Network-based biomarkers for cold coagulation blood stasis syndrome and the therapeutic effects of shaofu zhuyu decoction in rats.

In this study, the reverse docking methodology was applied to predict the action targets and pathways of Shaofu Zhuyu decoction (SFZYD) bioactive ingredients. Furthermore, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) cold coagulation blood stasis (CCBS) syndrome was induced in female Sprague-Dawley rats with an ice-water bath and epinephrine, and SFZYD was used to treat CCBS syndrome. A metabolomic approach was used to evaluate changes in the metabolic profiles and to analyze the pharmacological mechanism of SFZYD actions. Twenty-three potential protein targets and 15 pathways were discovered, respectively; among these, pathways are associated with inflammation and immunological stress, hormone metabolism, coagulation function, and glycometabolism. There were also changes in the levels of endogenous metabolites of LysoPCs and glucuronides. Twenty endogenous metabolites were identified. Furthermore, the relative quantities of 6 endogenous metabolites in the plasma and 5 in the urine were significantly affected by SFZYD (P < 0.05). The pharmacological mechanism of SFZYD was partially associated with glycerophospholipid metabolism and pentose and glucuronate interconversions. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that TCM CCBS pattern induced by ice water and epinephrine was complex and related to multiple metabolic pathways. SFZYD did regulate the TCM CCBS by multitargets, and biomarkers and SFZYD should be used for the clinical treatment of CCBS syndrome.