Abstract
Background: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used in the treatment of human diseases. However, the synergistic effects of multiple TCM prescriptions in the treatment of stroke have not been thoroughly studied. Objective of the study: This study aimed to reveal the mechanisms underlying the synergistic effects of these TCM prescriptions in stroke treatment and identify the active compounds. Methods: Herbs and compounds in the Di-Tan Decoction (DTD), Xue-Fu Zhu-Yu Decoction (XFZYD), and Xiao-Xu-Ming Decoction (XXMD) were acquired from the TCMSP database. SEA, HitPick, and TargetNet web servers were used for target prediction. The compound-target (C-T) networks of three prescriptions were constructed and then filtered using the collaborative filtering algorithm. We combined KEGG enrichment analysis, molecular docking, and network analysis approaches to identify active compounds, followed by verification of these compounds with an oxygen-glucose deprivation and reoxygenation (OGD/R) model. Results: The filtered DTD network contained 39 compounds and 534 targets, the filtered XFZYD network contained 40 compounds and 508 targets, and the filtered XXMD network contained 55 compounds and 599 targets. The filtered C-T networks retained approximately 80% of the biological functions of the original networks. Based on the enriched pathways, molecular docking, and network analysis results, we constructed a complex network containing 3 prescriptions, 14 botanical drugs, 26 compounds, 13 targets, and 5 pathways. By calculating the synergy score, we identified the top 5 candidate compounds. The experimental results showed that quercetin, baicalin, and ginsenoside Rg1 independently and synergistically increased cell viability. Conclusion: By integrating pharmacological and chemoinformatic approaches, our study provides a new method for identifying the effective synergistic compounds of TCM prescriptions. The filtered compounds and their synergistic effects on stroke require further research.
Highlights
Stroke is the second leading cause of death and disability worldwide and can be categorized into two subtypes: ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke (Collaborators, 2019)
We propose a new model via integrating network pharmacology and chemoinformatic approaches to elucidate the synergistic effects of Ditan Decoction (DTD), Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction (XFZYD), and Xiao-Xu-Ming Decoction (XXMD) in the treatment of post-stroke neurological damage
Botanical drugs with origin and dosage in DTD, XFZYD, and XXMD were retrieved from the Chinese pharmacopeia 2020 (National Pharmacopoeia Commission, 2020) and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database (Ru et al, 2014), and proofread the Latin names of herbs by The Plant List database (List, 2013)
Summary
Stroke is the second leading cause of death and disability worldwide and can be categorized into two subtypes: ischemic stroke (cerebral infarction) and hemorrhagic stroke (intracerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage) (Collaborators, 2019). Within a very short time, approximately several hours after stroke, neurological damage needs to be minimized by removing blockages or hemorrhages with surgery and medications. After the most effective therapies are administered in the short term, there is still a lack of specific medicines for stroke. Symptomatic and supportive medications, including neurotrophic medicines (e.g., edaravone) (Feng et al, 2011; Yang et al, 2011) and cytidine (Marti-Carvajal et al, 2020)); antiplatelet medicines (e.g., aspirin and clopidogrel (Johnston et al, 2018)); and anti-vasospasm medicines (e.g., nimodipine) (Carlson et al, 2020), are mainly used in stroke treatment. There is an urgent need for more effective treatment of post-stroke neurological damage. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used in the treatment of human diseases. The synergistic effects of multiple TCM prescriptions in the treatment of stroke have not been thoroughly studied
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