Literature data based systems pharmacology uncovers the essence of “body fire” in traditional Chinese medicine: A case by Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang

Abstract

Ethnopharmacology relevanceLike other concepts in traditional Chinese medical theory, “body fire”, a concept that has already been well-known and widely used in describing the symptoms and the treatment of corresponding diseases, is, however, still under suspicions in the western medicine due to its vague essence and symptoms. Presently, Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang (HLJDT), a typical popular TCM formula in cleansing the “body fire”, is studied as a probe by a systems pharmacology method we produced, with purpose to explore the mechanisms of the potion, as well as to interpret the essence of “body fire” disease. MethodsThe systematic process includes a pharmacokinetics prescreening, pharmacodynamics targets and pathways identification, and candidate-target-pathway network construction. ResultsThrough this method, 145 chemicals and 91 proteins are identified as active ingredients and “body fire”-related targets. And we find that the mechanism of HLJDT prescription for cleansing “body fire” lies in three, i.e., anti-OS/NS, anti-inflammation and anti-infection function modules, which are mainly executed through four, i.e., PI3K-AKT, MAPK, VEGF as well as Calcium signaling pathways. ConclusionsAccordingly, the essence of “body fire” is a gradual process which is an integration of OS/NS, inflammation and infection. This work, we hope, may not only offer a systemic methodology for exploring and elucidating TCM concepts from a multi-scale perspective, but also provide an efficient way for herbal drug discovery.