ABSTRACT
As the smallest combination unit of Chinese medicinals， herbal pairs serve as the bridge between medicinals and formulas， whose combination theory reflects the basic characteristics of Chinese medicinals combination and the core essence of prescription composition. Simultaneously， as a key combination of medicinals in clinical treatment of diseases， syndromes， and symptoms， herbal pairs are the main form of clinical medication in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） as well as the characteristic advantage of treating diseases. This article summarized that “mutual complement of medicinals of same or antagonism flavor and nature” theory is the theoretical origin， and efficacy-enhancement and toxicity-attenuation is the core purpose of the combination of herbal pairs. The property theory of Chinese medicinals and the thought of differentiation and treatment are the main basis of the combination of herbal pairs， and pertinence and flexibility are the key points in clinical application. All mentioned above are expected to provide theoretical guidance for the clinical use and modern research of herbal pairs.
ABSTRACT
@#As the smallest combination unit of Chinese medicinals， herbal pairs serve as the bridge between medicinals and formulas， whose combination theory reflects the basic characteristics of Chinese medicinals combination and the core essence of prescription composition. Simultaneously， as a key combination of medicinals in clinical treatment of diseases， syndromes， and symptoms， herbal pairs are the main form of clinical medication in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） as well as the characteristic advantage of treating diseases. This article summarized that “mutual complement of medicinals of same or antagonism flavor and nature” theory is the theoretical origin， and efficacy-enhancement and toxicity-attenuation is the core purpose of the combination of herbal pairs. The property theory of Chinese medicinals and the thought of differentiation and treatment are the main basis of the combination of herbal pairs， and pertinence and flexibility are the key points in clinical application. All mentioned above are expected to provide theoretical guidance for the clinical use and modern research of herbal pairs.
Subject(s)
Herb-Drug InteractionsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE：To establish UPLC fin gerprint of 32 compatible herb pairs with Polygonum multiflorum as the core ， and to conduct multivariate statistical analysis. METHODS ：UPLC method was adopted. Using P. multiflorum and single decoction pieces of compatible herb as reference ，UPLC fingerprints of 32 compatible herb pairs of P. multiflorum were drawn. Common peaks were confirmed by relative retention time and UV absorption spectrum. Non-supervised PCA and supervised OPLS-DA were conducted by using SPSS 19.0 software and SIMCA 13.0 software. RESULTS ：There were totally 12 common peaks in UPLC fingerprints of 32 compatible herb pairs of P. multiflorum . The results of non-supervised PCA showed that the accumulative variance contribution rate of primary 6 principal components was 84.633％. The results of cluster analysis of PCA comprehensive score showed that single decoction piece of P. multiflorum ，compatible herb pairs of P. multiflorum with Lycium barbarum ，Rehmannia glutinosa，Paeonia lactiflora ，Codonopsis pilosula ，Eclipta prostrate ，Angelica sinensis ，Glycyrrhiza uralensis ，Astragalus membranaceus and Ophiopogon japonicus were clustered into one category ；others were clustered into one category. Results of supervised OPLS-DA analysis showed that eigen values of 4 principal components were 2.32，2.61，1.58 and 0.90，respectively. There were differences in the contents of 12 common components in the compatibility of P. multiflorum with tonic medicine and non-tonic medicine. The changes of the content of the components after compatibility with tonic medicine were similar. Common peak 7，4，6，3 were main reasons for the differences （variable importance projection value were all higher than 1）. CONCLUSIONS：Established fingerprint is simple in operation ，and can be combined with multivariate statistical analysis to evaluate the content changes of common components of 32 compatible herb pairs with P. multiflorum as the core.
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Objective:Based on the hyperlipidemia rat model and network pharmacology technology, the mechanism of action of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs against hyperlipidemia was analyzed. Method:The levels of blood lipids and inflammatory factors were measured through prophylactic administration of low, medium and high-dose Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs in hyperlipidemia rats. The active ingredients of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs were screened out through Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and text mining. The targets of active ingredients screened through the Swiss Target Prediction, Similarity ensemble approach (SEA), DrugBank database. The disease targets were collected through Therapeutic Target Database (TTD), Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), DrugBank, DisGeNET database. The targets of active ingredients and disease target were integrated, and screened through topological parameters to gain the main candidate targets of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs against hyperlipidemia. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis and the gene ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis were conducted through ClueGO and Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID), respectively. The traditional Chinese medicine-chemical ingredient-target network model, and the target-pathway network model were constructed through Cytoscape, and their crosstalk target and signal pathway were analyzed. Result:Animal experiments showed that the prophylactic administration of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs significantly reduced the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in serum of rats with hyperlipidemia, increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) levels, and inhibited the expressions of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). According to the findings, 27 active ingredients, such as mandenol, diosmetin and α-spinasterol, might be the main active ingredients of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs, 16 crosstalk targets and 10 signal pathways might be the main therapeutic targets and pathways, main targeting apolipoprotein A1 (APOA1), apolipoprotein A2 (APOA2), apolipoprotein C3 (APOC3), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and other crosstalk targets affected cholesterol metabolism, bile secretion, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) signaling pathway in regulating the lipid level, targeting tumor necrosis factor (TNF), IL-6, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1), C-C motif chemokine 2 (CCL2) and other crosstalk targets affected tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, interleukin-17 (IL-17) signaling pathway, and hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) signaling pathway in regulating the inflammatory factor level. The DAVID database for GO enrichment analysis showed that the hyperlipidemia was treated mainly through biological processes, such as inflammation, lipid localization, storage and lipid metabolism. Conclusion:These findings can predict the mechanism of action of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs against hyperlipidemia, and provide a theoretical basis for the material basis and clinical application of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs.
