Abstract
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have been recognized as first killer of human health. The underlying mechanisms of CVDs are extremely complicated and not fully revealed, leading to a challenge for CVDs treatment in modern medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) characterized by multiple compounds and targets has shown its marked effects on CVDs therapy. However, system-level understanding of the molecular mechanisms is still ambiguous. In this study, a system pharmacology approach was developed to reveal the underlying molecular mechanisms of a clinically effective herb formula (Wen-Dan Decoction) in treating CVDs. 127 potential active compounds and their corresponding 283 direct targets were identified in Wen-Dan Decoction. The networks among active compounds, targets, and diseases were built to reveal the pharmacological mechanisms of Wen-Dan Decoction. A “CVDs pathway” consisted of several regulatory modules participating in therapeutic effects of Wen-Dan Decoction in CVDs. All the data demonstrates that Wen-Dan Decoction has multiscale beneficial activity in CVDs treatment, which provides a new way for uncovering the molecular mechanisms and new evidence for clinical application of Wen-Dan Decoction in cardiovascular disease.
Highlights
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the most common cause of death in the world [1]
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) characterized by multiple compounds and targets has shown its marked effects on various human diseases
The protocol of the systems pharmacology approach introduced in this work (Figure 1) includes 5 main steps as follows: (1) molecular database construction for all 6 herbs in Wen-Dan Decoction; (2) ADME evaluation to screen the active ingredients from the above compound database; (3) target-fishing to predict the direct targets of the obtained active compounds; (4) network construction and analysis to illustrate the molecular mechanism of Wen-Dan Decoction in treating CVDs; (5) pathway analysis to disclose CVDs pathway and therapeutic modules of target proteins
Summary
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the most common cause of death in the world [1]. Every year more than 10 million human lives are lost because of CVDs, and the mortality is predicted to increase to 23.6 million by 2030 [2]. With the progress of modern medicine, various allopathic medicines with significant curative effects have been reported in recent years. Wen-Dan Decoction is composed of six herbs, including Arum ternatum Thunb, Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Caulis Bambusae in Taenia, Aurantii Fructus Immaturus, Citrus reticulata, and licorice. This decoction has been used to treat CVDs since Tang Dynasty, and the clinical effects have been validated in previous research. Clinical studies show that Wen-Dan Decoction achieved notable success in treating coronary heart disease [3], hypertension [4], arrhythmia [5], and heart failure [6]. The effect of Wen-Dan Decoction on CVD is promising, its pharmacological actions have not been fully revealed
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