scholarly journals Study on the Mechanisms and Experimental Verification of Cuscuta-Salvia (Tusizi-Danshen) in the Treatment of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) via Network Pharmacology

Author(s):  
Ying-ying Zhang ◽  
Jian-xiong Ma ◽  
Yu-tian Zhu ◽  
Yi-xuan Wang ◽  
Wang-qiang Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a sort of endocrine disease associated with Reproduction. The formula of Cuscuta-Salvia has been widely used in treatment of PCOS in clinic. However, its chemical and pharmacological are still not known in detail. First, the active components of Cuscuta-Salvia were identified by UHPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS and screened from TCMSP database, and the disease targets were obtained from the DisGeNET and GeneCards databases. Subsequently, common targets between Cuscuta-Salvia and PCOS were obtained via a Venn diagram. Second, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was established. Core genes were selected using Cytoscape software plugin. Third, the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis were performed for common targets using “pathview” package in R. Finally, several core targets were verified via determination of qRT-PCR and HE staining. Combined UHPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS analysis with network pharmacology study, 14 active components were obtained. Eighty common targets were also obtained. Ten core genes were regulated by Cuscuta-Salvia in PCOS, including IL6, AKT1, VEGFA, TP53, TNF, MAPK1, JUN, EGF, CASP3, and EGFR. GO results showed that cellular response to drug, response to oxygen levels, response lipopolysaccharide, and response to molecule of bacterial origin in biological process (BP) category; membrane, transcription regulator complex, nuclear chromatin, postsynaptic membrane, and vesicle lumen in cellular component (CC) category; DNA-binding transcription factor binding, RNA polymerase II-specific DNA-binding transcription factor binding, DNA-binding transcription activator activity, RNA polymerase II-specific, DNA-binding transcription activator activity, and cytokine receptor binding in molecular function (MF) terms. KEGG enrichment pathway mainly involves in PI3K−Akt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, cellular senescence, TNF signaling pathway, and IL-17signaling pathway. Furthermore, based on an experimental study, Cuscuta-Salvia ameliorated the pathology of ovary, live and adipose tissue. Additional, Cuscuta-Salvia increased the mRNA expression of VEGFA. Cuscuta-Salvia decreased the mRNA expression of IL6, AKT1, TP53, MAPK1, JUN, EGF, AR, LHb, CYP17a1, and CYP19a1. Our results demonstrate that Cuscuta-Salvia may provide a novel pharmacology basis in an experimental model of PCOS via the regulation of the gene expression. This study lays a basis for subsequent research and clinical application.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Li ◽  
Guhang Wei ◽  
Zhenkun Zhuang ◽  
Mingtai Chen ◽  
Changjian Yuan ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundCorydalis Rhizoma(CR) showed a high efficacy for coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the interaction between the active ingredients of CR and the targets of CHD has not been unequivocally explained in previous researches. To study the active components and potential targets of Corydalis Rhizoma and to determine the mechanism underlying the exact effect of Corydalis Rhizoma on coronary heart disease, a method of network pharmacology was used.Materials and MethodsThe active components of CR and targets corresponding to each component were scanned out from Traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database and analysis platform (TCMSP), and target genes of CHD were searched on GeneCards database and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man(OMIM) database. The active components and common targets of CR and CHD were used to build the “CR-CHD” network through Cytoscape (version 3.2.1) software as well as protein-protein interaction(PPI) network on String database. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis was executed by clusterProfiler(version 3.8) and DOSE(version 3.6) package on R platform.Results49 active ingredients and 394 relevant targets of CR and the 7173 CHD-related genes were retrieved. 40 common genes were selected for subsequent analysis. Crucial biological processes and pathways were obtained and analyzed, including DNA-binding transcription activator activity, RNA polymerase II-specific, RNA polymerase II transcription factor binding, kinase regulator activity, ubiquitin-like protein ligase binding, fluid shear stress and atherosclerosis, TNF signaling pathway, apoptosis, MAPK signaling pathway and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.ConclusionsOverall, CR could alleviate CHD through the mechanisms predicted by network pharmacology, laying the foundation for future development of new drugs from traditional Chinese medicine on CHD.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunyu Zhu ◽  
Yajun Hu ◽  
Wangdong Zheng ◽  
Yanyan Zhang ◽  
Yiting Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background : Xiaoyao San(XYS) has been widely used in the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS), but its mechanism is not clear. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the mechanism of XYS in the treatment of PCOS from the aspects of active components, targets and pathways. The purpose of the study is to explore the molecular mechanism of XYS in the treatment of PCOS. Methods : TCMSP database, UniProt and Perl were used to screen and collect the active components and targets of XYS. The genes related to PCOS were searched in GeneCards database. Collect the related targets of PCOS and XYS, use STRING database and Cytoscape software to process the data visually and analyze topology, and screen the key components and targets in the network. The key targets were enriched by R Project to predict the mechanism of XYS in the treatment of PCOS. Results : 68 active components and 96 drug targets in XYS were screened out. 3648 PCOS related disease targets were collected. 66 targets of XYS for PCOS treatment were obtained after analysis. 21 key targets of NCOA2, PGR, PTGS1, PPARG and AR were constructed after topology analysis. 63 biological functions and 111 biological pathways were obtained after gene ontology(GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) Pathway enrichment analysis. Conclusions : XYS has the characteristics of multi-component, multi-target and multi-path. This study discussed the active components, targets and potential mechanism of XYS in the treatment of PCOS, which provided a new direction for further study of the mechanism of XYS in the treatment of PCOS, and provides more ideas for clinical treatment of PCOS.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Li ◽  
Guhang Wei ◽  
Zhenkun Zhuang ◽  
Mingtai Chen ◽  
Haidan Lin ◽  
...  

