Exploring the Potential Mechanism of Chuanxiong Rhizoma Treatment for Migraine Based on Systems Pharmacology

Migraine is a disease whose aetiology and mechanism are not yet clear. Chuanxiong Rhizoma (CR) is employed in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to treat various disorders. CR is effective for migraine, but its active compounds, drug targets, and exact molecular mechanism remain unclear. In this study, we used the method of systems pharmacology to address the above issues. We first established the drug-compound-target-disease (D-C-T-D) network and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network related to the treatment of migraine with CR and then established gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. The results suggest that the treatment process may be related to the regulation of inflammation and neural activity. The docking results also revealed that PTGS2 and TRPV1 could directly bind to the active compounds that could regulate them. In addition, we found that CR affected 11 targets that were more highly expressed in the liver or heart but were the lowest in the whole brain. It also expounds the description of CR channel tropism in TCM theory from these angles. These findings not only indicate that CR can be developed as a potential effective drug for the treatment of migraine but also demonstrate the application of systems pharmacology in the discovery of herbal-based disease therapies.

Data Mining and Analysis of the Compatibility Law of Traditional Chinese Medicines Based on FP-Growth Algorithm

The compatibility law of prescriptions is the core link of TCM theory of “theory, method, prescription and medicine,” which is of great significance for guiding clinical practice, new drug development and revealing the scientific connotation of TCM theory, and is also one of the hot spots and difficulties of TCM modernization research. How to efficiently analyze the frequency of drug use, core combination, and association rules between drugs in prescription is a basic core problem in the study of prescription compatibility law. In this paper, a systematic study was made on the compatibility rules of traditional Chinese antiviral classical prescriptions and the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine molecules. FP-growth algorithm was used to analyze association rules of 961 classical prescriptions collected and to explore the compatibility rules of traditional Chinese antiviral classical prescriptions. In terms of compatibility law of traditional Chinese antiviral prescriptions, this paper studied the compatibility law of traditional Chinese antiviral prescriptions based on the FP-growth algorithm and made exploratory research on the compatibility law information of 961 traditional classical antiviral prescriptions. Firstly, FP tree was constructed based on the classic recipe data set. Then, frequent item set rules were established, and association rules contained in FP tree were extracted. Finally, the frequency and association rules of antiviral TCM prescriptions were analyzed according to dosage forms (decoction, pill, paste, and ingot). The results show that the FP-growth algorithm adopted in this paper has excellent algorithm performance and strong generalization and robustness in the screening and mining of large-scale prescription data sets, which can provide important processing tools and technical methods for the study of the compatibility rule of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions.

Xin Su Ning—A Review of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology Integrated With Traditional Chinese Medicine Antiarrhythmic Theory

Xin Su Ning (XSN) is a patented multicomponent medicine, which was certified in 2005 by the China State Food and Drug Administration to be produced pharmaceutically and to be used clinically. The XSN capsule was developed from an effective formula composed by Prof. Shuwen Ding of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Through more than 30 years of clinical observation, Prof. Ding concluded that XSN has a significant effect on arrhythmia with phlegm-heat heart-disturbed syndrome according to the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) diagnosis. XSN, derived from a classical TCM formula Huanglian Wen Dan Decoction, is formulated with 11 Chinese herbal medicines to treat cardiac ventricular arrhythmia. Clinical evidence suggests that it is particularly efficacious for the arrhythmias induced by cardiac ischemia and viral myocarditis without obvious adverse reactions being reported. Cellular electrophysiological studies in ventricular myocytes revealed that XSN prolongs the duration and suppresses the amplitude of the action potential (AP), which is supported by the blockage of sodium and potassium channels indicating the characteristics of class I and III antiarrhythmic drugs. A recently reported double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial of XSN enrolled 861 patients (ChiCTR-TRC-14004180) and showed that XSN significantly inhibited premature ventricular contraction (PVC). The cellular electrophysiological discoveries provided the mechanistic evidence for the clinical efficacy on inhibition of PVC by XSN as demonstrated in the clinical trial. These studies, for the first time, provided exclusive evidence that multicomponent TCM antiarrhythmic medicine can be evaluated using conventional research methods that have been used for antiarrhythmic drug discoveries for decades. We aimed to give a comprehensive review on XSN including its origin with the support of TCM theory, its pre-licensing clinical use and development, and its pharmacological and clinical study discoveries. The review will be summarized with the discoveries reported in a novel network pharmacological study that introduced a weight coefficient, which made it possible to evaluate the pharmacological properties of the TCM formula with regard to its formation based on TCM theory. Limitations regarding XSN’s basic and clinical research and possible future studies are listed. We hope that the advances in how XSN was studied may offer useful guidance on how other TCM could be studied with respect to the integrity of the TCM formulas.

Could Scutellaria barbata D. Don be used for treating lung cancer and SARS-CoV-2?

Dear Editor, Scutellaria barbata D. Don (SBD) is a perennial herb and belongs to the “Lamiaceae” family. This is widely used in China for a long time as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Based on the TCM theory, SBD is in the category of “Heat-Clearing”. Its functions are to remove heat and detoxification, disperse blood stasis and diuresis. [...]

