoming more and more popular in the West. As being nature-derived is the essential attribute of herbal medicines, people believe that taking them for diseases treatment is safe enough and has no side-effects. However, the efficacy of herbal resourced compounds (HRC) depends on the multiple constituents absorbed in the body and their pharmacokinetics. Thus, many factors will influence the clinical practice of HRC, i.e., their absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). Among these factors, herb-drug interaction has been widely discussed, as these compounds may share the same drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters. Meanwhile there are many other potential factors that can also change the ADME of HRC, including herb pretreatment, herb-herb interactions, pathological status, gender, age of patient, and chemical and physical modification of certain ingredients. With the aim of ensuring the efficacy of HRC and minimizing their clinical risks, this review provides and discusses the influence factors and artificial improvement of the pharmacokinetics of HRC.