ABSTRACT
Objective:To explore the potential mechanism of Qingke Pingchuan granule in treating acute and chronic bronchitis complicated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease （COPD） by network pharmacology. Method:The Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform （TCMSP） was retrieved to collect the active components of Qingke Pingchuan granule and predict the action targets， followed by the construction of component-target network using Cytoscape 3.8. GeneCards， Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man（OMIM）， and DrugBank were used to harvest disease targets， whose names were put into UniProt for standardization. The treatment targets of Qingke Pingchuan Granule against the two diseases were obtained based on Venn diagram， which were then imported into the STRING platform for constructing the protein-protein interaction （PPI） network. Following the gene ontology（GO） and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes（KEGG） pathway enrichment analysis based on MetaScape， the active component-common target-signaling pathway network of Qingke Pingchuan granule against acute and chronic bronchitis complicated with COPD was finally constructed. The accuracy of the target was confirmed by literature. Result:A total of 165 active components， 374 related targets， 512 disease-related targets， and 130 common targets were obtained. Among them， the 14 core therapeutic targets were further subjected to GO enrichment analysis， which yielded 390 biological processes， nine cell components， and 23 molecular functions. The KEGG pathway analysis revealed 22 signaling pathways. Conclusion:Qingke Pingchuan granule alleviates the diseases possibly by regulating such targets as vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2（KDR）， transforming growth factor beta-1 （TGF-<italic>β</italic><sub>1</sub>）， caveolin 1（CAV1）， hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha（HIF-1<italic>α</italic>）， and interleukin-2（IL-2）， affecting the synthesis and transport of regulatory factors in cytoplasm， and controlling the cell proliferation and apoptosis.
ABSTRACT
Objective::To explore the protective mechanism of Shenteng Sanhuang decoction and Gegen Qinlian Tang on diabetic nephropathy (DN). Method::Rat DN models were duplicated with unilateral nephrectomy combined with streptozotocin (STZ). The rats were randomly divided into blank group, model group, irbesartan group and traditional Chinese medicine group. After 8 weeks of administration of corresponding drugs, the body weight, blood sugar, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), 24-hour urine volume (24 h U-vol), 24-hour urinary protein (24 h U-pro), serum creatinine (SCr), kidney weight/body weight (KW/BW) mass index of rats in each group were measured. The kidney tissues of rats in each group were homogenized, and supernatant was taken. Expressions of Smad ubiquitination regulatory factor 2 (Smurf2), matrix metalloprotein-9 (MMP-9), TGF-β1 and malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were detected by Western blot or special test kit. Result::Compared with the blank group, the biochemical indicators, body weight, KW/BW, blood sugar, BUN, 24 h U-vol, 24 h U-pro, SCr and MDA were significantly higher or increased(P<0.05), while SOD and CAT were significantly decreased in the model group(P<0.05). Western blot showed that the expression of Smurf2 and TGF-β1 was high, while the expression of MMP-9 was low(P<0.05). Compared with the model group, the biochemical indicators of irbesartan group and traditional Chinese medicine group improved significantly(P<0.05), KW/BW were reduced, and blood sugar, BUN, 24 h U-vol, 24 h U-pro, SCr and MDA were significantly decreased (P<0.05), SOD and CAT was obviously increased (P<0.05), expressions of Smurf2 and TGF-β1 were decreased significantly(P<0.05), and expression of MMP-9 was increased significantly(P<0.05). Conclusion::Shenteng Sanhuang decoction and Gegen Qinlian Tang can effectively improve many biochemical indexes of rat DN models, and improve renal function. Its mechanism is closely related to reducing the expressions of Smurf2 and TGF-β1, and enhancing the expression of MMP-9.