Abstract
Zhichuanling oral liquid (ZOL) as a preparation of traditional Chinese medicine is widely used for the treatment of asthma in China; therefore, it is necessary to systematically clarify bioactive chemical ingredients and the mechanism of action of ZOL. Information on ZOL ingredients and asthma-related targets was collected, and we used the latest systematic pharmacological methods to construct protein-protein interaction network and compound-target network and then visualized them. Finally, GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis was conducted through the clusterProfiler package in the R software. The results showed that 58 bioactive ingredients and 42 potential targets of ZOL related to asthma were identified, following six important components and nine hub genes screened. Further cluster and enrichment analysis suggested that NF-κB signaling pathway, PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, IL-17 signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, and TNF signaling pathway might be core pathways of ZOL for asthma. Our work successfully predicted the active ingredients and potential targets of ZOL and provided the explanation for the mechanism of action of ZOL for asthma through the systematic analysis, which suggested that ZOL played a major role in many ways including reducing airway inflammation and inhibiting airway remodeling and mucus secretion. Moreover, ZOL combined with glucocorticoids may have some effects on severe asthma.
Highlights
Bronchial asthma is a chronic airway inflammatory disease involving a variety of inflammatory cells, inflammatory factors, and structural cells, affecting above 300 million people in the world [1]
Oral bioavailability (OB) and Drug-like properties (DL) properties of each herb ingredient were collected from the same database. e prediction tool provided by the Molsoft website was used when the OB and DL properties of some chemical components had not been found in the database
In order to understand the mechanism of this synergistic effect and the potential mechanism of Zhichuanling oral liquid (ZOL) in treating asthma, it is essential to understand the effects of these components on the target proteins of asthma
Summary
Bronchial asthma is a chronic airway inflammatory disease involving a variety of inflammatory cells, inflammatory factors, and structural cells, affecting above 300 million people in the world [1]. The prevalence of asthma is higher in developed countries than in developing countries, which is a serious public health problem in all ages [2, 3]. Asthma has been found to correlate with work loss, miscalculation, anxiety, and depression, as public health and clinical management priorities, which has a great impact on people’s life and causes a widespread concern [6]. A small number of asthma patients, namely, severe asthma, accounting for 5–10% of the world’s asthma population, still poorly controlled even with adequate medical treatment, and these patients have a higher burden on the health system due to deterioration of asthma and need of repeated hospitalization or other additional treatment [9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
