The network pharmacological mechanisms of four anti-vitiligo Uyghur medicines based on Phlegmatic temperament theory / 中国中药杂志

ABSTRACT

To explore the network pharmacological mechanisms of four anti-vitiligo Uyghur medicines based on the Phlegmatic temperament theory. First, The anti-vitiligo Uyghur medicine formulas based on Phlegmatic temperament theory were collected. The pharmacokinetic characteristic of main compounds in four anti-vitiligo Uyghur medicines were obtained by using admetSAR. The targets of active compounds were predicted via bSDTNBI (balanced substructure-drug-target network-based inference model) method. Then, biological process (BP) and molecular function (MF) enrichment analysis of targets were analysed via DAVID database. Constructing anti-vitiligo Uyghur medicine formula-Uyghur medicines network model (FMI network) and Uyghur medicines-active compounds-targets-BP-Hilit network model (MCTBHI network), we utilized closeness centrality to analyse key Uyghur medicines, active compounds, key targets as well as Hilit. Finally, the in vitro melanin production model of C57BL/6 mice was used to verify the ability of the active compounds to improve melanogenesis. The results showed that Psoralea corylifolia, Vernonia anthelmintica, Syzygium aromaticum and Anacyclus pyrethrum were the key Uyghur medicines in the FMI network. There were 22 active compounds with a relatively higher bioavailability interacted with 58 therapeutic targets. These active compounds were mainly composed of coumarins and flavonoids. In the MCTBHI network, the MF of 58 therapeutic targets was related to steroid hormone receptor activity, heme binding and enzyme binding functhon. Classification of the Hilit according to the BP of 58 therapeutic targets, the first place was the blood, followed by the lymph, the cerebrospinal fluid and digestive juice. It was found that the expression of some targets located in the skin was closed to the heart muscle, lymph node, spleen, cerebral cortex and so on, which were the main places for Hilit. In particular, ESR1, PTGS2, PPARA, PPARG, PTGS1 and CA2 were regulated by the flavonoids (kaempferide and isorhamnetin). The in vitro melanin production model showed that kaempferide and isorhamnetin could promote the melanin production in C57BL/6 mice ear skin. Based on admetSAR and bSDTNBI, we used network pharmacological method to construct a systematic means of studying anti-vitiligo Uyghur medicines, providing clues for the further study of the modern molecular mechanisms of Phlegmatic temperament.