Quality evaluation of Pinelliae Rhizoma using network pharmacology and multi-component quantitative analysis

Background:Pinelliae Rhizoma(Banxia)is a valuable traditional Chinese medicine,and its quality issues are related to the safety and effectiveness of the medicine.Several pharmacological experiments have shown that Pinelliae Rhizoma has anti-inflammatory activity,but the specific chemical components remain unclear.Methods:In the present study,network pharmacology was used to analyze the potential active ingredients and molecular mechanisms of Pinelliae Rhizoma’s anti-inflammatory activity.A new approach to simultaneously determine eight components using high performance liquid chromatography-photo-diode array was developed to evaluate the quality of Pinelliae Rhizoma and different processed Pinelliae Rhizoma products.Results:Twelve active ingredients were identified from Pinelliae Rhizoma,andβ-sitosterol may have a greater effect than the other active ingredients.Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses revealed the main pathways associated with Pinelliae Rhizoma’s mechanism for treating inflammation.Additionally,theβ-sitosterol content in different processed Pinelliae Rhizoma products decreased significantly,and the level of five nucleosides in Pinelliae Rhizoma was significantly higher than that of the processed Pinelliae Rhizoma products.The 6-gingerol content was detected in eight Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum cum Zingibere et Alumine batches with different origins,and liquiritin and liquiritigenin levels were detected in eight batches of Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum with different origins.Conclusion:Pinelliae Rhizoma quality was affected by different regions and different processing methods,and this research provides a reference for Pinelliae Rhizoma quality evaluation.

Mechanism of Pinelliae Rhizoma in Treatment of Insomnia Based on Network Pharmacology

[Objectives]To explore the mechanism of Pinelliae Rhizoma in the treatment of insomnia.[Methods]Using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology(TCMSP)database,the effective components of Pinelliae Rhizoma were explored,to predict its targets,and screen out the targets of insomnia through GeneCards,OMIM and other databases.With the aid of Cytoscape software,a"component-target-pathway-disease"network for the treatment of insomnia by Pinelliae Rhizoma was built.Then,a target protein-related interaction network was created through the String database,and biological function annotation and pathway analysis of key targets were performed.[Results]The 13 active components of Pinelliae Rhizoma take action in the treatment of insomnia by intervening 33 targets,59 GO biological processes,and 10 main biological pathways.[Conclusions]The active components of Pinelliae Rhizoma may treat insomnia by such pharmacological effect as regulating G protein-coupled amine receptor activity,adrenergic receptor activity,catecholamine binding,and neurotransmitter receptor activity.

Mechanism of "Pinelliae rhizoma-Arisaematis rhizoma" in treatment of lung cancer based on network pharmacology

Objective:The study was designed to explore the mechanism of“Pinelliae RhizomaArisaematis Rhizoma”(PR-AP)in treatment of lung cancer based on network pharmacology.Methods:The active components and their targets of“Pinelliae Rhizoma-Arisaematis Rhizoma”were screened out from TCMSP database.The cytoscape3.7.0 software was used to construct the drug-active component-targets network.Searched the DisGeNet database to obtain lung cancer related targets.Bisogenet was used to construct"PPI network of active component target"and"PPI network of lung cancer target",and the intersection of the two networks was taken and the target was screened.AutoDockTools software was used to dock the key active ingredients with the key targets.David database was used to perform Go biological process enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis.Results:A total of 15 active components were collected,including beta-sitosterol,baicalein,Stigmasterol,Cavidine,coniferin,etc.These active components mainly act on 95 key targets such as ESR1 and CDK2,which enriched in multiple lung cancer related signaling pathways,such as PI3KAkt、MAPK、HIF-1、FoxO、TGF-β、Hippo、TNF、Notch、VEGF、cAMP,etc.The results of molecular docking showed that the active components could regulate the core targets(ESR1 and CDK2).Conclusion:The effect of“Pinelliae Rhizoma-Arisaematis Rhizoma”in the treatment of lung cancer embodies the characteristics of multi-component,multi-target and multi-pathway of traditional Chinese medicine.Its mechanism of action may be to play a role in the treatment of lung cancer by regulating cell cycle,angiogenesis,tumor stem cells,etc.This research can provide ideas and references for further research.

Research on "Erchen" in Erchen decoction

Traditional Chinese Medicine has a long history of aging medicines,with the Erchen decoction(it is a traditional Chinese botanical formula),produced by Chenpi(Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium)(CRP)and Banxia(Pinelliae Rhizoma)(PR),as having the most research value.While modern pharmacological studies have found that the main active components of CRP are flavonoids and volatile oils.The relative contents of 30 CRP flavonoids increase with aging time.However,the expectorant effect of CRP is not proportional to its aging time,and its volatile oil composition is thought to be negatively correlated with its aging time,yet this correlation has not yet been established by research.In addition,different experimental measurement methods have found that aging has a reduced effect on the toxic components of different processing types of PR,such as calcium oxalate needle crystals and protein substances.These research also noted that different processing methods also resulted in differences in the efficacy of PR.For example,during the aging process of Jiangbanxia(Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatumcum Zingibere Et Alumine)and auxiliary materials,6-gingerol was produced,which enhanced the anti-vomiting effects of PR but weakened its expectorant and cough function.Using a method of Alum processed PR,increases the contents of Inosine,Guanosine,Adenosine and Succinate,which thus enhances its expectorant effect.Finally,the contents of 6-Gingerol,Glycyrrhizin,Ammonium Glycyrrhizate,and other substances produced in the aging process of PR,can be used as base compounds for producing additional products of PR.The research on the efficacy and uses of Erchen decoction,particularly compounds made with CRP and PR is voluminous,but no standards currently exist for effective and standardized application of these substances.This paper reviews the research with an aim to establish standardization of methods and of compound aging time.