scholarly journals Exploring the Critical Components and Therapeutic Mechanisms of Perilla frutescens L. in the Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease via Network Pharmacology

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Yong ◽  
Zhengchun Zhang ◽  
Guoshun Huang ◽  
Yang Yang ◽  
Yiye Zhu ◽  
...  

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a chronic progressive disease that seriously threatens human health. Some patients will continue to progress into the CKD stage 3–5 (also called chronic renal failure), which is mainly manifested by a decline in renal function and multi-system damage. Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton. (Lamiaceae) is one of the most widely used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herbs in CKD, especially in CKD stage 3–5. But its active components and mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, we used network pharmacology to analyze the active components of P. frutescens and the main therapeutic targets for intervention in CKD stage 3–5. Then, the key components were selected for enrichment analysis and identified by high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC). Finally, we verified the critical components through molecular docking, and in vitro experiments. The results show that 19 main active components of P. frutescens were screened, and 108 targets were intersected with CKD stage 3–5. The PPI network was constructed and found that the core nodes AKT1, TP53, IL6, TNF, and MAPK1 may be key therapeutic targets. Enrichment analysis shows that related targets may be involved in regulating various biological functions, and play a therapeutic role in CKD stage 3–5 by regulating apoptosis, T cell receptor, and PI3K-AKT signaling pathways. Molecular docking indicates that the key active components were well docked with its corresponding targets. Five active components were identified and quantified by HPLC. According to the results, luteolin was selected as the critical component for further verification. In vitro experiments have shown that luteolin can effectively alleviate adriamycin (ADR)-induced renal tubular apoptosis and suppress AKT and p53 phosphorylation. The effects of luteolin to reduce apoptosis may be mediated by inhibiting oxidative stress and downregulating the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and p53 pathways. In general, we screened and analyzed the possible active components, therapeutic targets and pathways of P. frutescens for treating CKD. Our findings revealed that luteolin can reduce renal tubular epithelial cell apoptosis and may be the critical component of P. frutescens in the treatment of CKD. It provides references and direction for further research.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie-wen Zhao ◽  
Hai-dong Liu ◽  
Ming-yin Man ◽  
Lv-ya Wang ◽  
Ning Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Qishen Yiqi Pills (QSYQP) is a traditional Chinese compound recipe. However, our understanding of its mechanism has been hindered due to the complexity of its components and targets. In this work, the network pharmacology-based approaches were used to explore QSYQP’s pharmacological mechanism on treating cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Results From ETCM and TCM MESH databases we collected QSYQP’s 333 active components and their 674 putative targets. We constructed the sub-network influence by CVD genes and found that 40% QSYQP targets appeared in 20 modules, in which QSYQP’s targets and CVD genes co-existed as hub nodes in the sub-network. Functional enrichment analysis suggested that the 42 key targets were mainly expressed in platelets, blood vessels, cardiomyocytes, and other tissues. The main signaling pathways regulated and controlled by the key targets were inflammation, immunity, blood coagulation and energy metabolism. Network and pathway analysis identified 7 key targets, which were regulated by 7 compounds of QSYQP. 26 of the 42 important targets, including the 7 key targets were verified by literature mining. Twelve pairs of interactions between key targets and QSYQP’s compounds were validated by molecular docking. Further validation experiments suggested that QSYQP suppressed H/R induced apoptosis and cytoskeleton disruption of cardiomyocytes. Western blotting showed that the expression of cardiovascular diseases-related genes including ACTC1, FoxO1 and DIAPH1 was significantly decreased by establishing the hypoxia-reoxygenation model in vitro, while the protein expression of experimental group was significantly increased by adding QSYQP or its ingredients. Conclusion These results indicated the correlation of QSYQP treatment to the therapeutic effects of CVD. At the molecular level, this study revealed the multicomponent and multitargeting mechanisms of QSYQP in the regulation and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, potentially providing a reference for the further utilization of QSYQP.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Li ◽  
Chunli Zhang ◽  
Xiaohan Ma ◽  
Liuqing Yang ◽  
Huijun Ren

Abstract Radix Puerariae (RP), a dry root of the Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi, is used to treat a variety of diseases, including cancer. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated the efficacy of RP in the treatment of colon cancer (CC). However, the biological mechanism of RP in the treatment of colon cancer remains unclear. In this study, the active component of RP and its potential molecular mechanism against CC were studied by network pharmacology and enrichment analysis. The methods adopted included screening of active ingredients of Chinese medicine, prediction of target genes of Chinese medicine and disease, construction of protein interaction network, and GO and KEGG Enrichment Analysis. Finally, the results of network pharmacology were further validated by molecular docking experiments and cell experiments. 8 active constituents and 14 potential protein targets were screened from RP, including EGFR, JAK2 and SRC. The biological mechanism of RP against CC was analyzed by studying the relationship between active components, targets, and enrichment pathway. This provides a basis for understanding the clinical application of RP in CC.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongchang Guo ◽  
Dapeng Zhang ◽  
Yuju Cao ◽  
Xiaoyan Feng ◽  
Caihong Shen ◽  
...  

Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevanceOsteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is still a challenge for orthopedists worldwide, which may lead to disability in patients without effective treatment. A newly developed formula of Chinese medicine, Danyu Gukang Pills (DGP), was recognized to be effective for ONFH. Nevertheless, its molecular mechanisms remain to be clarified. MethodsNetwork pharmacology was adopted to detect the mechanism of DGP on ONFH. The compounds of DGP were collected from the online databases, and active components were selected based on their OB and DL index. The potential proteins of DGP were acquired from TCMSP database, while the potential genes of ONFH were obtained from Gene Cards and Pubmed Gene databases. The function of Gene and potential pathways were researched by GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. The compounds-targets and targets-pathways network were constructed in an R and Cytosacpe software. The mechanism was further investigated via molecular docking. Finally, in-vitro experiments were validated in the BMSCs. ResultsA total of 2305 compounds in DGP were gained, among which, 370 were selected as active components for which conforming to criteria. Combined the network analysis, molecular docking and in-vitro experiments, the results firstly demonstrated that the treatment effect of DGP on ONFH may be closely related to HIF-1α, VEGFA and HIF-1 signaling pathway. ConclusionThe current study firstly researched the molecular mechanism of DGP on ONFH based on network pharmacology. The results indicated that DGP may exert the effect on ONFH targeting on HIF-1α and VEGFA via HIF-1 signaling pathway.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Yu ◽  
Hongju Cheng ◽  
Baoliang Zhu ◽  
Jing Yan

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is the major type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by an overactive immune responses and destruction of the colorectal epithelium with intricate pathological factors. In China, Huiyangjiuji decoction (HYJJ) has been widely administered against inflammation, but the underlying mechanical mechanisms are not known. A murine model of colitis was established by orally feeding 4% dextran sodium sulfate for 5 days. Intestinal organoids (IOs) were treated with TNFα (Tumor necrosis factor-α) as an ex-vivo UC model. A scratch assay combined with a co-culture system that incubated murine epithelial cell line (IEC-6) with macrophages (Mφs) was utilized to assess epithelial recovery under inflammatory conditions. Network pharmacology analysis was performed to elucidate the mechanism of HYJJ decoction. In the present study, we confirmed that HYJJ considerably alleviated of DSS-induced colitis, as evidenced by the improved intestinal injury and fecal albumin, as well as feces blood. Network pharmacology analysis identified the active components in HYJJ formula, and KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that HYJJ-target genes were enriched in pathogen-induced infections, cancer-related as well as inflammatory pathways. Consistently, RNA-sequencing demonstrated that HYJJ treated inhibited cytokine-cytokine interaction, IBD as well as TNF signaling pathways, confirming the anti-inflammatory and anti-neoplastic role of HYJJ decoction. In-vitro experimental evidence confirmed the suppression of pro-interleukins by HYJJ, including IL-2, IL-10 and IL-12. Moreover, the contribution of HYJJ to mucosal healing was corroborated by ex-vivo experiments, in which HYJJ rescued TNFα-compromised IOs functions, i.e., elevated mitochondrial stress (MOS) and impaired regeneration capacity. IEC-6 cells co-culture with Mφs from HYJJ-treated experimental colitis mice showed an improved migration capacity as compared to those incubated with Mφs from untreated colitis mice. We conclude that HYJJ re-establishes homeostasis of the gut epithelium during colitis by suppressing inflammation and orchestrating cytokines interaction.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liucheng Xiao ◽  
Zonghuan Li ◽  
Chongyuan Fan ◽  
Chenggong Zhu ◽  
Xingyu Ma ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Xiao-Xian-Xiong decoction is a useful formula in the treatment of atherosclerosis in traditional Chinese medicine. In this study, we aimed to investigate the function of Xiao-Xian-Xiong decoction in the treatment of atherosclerosis. Methods: In this study, we conducted the method of network pharmacology and molecular docking to discover the mechanism of Xiao-Xian-Xiong decoction against atherosclerosis. Then, we validated the function of Xiao-Xian-Xiong decoction in atherosclerosis in vitro. We investigated the function and mechanism of Xiao-Xian-Xiong decoction in RAW264.7 macrophage-derived foam cells.Results: We identified 213 targets of Xiao-Xian-Xiong decoction and 331 targets of atherosclerosis. The PPI networks of Xiao-Xian-Xiong decoction and atherosclerosis were constructed. Furthermore, the two PPI networks were merged and the core PPI network was obtained. Then, functional enrichment analysis was conducted with GO and KEGG signaling pathway analysis. KEGG analysis indicated Xiao-Xian-Xiong decoction was correlated with ubiquitin mediated proteolysis pathway, PI3K-AKT pathway, MAPK pathway, Notch signaling pathway, and TGF-β signaling pathway. At last, we validated the function of Xiao-Xian-Xiong decoction with atherosclerosis in vitro. Xiao-Xian-Xiong decoction reduced lipid accumulation and promoted the outflow of cholesterol in RAW264.7-derived foam cells. Xiao-Xian-Xiong decoction increased the expression of ABCA1 and ABCG1 protein in foam cells. ABCA1 and ABCG1 were related with regulation of the inflammatory pathway and cell proliferation in atherosclerosis.Conclusions: Combined the mechanism of available treatments of atherosclerosis, we inferred Xiao-Xian-Xiong decoction could alleviate atherosclerosis by inhibiting inflammatory response and cell proliferation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang Gong ◽  
Xingren Chen ◽  
Tianshu Shi ◽  
Xiaoyan Shao ◽  
Xueying An ◽  
...  

