Network analysis of primary active compounds in Danqi analogous formulas for treating cardiovascular disease

Objective:Used extensively to treat cardiovascular disease,Danqi analogous formulas(DQAF)include prescriptions for Danqi(DQ),Fufang Danshen(FFDS)and Qishen Yiqi(QSYQ).Differences in prescription compatibility result in varying emphases of DQAF in clinical application.Methods and results:Based on network analysis in this study,common and distinct mechanisms of DQAF actions on cardiovascular disease were analyzed at a systemic level.Components etargetsepathways models were developed by Cytoscape(http://www.cytoscape.org/);whereby,target information for active compounds was obtained based on the PharmMapper database(http://59.78.96.61/pharmmapper/),which was further used to search pathways using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database(http://www.genome.jp/kegg/).Based on target and network analyses,we discovered RBP4 is a potential common target of DQAF,while mitogen-activated protein kinase 1(MAPK1)and glutathione S-transferase P were potential targets of FFDS and QSYQ,respectively.Furthermore,the potential of DQAF to treat cardiovascular disease occurs through effects on the endocrine,immune,and digestive systems,in addition to lipid,sugar and amino acid metabolic pathways.Whereas FFDS exhibits effects on Toll-like receptor,transforming growth factor beta and MAPK signaling pathways;QSYQ exerts effects on cyclic adenosine monophosphate signaling,as well as metabolism of glutathione and arachidonic acid.

Systematic chemical characterization of Xiexin decoctions using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Xiexin decoctions(XXDs)display beneficial anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic effects,which raises interests on this group of formulae for broad clinical applications.However,there was no report about systematic analysis of XXDs to elucidate the constitution of chemical components,which hampers further investigations on the therapeutic values of XXDs.In this work,crude herbs were extracted and prepared to obtain the XXDs for systemic analysis on their chemical compositions,according to the information described in the ancient Zhang Zhongjing’s herbal formulae.LC-MS analysis of five XXDs was carried out to facilitate recognition of the source herbs for compounds in the mixture.A total number of 93 compounds were identified through our methods and their chemical classes encompassed five major groups,including protoberberine alkaloids,flavonoids,stilbenes,anthraquinones and saponins.Our current work provided important information about material basis for pharmacological studies on XXDs and would help shed light on relationships between chemical compositions and therapeutic effects.