Network Pharmacology Study of Heat-Clearing and Detoxifying Traditional Chinese Medicine for Alzheimer's Disease.

Hongxing Li,Xinyue Zhang,Ningzi Wu,Lili Gu,Jiaqi Lu,Lingxi Zhang,Qin Li

doi:10.1155/2020/7831675

Abstract

This study aims to explore the possible homologous mechanism of 7 frequently‐used herbs for heat-clearing and detoxification in traditional Chinese medicine (HDTCM) for treating Alzheimer's disease (AD), one of the most common types of dementia, based on network pharmacology. Herbs that satisfied the criteria of containing chlorogenic acid, relating to AD and aligning with HDTCM, were simultaneously collected to determine whether they have anti-AD effect based on a survey of the literature. Herb-ingredient-target-disease networks were constructed by collecting information from the TCMSP and GeneCards public databases. The common targets of the herbs and AD were identified for conducting a Gene Ontology (GO) analyses and a Reactome pathway enrichment analysis. The results showed that PTGS1, IL-6, CASP3, and VEGFA were the predicted key gene targets. The IL-4 and IL-13 signaling pathway, the ESR-mediated signaling pathway, and the extranuclear estrogen signaling pathway were the significant pathways associated with the 7 herbs. This study revealed that the analogous anti-AD mechanism of the 7 herbs of HDTCM may be associated with anti-inflammation, which is a common effect of the chlorogenic acid and quercetin components.

Highlights

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases in people over 65 years old, is characterized by neurofibrillary tangles, senile plaques, neuronal loss, and cognitive decline [1,2,3]
A large number of modern pharmacological studies on natural ingredients isolated from heatclearing and detoxifying traditional Chinese medicine (HDTCM) sources and their effects on AD have been performed. erefore, developing new natural medicines based on HDTCM brings hope to AD patients
Candidate Herb Information. 61 herbs containing Chlorogenic acid (CGA) and 499 herbs related to AD were collected from the TCMSP database

Summary

Introduction

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases in people over 65 years old, is characterized by neurofibrillary tangles, senile plaques, neuronal loss, and cognitive decline [1,2,3]. More than 200 clinical trials for AD around the world have been terminated because of ineffective treatment, and of the few remaining treatments, none can completely prevent the progression of AD [5]. Us, searching for new AD drug resources, such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and natural products, is of particular importance [6]. TCM, especially the herbs and formulae, has been used for more than a few thousand years in China and other Southeast Asian countries to prevent or cure all kinds of diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases [7, 8]. Based on TCM theory, ameliorating the syndrome of hyperactivity of heart-liver fire, a typical syndrome of AD, by using heatclearing and detoxifying traditional Chinese medicine (HDTCM) is beneficial to retard the pathological progression of AD. Erefore, developing new natural medicines based on HDTCM brings hope to AD patients A large number of modern pharmacological studies on natural ingredients isolated from HDTCM sources (such as geniposide [10], andrographolide [11], and berberine [12]) and their effects on AD have been performed. erefore, developing new natural medicines based on HDTCM brings hope to AD patients

Methods

Results

Conclusion