Abstract Background. Corydalis Rhizoma(CR) showed a high efficacy for coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the interaction between the active ingredients of CR and the targets of CHD has not been unequivocally explained in previous researches. To study the active components and potential targets of Corydalis Rhizoma and to determine the mechanism underlying the exact effect of Corydalis Rhizoma on coronary heart disease, a method of network pharmacology was used. Materials and Methods. The active components of CR and targets corresponding to each component were scanned out from Traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database and analysis platform (TCMSP), and target genes of CHD were searched on GeneCards database and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man(OMIM) database. The active components and common targets of CR and CHD were used to build the “CR-CHD” network through Cytoscape (version 3.2.1) software as well as protein-protein interaction(PPI) network on String database. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis was executed by clusterProfiler(version 3.8) and DOSE(version 3.6) package on R platform. Results. 49 active ingredients and 394 relevant targets of CR and the 7173 CHD-related genes were retrieved. 40 common genes were selected for subsequent analysis. Crucial biological processes and pathways were obtained and analyzed, including DNA-binding transcription activator activity, RNA polymerase II-specific, RNA polymerase II transcription factor binding, kinase regulator activity, ubiquitin-like protein ligase binding, fluid shear stress and atherosclerosis, TNF signaling pathway, apoptosis, MAPK signaling pathway and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Conclusions. Overall, CR could alleviate CHD through the mechanisms predicted by network pharmacology, laying the foundation for future development of new drugs from traditional Chinese medicine on CHD.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Wei ◽  
Sichen Ren ◽  
Ruilin Wang ◽  
Manyi Jing ◽  
Honghong Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Zuojin Pill (ZJP), a classic prescription, has the potential to prevent ulcerative colitis (UC). However, the active component and mechanism of ZJP is still arcane. Objective: This study aims to use a network pharmacology approach to find the bioactive compounds and potential action mechanisms of ZJP in the treatment of UC.Methods: Firstly, the components and putative targets of ZJP were collected based on the herbal medicine target database, and a network containing the interaction between the putative targets of ZJP and the potential therapeutic targets of UC was established. Then topological parameters were calculated to identify the key targets in the network and the key targets were imported into David database to perform path enrichment analysis.Results: 7 potential therapeutic components of ZJP and 26 key targets were obtained. These targets were related to signal transduction, response to drug, cellular response to lipopolysaccharide, MAPK cascade, inflammatory response, immune response, transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter, apoptotic process, regulation of sequence-specific DNA binding transcription factor activity and lipopolysaccharide-mediated signaling pathway. Moreover, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway were predicted to participate in the treatment of UC, which directly regulated by 7 active components of ZJP. Quercetin and isorhamnetin have great development value in the treatment of UC. Moupinamide and palmidin A are of great value for exploration because of their safety and innovation.Conclusion: ZJP mainly were directly involved in UC through inflammation and immune regulation by PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and MAPK signaling pathway.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojian Wang ◽  
Rui Wang ◽  
Ting Xu ◽  
Hongting Jin ◽  
Peijian Tong ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The lesion of marrow is a crucial factor in orthopedic diseases, which is recognized by orthopedics-traumatology expert from "Zhe-School of Chinese Medicine". The Chinese herbs of regulating marrow has been widely used to treat osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) in China, while the interaction mechanisms were still elucidated. Thus, we conducted this study to explore the underlying mechanism of the five highest-frequency Chinese herbs of regulating marrow(HF-CHRM) in the treatment of ONFH with the aid of network pharmacology(NP) and molecular docking(MD). Methods The active components and potential targets of HF-CHRM were obtained through several online databases, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP), UniProt database. The gene targets related to ONFH were collected with the help of the OMIM and GeneCards disease-related databases. The "drug- component-target-disease" network and protein-protein interaction(PPI) network of the drug and disease intersecting targets were constructed by using Cytoscape software and the STRING database. R software was used for Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. The MD of critical components and targets was carried out using Autodock Vina and Pymol to validate the binding affinity. Results A total of 54 active components, 1074 drug targets and 195 gene targets were obtained. There were 1219 ONFH related targets. 