As the society is aging, the increasing prevalence of osteoporosis has generated huge social and economic impact, while the drug therapy for osteoporosis is limited due to multiple targets involved in this disease. Zhuangguguanjie formulation (ZG) is extensively used in the clinical treatment of bone and joint diseases, but the underlying mechanism has not been fully described. This study aimed to examine the therapeutic effect and potential mechanism of ZG on postmenopausal osteoporosis. The ovariectomized (OVX) mice were treated with normal saline or ZG for 4 weeks after ovariectomy following a series of analyses. The bone mass density (BMD) and trabecular parameters were examined by micro-CT. Bone remodeling was evaluated by the bone histomorphometry analysis and ELISA assay of bone turnover biomarkers in serum. The possible drug–disease common targets were analyzed by network pharmacology. To predict the potential biological processes and related pathways, GO/KEGG enrichment analysis was performed. The effects of ZG on the differentiation phenotype of osteoclasts and osteoblasts and the predicted pathway were verified in vitro. The results showed that ZG significantly improved the bone mass and micro-trabecular architecture in OVX mice compared with untreated OVX mice. ZG could promote bone formation and inhibit bone resorption to ameliorate ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis as evidenced by increased number of osteoblast (N.Ob/Tb.Pm) and decreased number of osteoclast (N.Oc/Tb.Pm) in treated group compared with untreated OVX mice. After identifying potential drug–disease common targets by network pharmacology, GO enrichment analysis predicted that ZG might affect various biological processes including osteoblastic differentiation and osteoclast differentiation. The KEGG enrichment analysis suggested that PI3K/Akt and mTOR signaling pathways could be the possible pathways. Furthermore, the experiments in vitro validated our findings. ZG significantly down-regulated the expression of osteoclast differentiation markers, reduced osteoclastic resorption, and inhibited the phosphorylation of PI3K/Akt, while ZG obviously up-regulated the expression of osteogenic biomarkers, promoted the formation of calcium nodules, and hampered the phosphorylation of 70S6K1/mTOR, which can be reversed by the corresponding pathway activator. Thus, our study suggested that ZG could inhibit the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway to reduce osteoclastic bone resorption as well as hamper the mTORC1/S6K1 signaling pathway to promote osteoblastic bone formation.


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.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Cen ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
LeiLei Zhang ◽  
XiaoXiao Xue ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is regarded as Pi Dan disease in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Dahuang Huanglian Xiexin Decoction (DHXD), a classical TCM formula, has been used for treating Pi Dan disease in clinic, its pharmacological mechanism has not been elucidated. MethodsThis study used network pharmacological analysis and molecular docking approach to explore the mechanism of DHXD on T2DM. Firstly, the compounds in DHXD were obtained from TCMSP and TCMID databases, the potential targets were determined based on TCMSP and UniProt databases. Next, Genecards, Digenet and UniProt databases were used to identify the targets of T2DM. Then, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was established with overlapping genes of T2DM and compounds, and the core targets in the network were identified and analyzed. Then, the David database was used for GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. Finally, the target genes were selected and the molecular docking was completed by Autodock software to observe the binding level of active components with target genes.ResultsA total of 397 related components and 128 overlapping genes were identified. After enrichment analysis, it was found that HIF-1, TNF, IL-17 and other signaling pathways, as well as DNA transcription, gene expression, apoptosis and other cellular biological processes had the strongest correlation with the treatment of T2DM by DHXD, and most of them occurred in the extracellular space, plasma membrane and other places, which were related to enzyme binding and protein binding. In addition, 42 core genes of DHXD, such as VEGFA, TP53 and MAPK1, were considered as potential therapeutic targets, indicating the potential mechanism of DHXD on T2DM. Finally, the results of molecular docking showed that HIF-1 pathway had strong correlation with the target genes INSR and GLUT4, quercetin and berberine had the strongest binding power with them respectively.ConclusionThis study summarized the main components of DHXD in the treatment of T2DM, identified the core genes and pathways, and systematically analyzed the interaction of related targets, trying to lay the foundation for clarifying the potential mechanism of DHXD on T2DM, so as to carry out further research in the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Hongmei Lu ◽  
Xinyi Luo ◽  
Yuhua He ◽  
Bo Qu ◽  
Liangbin Zhao ◽  
...  

