Mechanism of Xiaoyao San in treatment of depression,breast hyperplasia,and functional dyspepsia based on network pharmacology / 中国中药杂志

This study aimed to explore the mechanism of Xiaoyao San(XYS) in the treatment of three diseases of liver depression and spleen deficiency, ie, depression, breast hyperplasia, and functional dyspepsia, and to provide a theoretical basis for the interpretation of the scientific connotation of "treating different diseases with the same method" of traditional Chinese medicines. Traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database and analysis platform(TCMSP) was used to screen the active components of XYS which underwent principal component analysis(PCA) with the available drugs for these three diseases to determine the corresponding biological activities. The targets of XYS on depression, breast hyperplasia, and functional dyspepsia were obtained from GeneCards, TTD, CTD, and DrugBank databases. Cytoscape was used to plot the "individual herbal medicine-active components-potential targets" network. The resulting key targets were subjected to Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG) pathway analysis and gene ontology(GO) enrichment analysis. A total of 121 active components of XYS and 38 common targets in the treatment of depression, breast hyperplasia, and functional dyspepsia were collected. The key biological pathways were identified, including advanced glycation and products(AGEs)-receptor for advanced glycation and products(RAGE) signaling pathway in diabetic complications, HIF-1 signaling pathway, and cancer-related pathways. The key targets of XYS in the treatment of depression, breast hyperplasia, and functional dyspepsia included IL6, IL4, and TNF, and the key components were kaempferol, quercetin, aloe-emodin, etc. As revealed by the molecular docking, a strong affinity was observed between the key components and the key targets, which confirmed the results. The therapeutic efficacy of XYS in the treatment of diseases of liver depression and spleen deficiency was presumedly achieved by reducing the inflammatory reactions. The current findings are expected to provide novel research ideas and approaches to classify the scientific connotation of "treating different diseases with the same method" of Chinese medicines, as well as a theoretical basis for understanding the mechanism of XYS and exploring its clinical applications.

Compatibility law of Astragali Radix formulae and molecular mechanism of core herbal pair “Astragali Radix-Angelica Sinensis” / 中草药

Objective: To screen out the molecular mechanism of core herbal pair “Astragali Radix-Angelica Sinensis” for treating consumptive disease by using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance Support System (TCMISS) and network pharmacology. Methods: The prescriptions and commonly used compatibility combinations containing Astragali Radix, and their main treatment of diseases were excavated from TCMISS database, and the core compatibility of “Astragali Radix-Angelica Sinensis” against consumptive disease was illustrated. The herb-ingredients-targets network was constructed through network pharmacology referring to Batman-TCM, GeneCards, OMIM, and so on. Meanwhile, the topology, cluster analysis, GO, and KEGG pathways analysis of the targets were performed. Results: TCMISS database contained totally 459 prescriptions containing Astragali Radix involving 641 herbs. “Astragali Radix-Angelica Sinensis” was the core compatibility for the treatment of consumptive disease, which was consistent with ancient record and clinical medication. The results also showed that the process of immune response, oxidative stress, and signal transduction were its mainly molecular mechanism, by adjusting the pathways in cancer, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway to play its treating consumptive disease effect. Conclusion: The paper revealed the molecular mechanism of “Astragali Radix-Angelica Sinensis”, and provided theoretical basis and reference for the follow-up study of Astragali Radix and its prescriptions.