ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of Cordyceps in treating bronchial asthma and chronic renal failure with the concept of "same treatment for different diseases" in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） by network pharmacology and molecular docking technology. MethodThe active components and potential targets of Cordyceps were collected from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform （TCMSP） and SwissTargetPrediction. The disease targets were obtained from Therapeutic Target Database （TTD）， DrugBank， GeneCards and other databases. The common targets were obtained from the intersection of potential targets and disease targets. The protein-protein interaction （PPI） network was constructed by STRING11.5， and the ''component-target-diseas'' network of Cordyceps was established by Cytoscape 3.9.0. Gene Ontology （GO） and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes （KEGG） enrichment analyses were carried out by Metascape， and molecular docking was performed by Autodock 4.2. ResultSixty common targets of disease and drug were screened out. The core targets mainly involved protein kinase B1 （Akt1）， non-receptor tyrosine kinase， sarcoma virus protein （SRC）， TP53， matrix metalloproteinase-9 （MMP-9）， and prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase 2 （PTGS2）. The potential targets were mainly enriched in the signaling pathways of renin-angiotensin system （RAS）， RAP1， phosphoinositide 3 kinase/protein kinase B （PI3K/Akt）， mitogen-activated protein kinase （MAPK）， etc. ConclusionThe active components of Cordyceps inhibited inflammatory response and reduced fibrosis and cell apoptosis in a multi-target and multi-pathway manner. The findings of this study preliminarily revealed the potential targets and modern biological mechanism of Cordyceps in treating bronchial asthma and chronic renal failure with the concept of ''same treatment for different diseases''， and provided references for in-depth experimental verification and clinical application.
ABSTRACT
The depressive state， as an emotional disorder， has common symptoms of lack of interest， self-denial， unresponsiveness， unwillingness to communicate， and even extreme misanthropy or suicidal tendency. The depressive state involves a variety of diseases， such as depression， post-stroke depression， postpartum depression， irritable bowel syndrome， major depression， and schizophrenia， which affects the treatment effect and prognosis of the disease， seriously reduces the quality of life and increases the economic burden of patients. At present， the mechanism of depressive state is complex， and the pathophysiological mechanism is unclear. The mechanism of depressive state may be related to abnormal expression of monoamine neurotransmitters， neuronal damage， changes in transduction pathways， hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal （HPA） axis， release of inflammatory cytokines， etc. An increasing number of studies in recent years have confirmed that the occurrence of depression is closely related to intestinal flora disorder， and they interact with each other. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） is effective in preventing and treating depressive state with few adverse reactions and a low recurrence rate. TCM also has the effect of regulating the homeostasis of intestinal flora. At the same time， intestinal flora affects the absorption and efficacy of active components of Chinese medicine through metabolic transformation. With the development of microecology， in-depth studies are conducted on the effect of intestinal flora on the occurrence and development of depressive state and brain-gut axis. Intestinal flora has become another potential target for the study of TCM treating depressive state. Starting from the theory and clinical practice of TCM， this paper summarized the mechanism of TCM in treating depressive state by Chinese medicine monomers， compound prescriptions， and acupuncture based on the theory of intestinal flora in recent years. This paper provided information for the profound study of the pathogenesis of depressive state and the scientific connotation of TCM in treating depressive state and ideas for the systematic exploration of the microbiological basis of symptom changes.
ABSTRACT
The depressive state， as an emotional disorder， has common symptoms of lack of interest， self-denial， unresponsiveness， unwillingness to communicate， and even extreme misanthropy or suicidal tendency. The depressive state involves a variety of diseases， such as depression， post-stroke depression， postpartum depression， irritable bowel syndrome， major depression， and schizophrenia， which affects the treatment effect and prognosis of the disease， seriously reduces the quality of life and increases the economic burden of patients. At present， the mechanism of depressive state is complex， and the pathophysiological mechanism is unclear. The mechanism of depressive state may be related to abnormal expression of monoamine neurotransmitters， neuronal damage， changes in transduction pathways， hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal （HPA） axis， release of inflammatory cytokines， etc. An increasing number of studies in recent years have confirmed that the occurrence of depression is closely related to intestinal flora disorder， and they interact with each other. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） is effective in preventing and treating depressive state with few adverse reactions and a low recurrence rate. TCM also has the effect of regulating the homeostasis of intestinal flora. At the same time， intestinal flora affects the absorption and efficacy of active components of Chinese medicine through metabolic transformation. With the development of microecology， in-depth studies are conducted on the effect of intestinal flora on the occurrence and development of depressive state and brain-gut axis. Intestinal flora has become another potential target for the study of TCM treating depressive state. Starting from the theory and clinical practice of TCM， this paper summarized the mechanism of TCM in treating depressive state by Chinese medicine monomers， compound prescriptions， and acupuncture based on the theory of intestinal flora in recent years. This paper provided information for the profound study of the pathogenesis of depressive state and the scientific connotation of TCM in treating depressive state and ideas for the systematic exploration of the microbiological basis of symptom changes.