Dried seahorse in traditional medicine: A narrative review

Seahorses are classified as members of Syngnathidae family, which includes pipefishes, pipehorses, and seadragons. China, including Hong Kong, uses 250 tons of seahorses as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) every year. It is popular in Traditional Medicines (TM) especially TMC and its derivatives. The TCM formulations of dried seahorse strengthens the kidney and enhances immunity to treat the aging process. Base on the molecular biology analysis, S6 ribosomal protein gene, S7 ribosomal protein gene, and the S20 ribosomal protein gene have been identified in dried seahorses, which help to reduce the cough symptoms. The present mini-review discusses the background of the use of dried seahorses, the TCM theory, the TCM formulations, the molecular biology, and analysis of its usage in traditional medicine.

Metabolomics Reveals the Mechanisms for the Pulmonary Toxicity of Siegesbeckia orientalis L. and the Toxicity-Reducing Effect of Processing

Siegesbeckia orientalis L. (SO) is a commonly used Chinese medicinal herb. It has long been used as a remedy in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for symptoms that resemble inflammatory joint disorders. However, it is slightly toxic. According to the TCM theory, processing can reduce the toxicity of the herbs. Here, we performed metabolomics to determine whether processing with rice wine reduces the toxicity of raw SO, and to explore the mechanisms underlying the raw SO–induced toxicity and the toxicity-reducing effect of processing. Our results showed that raw SO has long-term toxicity in rats. It significantly elevated the serum level of LDH and caused histopathological damages in the lung tissues. It is worth noting that the LDH level in the PSO group was lower than that in the raw SO group, and the damages in lung tissues were relatively mild in PSO-treated rats, suggesting that processing reduces the pulmonary toxicity of the raw. Moreover, a total of 32 significantly changed metabolites were identified. Based on the MetaboAnalyst pathway analysis, we found that two characteristic metabolic pathways including alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism were only changed in the raw SO group, while histidine metabolism was only changed in the PSO group, which suggests that induction of oxidative stress contributes to raw SO–induced pulmonary toxicity, and free radical scavenging might be responsible for the toxicity-reducing effect of processing. Our data shed new light on how raw SO induces pulmonary toxicity and how the toxicity can be reduced by processing. This study not only provides scientific justifications for the traditional processing theory of SO, but also helps to optimize the processing protocol and the clinical drug combination of SO.

Studies on Location of Acupoints with X-ray Fluorescence Analysis Based on Synchrotron Radiation

Acupuncture and moxibustion are commonly accepted treatments in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). One of the important issues of interest is determining the accurate location of acupoints in acupuncture. Modern high-technology methods were utilized to verify the accuracy of acupoint positions in TCM, reducing the uncertainty of manually locating the positions. The acupoint location was established according to the richness of trace elements (TEs). The relative content of TEs was perceived by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. The distribution of TEs was determined after the dates were calibrated and the processes were optimized. The relative content of TEs was significantly different in acupoint and non-acupoint areas. There was an uneven distribution of calcium, iron, copper, and zinc in the sample. The relative content of these elements was increased in the acupuncture areas, and the standard deviation was also relatively large, especially for calcium, showing obvious enrichment. According to the enriched area of the TEs, the distance was about 6 mm between the conception channel and the kidney meridian, and the distance to the stomach meridian was about 23 mm for the rabbit sample. The position of the acupoints and spacing of meridians, which were determined according to the enrichment of TEs, were consistent with the TCM theory. The results show that synchrotron radiation-based XRF is a suitable method for determining the location of acupoints.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (Xiao Tan San Jie Granule) for Covid-19 Patients in Rehabilitation Stage: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) caused pandemic all over the world. As more and more patients gradually are recovering from Covid-19, they still have some symptoms like short of breath, cough, and phlegm. how to improve their quality of life and shorten the rehabilitation time is still no widely recognized clinical program. In this study, we designed Xiao Tan San Jie (XTSJ) Granule based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory and assess its efficiency and safety during rehabilitation stage of Covid-19 patients. Method/Design: This study is a 12-week, randomized, double-blinded, controlled, clinical trial that will include 132 Covid-19 patients. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned to XTSJ granule group or placebo group. Participants will receive 28 days treatment. The primary outcome assessment is scores of lung CT scan at week 2 and week 4. The secondary outcome assessment includes pulmonary function test, scores of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of Covid-19 symptoms, Scores of Qi Deficiency and Phlegm Stasis syndrome scale, Scores of St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) at week 2 and week 4. Discussion: In TCM theory XTSJ granule has a regulate effect on respiratory function, lung infection, cough and phlegm which has the potential treatment effect on COVID19 patients. This study will provide initial evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of XTSJ granule for Covid-19 patients in rehabilitation stage. Trial registration: This study was prospectively registered on Chinese Clinical Trial Registry( number: ChiCTR2000031672). Registration date: April 6,2020.