School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, 548 Binwen Road, Hangzhou, 310000, Zhejiang, China.
The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310005, China.
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2021 May 15;21(1):142. doi: 10.1186/s12906-021-03311-4.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), is an autoimmune inflammatory disease with increasing global morbidity and high disability. Early treatment is an effective intervention to slow down joint deformation. However, as for early RA and pre-RA patients, it sometimes takes a long time to make a definite diagnosis and few guidelines have made suggestion for these suspected or early phrase individuals. Yunpi-Qufeng-Chushi-Prescription (YQCP) is an optimization of the traditional formula, Cangzhu Fangfeng Tang which is effective for arthromyodynia management.
In this study, LC-MS identify the main component of YQCP. Ingredients of the 11 herbs were collected from Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Database (TCMID). Targets of these ingredients were collected from two source, TCMID and PharmMapper. Microarray of 20 early untreated RA patients and corresponding health control were download from NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to defined the differential expressed genes. Gene ontology analysis and KEGG enrichment analysis were carried out for the YQCP. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) networks were constructed to identify the hub targets. At last, molecular docking (MD) were conducted to further verified the the possibility of YQCP for RA therapy.
The study indicated that by acting on hub targets such as C3, EGFR, SRC and MMP9, YQCP may influence the mature of B cells and inhibit B cell-related IgG production, regulate oxidative stress and modulate activity of several enzymes including peroxidase and metallopeptidase to delay the occurrence and progress of RA and benefit the pre-RA or early RA patients.
YQCP is a potential effective therapy for prophylactic treatment of RA.
类风湿性关节炎（RA）是一种自身免疫性炎症性疾病，其全球发病率不断增加，且致残率较高。早期治疗是减缓关节变形的有效干预措施。然而，对于早期 RA 和 Pre-RA 患者，有时需要很长时间才能做出明确的诊断，并且很少有指南对这些疑似或早期患者提出建议。运脾祛风除湿方（YQCP）是对传统方剂苍术防风汤的优化，对痹证的治疗具有较好的疗效。
本研究采用 LC-MS 鉴定 YQCP 的主要成分。11 种草药的成分均来自中药整合数据库（TCMID）。这些成分的靶点均来自 TCMID 和 PharmMapper 两个数据库。从 NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus（GEO）数据库下载了 20 例未经治疗的早期 RA 患者和相应健康对照的微阵列，以定义差异表达基因。对 YQCP 进行基因本体论分析和 KEGG 富集分析。构建蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用（PPIs）网络，以识别关键靶点。最后，进行分子对接（MD）进一步验证 YQCP 治疗 RA 的可能性。
该研究表明，YQCP 通过作用于 C3、EGFR、SRC 和 MMP9 等关键靶点，可能影响 B 细胞的成熟，抑制 B 细胞相关 IgG 的产生，调节氧化应激，调节过氧化物酶和金属肽酶等多种酶的活性，从而延缓 RA 的发生和发展，有益于 Pre-RA 或早期 RA 患者。
YQCP 可能是一种有效的 RA 预防治疗药物。
