Combination rule analysis of classic formulae in “formulae-herb” network based on overlapping community / 中草药

ABSTRACT

The compatibility of Chinese materia medica (CMM) studies the relations between herbs and their interacting effects. With complex medications for individuals and massive CMM data, it is difficult for traditional data mining methods to reveal the inherent rules in compatibility analysis. This paper with the theory of complex network constructs a “formulae-herb” network to analyze herb combinations based on the overlapping communities for internal rules in CMM classic formulae. Based on the complex network, the formulae can be abstracted to a graph and represented by nodes and edges, herbs as nodes, and the relationships of herbs as edges. The edges were weighted according to the frequency of co-occurrence of two herbs. “Formulae-herb” network was then constructed based on all formulae in the study. A definition “herb influence” was introduced into the network to identify important herb nodes, with which a method of “formulae-herb” network division was introduced based on overlapping communities to discover the structure of the herb relations. Finally, the inherent laws in the community were discussed. A “formulae-herb” network was constructed based on 112 formulae from Treatise on Cold Damage. Herbs with high influence are in line with Zhang Zhong-Jing's medication principle of “combining cold and warm, use of pungent, sweet and bitter together”. This paper also incorporates FCM (fuzzy C-means) algorithm to discover the commonly used herb groups hidden in the medication. A model of treating Shaoyin syndrom was constructed as an application. Herbs with high influence were in line with the treating method of “warming meridian and reinforcing yang, promoting urination and draining dampness”. The result showed that multiple herb groups were clearly classified. “Formulae-herb” network model showed high quality overlapping community structures, the analysis of inherent laws in the community can provide basis for the exploration of compatibility rules of herbs and internal rules in formulae regularities.