Background. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common clinically critical illness with serious consequences for the patients. Shenshuaikang enema (SE) is a Chinese herbal compound that is used to treat AKI in clinical practice. However, its mechanism of action remains unclear. Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effect of SE and explore the molecular mechanisms using network pharmacology and in vitro experiments. Materials and Methods. The herb-component-target network was constructed based on network pharmacology. The predicted targets and pathways were validated using in vitro experiments. A renal tubular epithelial cell line (HK-2 cells) was exposed to hypoxia and reoxygenation (H/R) using air-tight conditions for five hours and treated with different concentrations of SE (25%, 50%, and 75%) to assess cell viability and apoptosis and determine the optimal experimental dose. Subsequently, H/R-injured HK-2 cells were pretreated with the optimal SE dose and then randomly divided into three groups, the SE, SE-SP600125 (inhibitor of JNK), and SE-NAC (antioxidant) groups. The cell vitality, apoptosis, and death were evaluated using the cell counting kit 8 (CCK8) and carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester/propidium iodide (CFSF/PI) staining. The apoptosis-related protein JNK and Caspase-3 were assessed by Western blot. Expression of JNK and Caspase-3 genes was analyzed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Results. 123 active components and 226 targets were identified from four herbs that composed the herb-compound-target network based on transcriptomics and network pharmacology analyses. The KEGG pathway analyses revealed that the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway was involved in the therapeutic AKI effects of SE. Cell vitality of H/R-induced HK-2 cells was obviously increased when treating them with SE, and the apoptosis was significantly inhibited, especially in the SE (50%) group at 4 and 12 h after modeling. Pretreatment with antioxidant NAC obviously prevented cell death compared to the SE (50%) group, while no obvious reduction of apoptosis was observed in the SP600125 group. JNK expression level was significantly increased in the SE (50%) group compared to the SP600125 ( P < 0.01 ) and the NAC group ( P < 0.05 ). Caspase-3 was downregulated in the SE (50%) group compared to the SP600125 ( P < 0.01 ) and NAC group ( P < 0.05 ). Caspase-3 activation in the SP600125 group was higher than that in the NAC group ( P < 0.05 ). Moreover, the oxidative damage-dependent JNK/Caspase-3 pathway was identified in the H/R-injured HK-2 cells by inhibiting the JNK activation and oxidative damage. Conclusions. Our findings suggested that the H/R-triggered apoptosis in HK-2 cells was abrogated by SE by upregulating the oxidative damage-dependent JNK to trigger suppression of Caspase-3.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sizhen Gu ◽  
Yan Xue ◽  
Yuli Zhang ◽  
Kanjun Chen ◽  
Shigui Xue ◽  
...  

Aim and Objective: Five-Flavor Sophora flavescens Enteric-Coated Capsules (FSEC) are the only proprietary Chinese medicine approved for the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) in China. Phase II and III clinical trials have shown that the curative effect of FSEC in relieving UC was not inferior to that of mesalazine granules and enteric-coated tablets, but its pharmacological mechanism is unclear. Therefore, the network pharmacology is used to reveal the more comprehensive effective components and targets of FSEC in the treatment of UC. Methods: We screened the components of FSEC based on the TCMSP database, determined the action targets of these compounds through target fishing, and integrated the UC disease targets of several disease gene databases. The FSEC-UC composite targets were obtained by matching the two results, and then a PPI network was constructed to analyze the relationship between these targets, and the core targets were selected by topological correlation parameters. Finally, GO-BP and KEGG enrichment analyses were carried out using the clusterProfiler software package. Results: One hundred and sixty active components of FSEC were identified and 77 targets were obtained. Of these, 30 core targets were the main targets of FESC in the treatment of UC. And quercetin, kaempferol, luteolin and mangiferin were regarded as the core active components of FSEC. The results screened by GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that FSEC played a comprehensive therapeutic role in immune recognition, anti-inflammation and antioxidation mainly through IL-17, TNF, Toll-like receptor, NF-kappa B, and Th17 cell differentiation. Conclusion: The molecular mechanism of UC remission induced by FSEC was predicted by network pharmacology. These findings provide an important theoretical basis for further study of the effective substances and mechanism of FSEC in the treatment of UC.


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