Wu Wenting, Yang Songhong, Liu Peng, Yin Li, Gong Qianfeng, Zhu Weifeng
School of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2020 Mar 24;11:345. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.00345. eCollection 2020.
Hypertension is a clinical cardiovascular syndrome characterized by elevated systemic arterial pressure with or without multiple cardiovascular risk factors. Radix Pueraria (RP) has the effects of anti-myocardial ischemia, anti-arrhythmia, vasodilatation, blood pressure reduction, anti-inflammation, and attenuating insulin resistance. Although RP can be effective for the treatment of hypertension, its active compounds, drug targets, and exact molecular mechanism are still unclear. In this study, systems pharmacology was used to analyze the active compounds, drug target genes, and key pathways of RP in the treatment of hypertension. Thirteen active compounds and related information on RP were obtained from the TCMSP database, and 140 overlapping genes related to hypertension and drugs were obtained from the GeneCards and OMIM databases. A PPI network and a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) comprehensive network (Drug-Compounds-Genes-Disease network) were constructed, and 2,246 GO terms and 157 pathways were obtained by GO enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Some important active compounds and targets were evaluated by experiments. This study shows that RP probably acts by influencing the proliferation module, apoptosis module, inflammation module, and others when treating hypertension. This study provides novel insights for researchers to systematically explore the mechanism of action of TCM.
高血压是一种临床心血管综合征，其特征为体循环动脉压升高，伴有或不伴有多种心血管危险因素。葛根具有抗心肌缺血、抗心律失常、血管舒张、降血压、抗炎和减轻胰岛素抵抗等作用。虽然葛根对高血压治疗有效，但其活性成分、药物靶点及确切分子机制仍不明确。本研究采用系统药理学方法分析葛根治疗高血压的活性成分、药物靶基因及关键通路。从中药系统药理学数据库（TCMSP）获取了13种葛根活性成分及相关信息，从基因卡片（GeneCards）和在线人类孟德尔遗传数据库（OMIM）获取了140个与高血压和药物相关的重叠基因。构建了蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用（PPI）网络和中药综合网络（药物-化合物-基因-疾病网络），通过基因本体（GO）富集分析和京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）通路富集分析获得了2246个GO条目和157条通路。通过实验对一些重要的活性成分和靶点进行了评估。本研究表明，葛根治疗高血压可能是通过影响增殖模块、凋亡模块、炎症模块等发挥作用。本研究为研究人员系统探索中药作用机制提供了新的见解。