ABSTRACT
Objective: “Same treatment for different diseases” is a unique treatment strategy under the guidance of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory. Codonopsis Radix (Codonopsis pilosula, Dangshen in Chinese) with spleen-fortifying effect was employed to understand the strategy of “Same treatment for different diseases”, based on its common mechanism in the treatment of gastric diseases including gastric ulcer, gastritis and gastric cancer via network pharmacology research. Methods: Network pharmacology research methods were used to analyze the interaction network and potential mechanisms of Dangshen in treating gastric ulcer, gastritis and gastric cancer. The active components and their target proteins of Dangshen were integrated from TCMSP, BATMAN-TCM databases. The targets of gastric ulcer, gastritis and gastric cancer were collected through GeneCards, PubMed, TDD and DisGeNET Database. Through screening, the key components and the key targets of Dangshen in treating gastric ulcer, gastritis and gastric cancer were obtained. After KEGG pathway analysis and GO analysis, the important pathways and biological processes were analyzed. Results: Through data and literature mining, the common and specific pharmaceutical effects and mechanism of Dangshen were summarized in these three gastric lesions. It was shown that Dangshen mainly acted on gastric ulcer, gastritis and gastric cancer through the overall regulation of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. With the development of the disease, it will gradually increase the control of inflammation through TNF, NF-κB and other inflammation-related signaling pathways to reduce inflammatory damage. For tumorigenesis, it pays more attention to inhibiting the ErbB signaling pathways to reduce the proliferation and migration of tumor cells. In addition, Dangshen's regulation of HIF-1 signaling pathway may also be beneficial for the treatment of gastric ulcer, gastritis and gastric cancer. Conclusion: Dangshen achieves spleen-fortifying effect on gastric diseases including gastric ulcer, gastritis and gastric cancer through multiple targets in multiple pathways, especially PI3K-AKT pathway and HIF-1 pathway. It could provide a scientific basis for understanding the strategy of “Same treatment for different diseases” in traditional Chinese medicine.
ABSTRACT
Objective: “Same treatment for different diseases” is a unique treatment strategy in traditional Chinese medicine. Two kinds of malignant respiratory diseases endanger human health-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. Citrus Grandis Exocarpium (Huajuhong in Chinese, HJH), a famous herbal, is always applied by Chinese medicine practitioners to dispersion the lung to resolve phlegm based on “syndrome differentiation and treatment” theory. However, the common mechanism for HJH's treatment of COPD and lung cancer is not clear. Methods: In this study, based on network pharmacology and molecular docking technology, the common mechanism of HJH in the treatment of COPD and lung cancer was studied. The active ingredients and related targets of HJH were integrated from TCMSP, BATMAN-TAM, STP, and Pubchem databases. The standard names of these targets were united by UniProt database. Targets of COPD and lung cancer were enriched through GeneCards, NCBI (Gene), Therapeutic Target Database, and DisGeNET (v7.0) databases. Then the intersection targets of HJH and diseases were obtained. The STRING network and the Cytoscape 3.7.2 were used to construct PPI network, the DAVID database was used to perform GO and KEGG analysis. Then Cytoscape 3.6.1 was used to build “ingredient-target-signal pathway” network. Finally, AutoDock 1.5.6 software was used to perform molecular docking of key proteins and molecules. Results: Eleven active ingredients in HJH were obtained by searching the database, corresponding to 184 HJH-COPD-lung cancer targets intersection. The results of biological network analysis showed that naringenin, the active component in HJH, could mainly act on target proteins such as AKT1, EGFR. Then through positive regulation of vasoconstriction and other biological processes, naringenin could regulate estrogen signaling pathway, VEGF signaling pathway, HIF-1 signaling pathway, ErbB signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway to play an important role in the treatment of both COPD and lung cancer. Conclusion: Network pharmacology was employed to systematically investigate the active ingredients and targets of HJH in treatment of COPD and lung cancer. And then, the common pharmacodynamic network of HJH for the two malignant respiratory diseases was firstly described. Furthermore, naringenin was proved to strongly bind with AKT1 and EGFR. It may provide the scientific basis for understanding the “Same treatment for different diseases” strategy in traditional Chinese medicine and inspirit subsequent drug discovery for COPD, lung cancer and other malignant lung diseases.