Abstract
Gyejibokryeong-hwan (GBH) is a traditional formula comprised of five herbal medicines that is frequently used to treat blood stasis and related complex multifactorial disorders such as atherosclerosis. The present study used network pharmacology and molecular docking simulations to clarify the effect and mechanism of the components of GBH. Active compounds were selected using Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS) and the Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), and target genes linked to the selected components were retrieved using Search Tool for Interacting Chemicals (STITCH) and GeneCards. Functional analysis of potential target genes was performed through the Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) database and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway, and molecular docking confirmed the correlation between five core compounds (quercetin, kaempferol, baicalein, ellagic acid, and baicalin) and six potential target genes (AKT1, CASP3, MAPK1, MAPK3, NOS2, and PTGS2). Molecular docking studies indicated that quercetin strongly interacted with six potential target proteins. Thus, these potential target proteins were closely related to TNF, HIF-1, FoxO, and PI3K-Akt signal pathways, suggesting that these factors and pathways may mediate the beneficial effects of GBH on atherosclerosis. Our results identify target genes and pathways that may mediate the clinical effects of the compounds contained within GBH on atherosclerosis.
Highlights
In traditional Korean medicine, blood stasis is an important pathological feature of various disorders, including hyperviscosity, hyperlipidemia, inflammation, ischemic brain injury, and atherosclerosis [1,2]
There is an association between blood stasis syndrome score and the atherosclerosis index in stroke patients [3]
Quercetin was the most important node in this network because of the highest degree of node, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality. This compound was associated with the most atherosclerosis-related genes with the highest confidence score (Tables S4 and S5). We suggested that these targets may be key nodes responsible for the protective effects of GBH against atherosclerosis (Figure 3)
Summary
In traditional Korean medicine, blood stasis is an important pathological feature of various disorders, including hyperviscosity, hyperlipidemia, inflammation, ischemic brain injury, and atherosclerosis [1,2]. There is an association between blood stasis syndrome score and the atherosclerosis index in stroke patients [3]. Atherosclerosis is a chronic complex, and multifactorial inflammatory disease characterized by lipid accumulation, smooth muscle cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, necrosis, fibrosis, and local inflammation [4]. There are several risk factors for atherosclerosis, including abnormal lipid metabolism, inflammatory reactions, and dysfunctional arterial endothelial cells, and their involvement in disease pathogenesis is complicated [5]. The effects and mechanisms of various herbal-based mixtures to prevent and treat atherosclerosis have been explored in many studies [6,7,8,9].
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