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″Herb-Pairs″, also known as pair drugs, refers to a prescription consisted of two relatively fixed traditional Chinese medicine, is the most basic, most simple and most common form of medication prescription in traditional Chinese medicine compound compatibility. It is not a random combination of two herbs, nor is the simple accumulation of efficacy, but the simple and delicate experience of ancient Chinese medicine practitioners. As a bridge between single drug and prescriptions, it is the embodiment of the regular and dialectical connotation. Therefore, research on Herb-Pairs has always been the most basic and most important entry point for compound compatibility studies. However, the interaction between herbs and herbs is an effect with a downside as well as benefits. The beneficial herb-herb interaction in Herb-Pairs include mutual promotion, mutual enhancement, mutual restraint between two drugs and counteract toxicity of another drug. And the harmful herb- herb interaction in Herb- Pairs includes mutual inhibition and antagonism. All of these interactions areby means of affecting the metabolism of components to play a therapeutic effect. Using the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) binding model, the combination of drug metabolism and pharmacodynamics can further elucidate the influence on effect caused by drug concentration and metabolism, which can help elucidate the mechanism of drug action. Consequently, in this review, the herb-herb interactions in terms of pharmacokinetic were summarized to elucidate rule of TCM compatibility.
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To study the compatibility and application rules of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (GRR) in prescription by data mining. Using computer programming method to transform the information of 26 185 formulas containing GRR in traditional Chinese medicine recipe database to facilitate data analysis. Firstly, the herbs frequently compatible with GRR are found. Then the proportion of GRR and another medicine, family and genus of the diseases treated are counted, the efficacy of formulas as well as their relationship. Through data mining, it is found that GRR often used with Panax ginseng, Angelica sinensis, Poria cocos, Paeonia lactiflora, Zingiber officinale, Atractylodes macrocephala, and other drugs. The most commonly used ratio is 1:1. These herb-pairs are usually used for internal medical diseases and exerting clearing heat, relieving pain, resolving phlegm and relieving cough and asthma, interior-warming, reinforcing deficiency, and checking retching effect, etc. The properties and functions of GRR are the basis of its compatibility. The compatibility of GMM can increase efficiency and reduce toxicity. This paper will provide a basis for the research of the efficacy of GMM and provide reference for its clinical application.
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The metabolic effect of Huanglian-Huangqin herb pairs on cerebral ischemia rats was studied by using metabolomic method. The rat model of ischemia reperfusion injury induced by introduction of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by reperfusion. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography-series four pole time of flight mass spectrometry method（UPLC-Q-TOF/MS）, Markerlynx software, and principal component analysis and partial least-squares discriminant analysis were used to analyze the different endogenous metabolites among the urine samples of sham rats, cerebral ischemia model rats, Huanglian groups (HL), Huangqin groups (HQ) and Huanglian-Huangqin herb pairs groups (LQ) was achieved, combined with accurate information about the endogenous metabolites level and secondary fragment ions, retrieval and identification of possible biological markers, metabolic pathway which build in MetPA database. The 20 potential biomarkers were found in the urine of rats with cerebral ischemia, which mainly involved in the neurotransmitter regulation, amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, lipid metabolism and so on. Those metabolic pathways were disturbed in cerebral ischemia model rats, the principal component analysis showed that the normal and cerebral ischemia model is clearly distinguished, and the compound can be given to the normal state of change after HL, HQ, LQ administration. This study index the interpretation of cerebral ischemia rat metabolism group and mechanism, the embodiment of metabonomics can reflect the physiological and metabolic state, which can better reflect the traditional Chinese medicine as a whole view, system view and the features of multi ingredient synergistic or antagonistic effects.
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Herb pairs are usual clinical compatibility forms and one of compound prescription sources in Chinese medicine. Pharmacokinetic research in vivo is one of the important items in elucidating the mechanism for synergistic and attenuated mechanisms of herb pairs. The paper comprehensively summarized and systemized the pharmacokinetic researches of marker-ingredients about Danshen-Honghua and Danshen-Bingpian in order to elucidate the rationality and scientificity of herb pairs and provide some feasible suggestions on the pharmacokinetics of drugs in the future. In view of complicated system of Traditional Chinese medicines and a chemical system that is not separated from its natural state, comparative pharmacokinetic researches on marker-ingredients from the herb pairs are reasonable to elucidate the synergistic and attenuated mechanisms of monarch-subjects compatible herbs and monarch-guide compatible herbs. Such pharmacokinetic research can better explain the mechanism of drug compatibility, while the pharmacokinetic researches based on the monomer chemical compositions and marker-ingredients that have been separated from complex chemical environment of traditional Chinese Medicine are still unreasonable and should be discussed deeply.
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The antioxidant and neuroprotective activities of essential oil (EO)，isolated from Chinese herb pairs of Angelica sinensis and Sophora flavescens were studied in this paper. EO significantly improved the outcome in rats after cerebral ischemia and reperfusion in terms of neurobehavioral function. EO treatment decreased the levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 1 beta and oxidative stress. Our results had showed that EO was a potent neuroprotective medicine.