Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation to Explore the Molecular Mechanisms of Compound Huangbai Liquid for the Treatment of Acne.

Background: Acne is a highly prevalent skin disease, and inflammation plays an important role. Compound Huangbai Liquid (CHL) is a classical traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with remarkable clinical therapeutic effects on acne. However, a holistic network pharmacological approach to explain the mechanism of CHL in the treatment of acne has not been explored. Methods: In this study, active components and action targets of Compound Huangbai Liquid were assessed via BATMAN-TCM. The target genes related to acne were extracted from GeneCards, DisGeNet and OMIM databases. Venn diagrams to predict potential targets for the treatment of acne. Protein-Protein interaction (PPI) analysis was proceeded through String database to obtain the core protein, and the protein interaction network was constructed by Cytoscape 3.9.1. Gene Ontology (Go) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were performed on Metascape platforms and bioinformatics.com.cn. TCM-compound-target-disease network and disease-target pathway network were constructed using Cytoscape to give the visual result. Finally, the results were further verified by establishing the mouse acne animal model. Results: This approach identified 165 active compounds, 1117 gene targets, 156 acne-related targets, and 34 potential target proteins for the treatment of acne with CHL. The biological processes were primarily related to cellular response to lipid, response to lipopolysaccharide, and regulation of secretion. The CHL was significantly associated with ten pathways including the Chagas disease and pathways in cancer. Animal experiments showed that CHL could significantly alleviate the levels of inflammatory factors and TLR4/NF-κB/p38 MAPK signaling pathway in acne. Conclusion: This study revealed the multiple active components, multiple targets, and multiple pathways of CHL in the treatment of acne, which provided a new perspective for the study of the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of acne.

Effects of Compound Huangbai Liquid coating combined with Xiaochuang Mixture on postoperative wound healing, clinical symptoms and inflammatory response in patients with perianal abscess surgery / 国际中医中药杂志

Objective:To explore the effects of Compound Huangbai Liquid coating combined with Xiaochuang Mixture on wound healing, clinical symptoms and inflammatory response in patients with perianal abscess surgery; To evaluate the clinical efficacy.Methods:Randomized controlled trial. 120 patients after perianal abscess surgery in the hospital from August 2021 to August 2022 were selected as the observation subjects, and they were divided into three groups by the random number table method, with 40 cases in each group. On the basis of routine anti-infection therapy, external TCM application group was given Compound Huangbai Liquid coating, oral TCM administration group was given oral Xiaochuang Mixture, and combined treatment group was treated with Compound Huangbai Liquid coating + Xiaochuang Mixture. The three groups were continuously treated for 15 days. TCM symptoms scores and VAS score were performed on the 2nd day, 7th day and 15th day after surgery, and the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were detected by ELISA. The wound healing time and carrion shedding time of patients were observed and recorded, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated.Results:The scores of perianal secretions, granulation morphology and surrounding tissue edema and score of VAS decreased in the three groups at 7 days and 15 days after surgery compared with those at 2 days after surgery ( P<0.01), and with the extension of time, the scores of perianal secretions, granulation morphology and surrounding tissue edema and VAS score from the aspects of time-point effect ( F=21.69, 134.65, 19.27, 73.15) and between-group effect ( F=7.99, 98.79, 8.68, 10.71) were declined ( P<0.01), and there was an interaction effect between the decline degree and the treatment method ( F=9.78, 59.52, 11.29, 22.48, P<0.01). The carrion shedding time [(4.63±1.31) d vs. (6.22±2.14) d, (6.17±2.09) d, F=9.16] and healing time [(27.76±3.46) d vs. (30.27±4.11) d, (31.48±4.23) d, F=9.24] were earlier in combined treatment group than those in the external TCM application group and oral TCM administration group ( P<0.01). Serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in the three groups at 7 and 15 days after surgery were reduced compared with those at 2 days after surgery ( P<0.01), and with the extension of time, the levels of serum IL-6 and TNF-α in the three groups decreased from the aspects of time-point effect ( F=69.36, 38.76) and between-group effect ( F=21.81, 13.50) ( P<0.01), and there was an interaction effect between the decrease degree and treatment method ( F=28.46, 23.34, P<0.01). The total effective rate was 100.0% (40/40) in combined treatment group, 80.0% (32/40) in external TCM application group and 87.2% (34/39) in oral TCM administration group ( H=8.44, P=0.015). Conclusion:The combination of Compound Huangbai Liquid coating and Xiaochuang Mixture can reduce perianal secretions, improve granulation morphology, alleviate surrounding tissue edema and wound pain, promote wound healing, and reduce inflammatory response of patients with perianal abscess surgery.

Clinical Observation on Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcer of Wagner Grade 1-2 by Compound Huangbai Liquid Fomentation / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo observe the clinical efficacy of compound Huangbai liquid fomentation on diabetic foot ulcer of Wagner grade 1-2. MethodPatients were classified into the observation group and control group， with 41 cases in either group. The observation group received routine therapy and compound Huangbai liquid fomentation， while the control group was treated by routine therapy and medical silver nanoparticles-containing dressing. Ulcer area， ulcer depth， traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome score， ankle-brachial index， transcutaneous oxygen pressure， vascular endothelial growth factor， epidermal growth factor， advanced glycation end product， high-sensitivity C-reactive protein， interleukin-6， erythrocyte sedimentation rate， and adverse events were observed before and after treatment in two groups. ResultAfter treatment， the ulcer area， ulcer depth， TCM syndrome score， vascular endothelial growth factor， epidermal growth factor， advanced glycation end product， high-sensitivity C-reactive protein， interleukin-6（IL-6）， and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were lower than those before treatment in two groups （P<0.05）， and ankle-brachial index， transcutaneous oxygen pressure， vascular endothelial growth factor， and epidermal growth factor were higher than those before treatment in two groups （P<0.05）. After treatment， the ulcer area， ulcer depth， TCM syndrome score， advanced glycation end product， high-sensitivity C-reactive protein， IL-6， and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were lower in the observation group than in the control group （P<0.05）， and ankle-brachial index， transcutaneous oxygen pressure， vascular endothelial growth factor， and epidermal growth factor were higher in the observation group than in the control group （P<0.05）. The clinical efficacy of observation group was better than that of the control group （P<0.05）. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events and endpoint events between two groups. ConclusionCompound Huangbai liquid fomentation is effective for diabetic foot ulcer of Wagner grade 1-2， as it is beneficial to the healing of the ulcer. This study provides clinical evidence for the further promotion of Chinese medicine fomentation.