Mechanism of Fei-Xian Formula in the Treatment of Pulmonary Fibrosis on the Basis of Network Pharmacology Analysis Combined with Molecular Docking Validation.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to clarify the mechanism of Fei-Xian formula (FXF) in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis based on network pharmacology analysis combined with molecular docking validation. METHODS: Firstly, ingredients in FXF with pharmacological activities, together with specific targets, were identified based on the BATMA-TCM and TCMSP databases. Then, targets associated with pulmonary fibrosis, which included pathogenic targets as well as those known therapeutic targets, were screened against the CTD, TTD, GeneCards, and DisGeNet databases. Later, Cytoscape was employed to construct a candidate component-target network of FXF for treating pulmonary fibrosis. In addition, for nodes within the as-constructed network, topological parameters were calculated using CytoHubba plug-in, and the degree value (twice as high as the median degree value for all the nodes) was adopted to select core components as well as core targets of FXF for treating pulmonary fibrosis, which were subsequently utilized for constructing the core network. Furthermore, molecular docking study was carried out on those core active ingredients together with the core targets using AutoDock Vina for verifying results of network pharmacology analysis. At last, OmicShare was employed for enrichment analysis of the core targets. RESULTS: Altogether 12 active ingredients along with 13 core targets were identified from our constructed core component-target network of FXF for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. As revealed by enrichment analysis, the 13 core targets mostly concentrated in regulating biological functions, like response to external stimulus (from oxidative stress, radiation, UV, chemical substances, and virus infection), apoptosis, cell cycle, aging, immune process, and protein metabolism. In addition, several pathways, like IL-17, AGE-RAGE, TNF, HIF-1, PI3K-AKT, NOD-like receptor, T/B cell receptor, and virus infection-related pathways, exerted vital parts in FXF in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: FXF can treat pulmonary fibrosis through a "multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway" mean. Findings in this work lay foundation for further exploration of the FXF mechanism in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.

Molecular mechanisms of An-Chuan Granule for the treatment of asthma based on a network pharmacology approach and experimental validation.

An-Chuan Granule (ACG), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, is an effective treatment for asthma but its pharmacological mechanism remains poorly understood. In the present study, network pharmacology was applied to explore the potential mechanism of ACG in the treatment of asthma. The tumor necrosis factor (TNF), Toll-like receptor (TLR), and Th17 cell differentiation-related, nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor, and NF-kappaB pathways were identified as the most significant signaling pathways involved in the therapeutic effect of ACG on asthma. A mouse asthma model was established using ovalbumin (OVA) to verify the effect of ACG and the underlying mechanism. The results showed that ACG treatment not only attenuated the clinical symptoms, but also reduced inflammatory cell infiltration, mucus secretion and MUC5AC production in lung tissue of asthmatic mice. In addition, ACG treatment notably decreased the inflammatory cell numbers in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (including IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and TGF-beta) in lung tissue of asthmatic mice. In addition, ACG treatment remarkably down-regulated the expression of TLR4, p-P65, NLRP3, Caspase-1 and adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) in lung tissue. Further, ACG treatment decreased the expression of receptor-related orphan receptor (RORγt) in lung tissue but increased that of Forkhead box (Foxp3). In conclusion, the above results demonstrate that ACG alleviates the severity of asthma in a ´multi-compound and multi-target' manner, which provides a basis for better understanding of the application of ACG in the treatment of asthma.

3-Bromo-N'-(3,5-dibromo-2-hydroxy-benzyl-idene)benzohydrazide methanol solvate.

The title compound, C(14)H(9)Br(3)N(2)O(2)·CH(4)O, was prepared by the reaction of 3,5-dibromo-2-hydroxy-benzaldehyde and 3-bromo-benzohydrazide in methanol. The asymmetric unit of the crystal consists of a Schiff base mol-ecule and a methanol mol-ecule of crystallization. The dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 5.5 (2)°. An intra-molecular O-H⋯N hydrogen bond is observed. In the crystal structure, pairs of adjacent Schiff base mol-ecules are linked by two methanol mol-ecules through inter-molecular N-H⋯O and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds.

Dibromido{2-[2-(piperidinium-1-yl)ethyl-imino-meth-yl]phenolato}zinc(II) monohydrate.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [ZnBr(2)(C(14)H(20)N(2)O)]·H(2)O, consists of a mononuclear Schiff base zinc(II) complex mol-ecule and a solvent water mol-ecule. The Zn(II) atom is four-coordinated in an approximately tetra-hedral geometry, binding to the imine N and phenolate O atoms of the neutral zwitterionic Schiff base ligand and to two terminal Br(-) anions. In the crystal structure, mol-ecules are linked through inter-molecular O-H⋯Br and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming chains running along the b axis.

3-Bromo-N'-(3,5-dichloro-2-hydroxy-benzyl-idene)benzohydrazide.

The title compound, C(14)H(9)BrCl(2)N(2)O(2), was prepared by the reaction of 3,5-dichloro-2-hydroxy-benzaldehyde and 3-bromo-benzohydrazide in methanol. The dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 13.0 (2)°. An intra-molecular O-H⋯N hydrogen bond is observed. The mol-ecules are linked into chains along the c axis by inter-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds.