Abstract
Herb pair Danggui-Honghua has been frequently used for treatment of blood stasis syndrome (BSS) in China, one of the most common clinical pathological syndromes in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, its therapeutic mechanism has not been clearly elucidated. In the present study, a feasible system pharmacology model based on chemical, pharmacokinetic and pharmacological data was developed via network construction approach to clarify the mechanisms of this herb pair. Thirty-one active ingredients of Danggui-Honghua possessing favorable pharmacokinetic profiles and biological activities were selected, interacting with 42 BSS-related targets to provide potential synergistic therapeutic actions. Systematic analysis of the constructed networks revealed that these targets such as HMOX1, NOS2, NOS3, HIF1A and PTGS2 were mainly involved in TNF signaling pathway, HIF-1 signaling pathway, estrogen signaling pathway and neurotrophin signaling pathway. The contribution index of every active ingredient also indicated six compounds, including hydroxysafflor yellow A, safflor yellow A, safflor yellow B, Z-ligustilide, ferulic acid, and Z-butylidenephthalide, as the principal components of this herb pair. These results successfully explained the polypharmcological mechanisms underlying the efficiency of Danggui-Honghua for BSS treatment, and also probed into the potential novel therapeutic strategies for BSS in TCM.
Highlights
Danggui-Honghua is commonly used for treating clinical blood stasis, which is described as slowing or pooling of the blood due to disruption of heart Qi of TCM6
The complexity of the chemical components of this herb pair and their corresponding multiple targets in vivo led to extreme difficulty to elucidate the molecular mechanisms
Thirty-one active ingredients with favorable bioactivities and contents were selected from the 347 compounds of Danggui-Honghua by ADME filtering, providing foundational clues for thorough investigation on this herb pair
Summary
Danggui-Honghua is commonly used for treating clinical blood stasis, which is described as slowing or pooling of the blood due to disruption of heart Qi of TCM6. Combined with pharmacology and pharmacodynamics, system biology has given birth to a promising subject, i.e., system pharmacology[9]. On this basis, an integrated mode combining pharmacokinetics prediction and network pharmacology techniques has been developed and successfully applied to interpret the mechanisms of several Chinese herbal medicines and formulae at molecular network level[10,11]. The mechanisms of herb pair Danggui-Honghua in treating BSS were investigated by the system pharmacology model based on chemical, pharmacokinetic and pharmacological data together with contribution index analysis
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