39 drug and disease intersection targets(representative genes: IL6, TP53, VEGFA, ESR1, IL1B) were obtained and considered potential therapeutic targets. 1619 items were obtained by the GO enrichment analysis, including 1517 biological processes, 10 cellular components and 92 molecular functions, which is mainly related to angiogenesis, bone and lipid metabolism and inflammatory reaction. The KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed 119 pathways, including AGE-RAGE signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and IL-17 signaling pathway. MD results showed that quercetin, wogonin, and kaempferol active components had good affinity with IL6, TP53, and VEGFA core proteins. Conclusion The HF-CHRM can treat ONFH by multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway comprehensive action.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Yi Zhu ◽  
Ming Qiao ◽  
Jianhua Yang ◽  
Junping Hu

Objective. To holistically explore the latent active ingredients, targets, and related mechanisms of Hugan buzure granule (HBG) in the treatment of liver fibrosis (LF) via network pharmacology. Methods. First, we collected the ingredients of HBG by referring the TCMSP server and literature and filtered the active ingredients though the criteria of oral bioavailability ≥30% and drug-likeness index ≥0.18. Second, herb-associated targets were predicted and screened based on the BATMAN-TCM and SwissTargetPrediction platforms. Candidate targets related to LF were collected from the GeneCards and OMIM databases. Furthermore, the overlapping target genes were used to construct the protein-protein interaction network and “drug-compound-target-disease” network. Third, GO and KEGG pathway analyses were carried out to illustrate the latent mechanisms of HBG in the treatment of LF. Finally, the combining activities of hub targets with active ingredients were further verified based on software AutoDock Vina. Results. A total of 25 active ingredients and 115 overlapping target genes of HBG and LF were collected. Besides, GO enrichment analysis exhibited that the overlapping target genes were involved in DNA-binding transcription activator activity, RNA polymerase II-specific, and oxidoreductase activity. Simultaneously, the key molecular mechanisms of HBG against LF were mainly involved in PI3K-AKT, MAPK, HIF-1, and NF-κB signaling pathways. Also, molecular docking simulation demonstrated that the key targets of HBG for antiliver fibrosis were IL6, CASP3, EGFR, VEGF, and MAPK. Conclusion. This work validated and predicted the underlying mechanisms of multicomponent and multitarget about HBG in treating LF and provided a scientific foundation for further research.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuedong An ◽  
LiYun Duan ◽  
YueHong Zhang ◽  
De Jin ◽  
Shenghui Zhao ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundOur previous randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center clinical study showed that Compound Danshen Dripping Pills (CDDP) had a significant and safe effect in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy (DR), but its mechanism is still unclear, which we would explain based on network pharmacology and molecular docking.MethodThe active ingredients of CDDP (composed of Panax notoginseng, Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge., and Borneol) were searched in the TCMSP database. The validated target and Smiles number of the active ingredient are queried through the PubChem database, and the predicted target of the active ingredient is obtained through the Swisstarget Prediction database. The Drugbank, TTD, and DisGeNET databases were retrieved to obtain the related targets of DR. The core targets were obtained by the cluster analysis function of Cytoscape, and then the Protein-Protein Interaction was performed. The GO and KEGG signal pathways were enriched and clustered in David database. The potential active components and targets were docking with Autodock Vina, and the results were visualized by PyMOL.Result51 active components and 922 validation and prediction targets of CDDP, 715 targets of DR and 154 co-targets were obtained. Cluster analysis showed that there were two clusters, a total of 64 targets. Go and KEGG signal pathway enrichment analysis showed that the top 20 mainly included TNF and HIF-1 signaling pathway. In GO analysis, BP mainly includes positive regulation of smooth muscle cell proliferation and response to hypoxia, CC mainly includes extracellular space and extracellular domain, MF mainly includes protein binding and protein binding recognition. In KEGG database, the key genes in the TNF signaling pathway were TNF, NFkB and VEGF, in HIF-1 signaling pathway were the IL-6, STAT3, HIF1A and VEGF. Molecular docking results showed that all components of CDDP had a certain docking ability with TNF, NFkB, VEGF, IL-6, STAT3 and HIF1A, which of Asiatic acid and Salvianolic acid j was the strongest.Conclusion Based on the network pharmacology and molecular docking, the core active components of CDDP, mainly including Asiatic acid and Salvianolic acid j, which may play a role in regulating cell proliferation and response to inflammation and hypoxia by regulating the binding and recognition of intracellular and extracellular proteins, that is, mainly through TNF signaling pathway and HIF-1 signaling pathway.


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