ABSTRACT
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been widely used as an approach worldwide. Chinese Medicines (CMs) had been used to treat and prevent viral infection pneumonia diseases for thousands of years and had accumulated a large number of clinical experiences and effective prescriptions. AIM OF THE STUDY: This research aimed to systematically excavate the classical prescriptions of Chinese Medicine (CM), which have been used to prevent and treat Pestilence (Wenbing, Wenyi, Shiyi or Yibing) for long history in China, to obtain the potential prescriptions and ingredients to alternatively treat COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We developed the screening system based on data mining, molecular docking and network pharmacology. Data mining and association network were used to mine the high-frequency herbs and formulas from ancient prescriptions. Virtual screening for the effective components of high frequency CMs and compatibility Chinese Medicine was explored by a molecular docking approach. Furthermore, network pharmacology method was used to preliminarily uncover the molecule mechanism. RESULTS: 574 prescriptions were obtained from 96,606 classical prescriptions with the key words to treat "Warm diseases (Wenbing)", "Pestilence (Wenyi or Yibing)" or "Epidemic diseases (Shiyi)". Meanwhile, 40 kinds of CMs, 36 CMs-pairs, 6 triple-CMs-groups existed with high frequency among the 574 prescriptions. Additionally, the key targets of SARS-COV-2, namely 3CL hydrolase (Mpro) and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2(ACE2), were used to dock the main ingredients from the 40 kinds by the LigandFitDock method. A total of 66 compounds components with higher frequency were docked with the COVID-19 targets, which were distributed in 26 kinds of CMs, among which Gancao (Glycyrrhizae Radix Et Rhizoma), HuangQin (Scutellariae Radix), Dahuang (Rhei Radix Et Rhizome) and Chaihu (Bupleuri Radix) contain more potential compounds. Network pharmacology results showed that Gancao (Glycyrrhizae Radix Et Rhizoma) and HuangQin (Scutellariae Radix) CMs-pairs could also interact with the targets involving in immune and inflammation diseases. CONCLUSIONS: These results we obtained probably provided potential candidate CMs formulas or active ingredients to overcome COVID-19. Prospectively, animal experiment and rigorous clinic studies are needed to confirm the potential preventive and treat effect of these CMs and compounds.
Subject(s)
Betacoronavirus/drug effects , Coronavirus Infections/drug therapy , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Pneumonia, Viral/drug therapy , COVID-19 , Coronavirus Infections/virology , Data Mining , Humans , Models, Molecular , Pandemics , Plant Extracts , Pneumonia, Viral/virology , Protein Conformation , SARS-CoV-2 , Viral ProteinsABSTRACT
Low molecular weight and sulfated low molecular weight guluronate (LMG and SLMG) were prepared and hypolipidemic effects were studied in a human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cell line. Both compounds decreased total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) and inhibited 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGCR) activity in HepG2 cells. In general, SLMG had greater effects than LMG. Activation of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP-2), low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), and AMPK's downstream targets were evidenced by increased phosphorylation of AMPK, HMGCR, and acetyl-CoA-carboxylase (ACC), which decreased HMGRC and ACC activity. We further demonstrated that activated AMPK was linked to down-regulated SREBP-1 and up-regulated cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1).
Subject(s)
AMP-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism , Hexuronic Acids/chemistry , Hexuronic Acids/pharmacology , Hypolipidemic Agents/chemistry , Hypolipidemic Agents/pharmacology , Sulfates/chemistry , Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase/metabolism , Cell Proliferation/drug effects , Cholesterol/metabolism , Cholesterol 7-alpha-Hydroxylase/metabolism , Down-Regulation/drug effects , Enzyme Activation/drug effects , Fatty Acids/metabolism , Hep G2 Cells , Humans , Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases/metabolism , Molecular Weight , Oxidation-Reduction/drug effects , Phosphorylation/drug effects , Receptors, LDL/metabolism , Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein 1/metabolism , Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein 2/metabolism , Triglycerides/metabolismABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To establish the HPLC-fingerprint of the water-soluble constituents of Carthamus tinctorius. METHODS: 18 samples of Carthamus tinctorius from different producing areas were determined by Agilent 1100 DAD-HPLC under the chromatographic conditions: column by SinoChrom ODS-BP (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm), methanol-0.7% H3PO4 water with gradient elution, column temperature 30 degrees C, flow rate by 1 ml/min, wavelength 280 nm, and inject volume 20 microl. RESULTS: The HPLC-fingerprint of the water-soluble constituents of Cartharnus tinctorius was established on the basis of 10 bitch of drugs from Xinjiang according to SPSS analysis. CONCLUSION: A reliable method is provided for the quality identification of Carthamus tinctorius.
