Exploring Traditional Chinese Medicine by A Novel Therapeutic Concept of Network Target

Traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） holds a holistic theory, and specializes in balancing disordered human body using numerous natural products, particularly Chinese herbal formulae. TCM has certain treatment advantages for patients suffering from various complex diseases. However, due to the complex nature of TCM, it remains difficult to unveil such holistic medicine by the current reductionism research strategies, which treat both herbal ingredients and targets in isolation. Recently, an emerging network pharmacology approach has been introduced to tackle this bottleneck problem. A TCM-derived novel therapeutic concept, ＂network target＂, which is different from the Western medicine＇s ＂onetarget＂ concept, has been proposed from China. The network target strategy is able to illustrate the complex interactions among the biological systems, drugs, and complex diseases from a network perspective, and thus provides an innovative approach to access ancient remedies in a precision manner and at a systematic level, which also highlights TCM＇s potential in current medical systems.

Exploring the antihypertensive mechanism of Prunella vulgaris through integrated network pharmacology analysis

Prunella vulgaris,a traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),exerts a significant hypotensive effect,particularly in managing various forms of hypertension.Nonetheless,the precise antihypertensive constituents and their respective targets remain elusive.This study endeavored to identify the hypotensive components of P.vulgaris and elucidated its mode of action based on hypotensive targets.Utilizing the Systematic Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP),UniProt,GeneCards,STRING,RCSB,and the Human Genome Annotation and Analysis Database(Metascape),we conducted a screening of active ingredients and hypotensive targets.The Network Analyzer software Cytoscape 3.9.0 facilitated a comprehensive analysis of the active ingredients.Molecular docking was executed employing Sybyl-X 2.0 and Discovery Studio 2019.Predictions and analyses of the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of active ingredients were performed using the ADMETlab 2.0 online platform.Eight active compounds(1–8)and 11 hypotensive targets were identified,with IL1B and PPARG exhibiting a high degree of correlation.Dominant biological processes included negative regulation of apoptotic processes,positive regulation of gene expression,response to xenobiotic stimulus,and response to hypoxia.KEGG analysis unveiled core pharmacological mechanisms,notably fluid shear stress and atherosclerosis,lipid and atherosclerosis,P13K-Akt,MAPK,and relaxin signaling pathways.Compounds 5–8 demonstrated robust interactions with multiple targets through hydrogen bonds,van der Waals forces,and pi-alkyl interactions,which serve as primary stabilizers of docking complexes.Notably,compound 7 exhibited promising ADMET prediction results,suggesting its potential for drug molecule development.Our findings underscored the synergistic effects of P.vulgaris on multiple targets and pathways in hypertension treatment,reflecting the characteristic multi-component and multi-target effects of TCM.