Tan Xiaoqi, He Yuxin, Ou Yongliang, Xiong Xia, Deng Yongqiong
Department of Dermatology STD, the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, People's Republic of China.
Health Management Center, Luzhou People's Hospital, Luzhou, People's Republic of China.
Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2022 Jul 1;15:1225-1236. doi: 10.2147/CCID.S361820. eCollection 2022.
Taohong Siwu decoction (THSWD) is traditionally used to treat androgenic alopecia (AGA) in clinical practice of traditional Chinese medicine. This study used a network pharmacology approach to elucidate the molecular mechanism governing the effect of THSWD on AGA.
The major active components and their corresponding targets of THSWD were screened. AGA-related targets were obtained by analyzing the differentially expressed genes between AGA patients and healthy individuals. The protein-protein interaction networks of putative targets of THSWD and AGA-related targets were visualized and merged to identify the candidate targets for THSWD against AGA. Gene ontology (GO) biological processes and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis for core targets were performed. Finally, the key effective components and core targets screened were verified by molecular docking.
In this study, 69 compounds and 202 compound targets of THSWD, as well as 1158 disease targets, were screened. Forty-five interactive targets were identified for constructing the "ingredient-targets" network. The functional annotations of target genes were found to be related to oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species, and hydrogen peroxide. Pathways involved in the treatment of AGA included apoptosis and PI3K-AKT signaling pathways. The luteolin, quercetin, kaempferol, baicalein, and beta-carotene were identified as the vital active compounds, and AKT1, TP53, JUN, CASP3 and MYC were considered as the core targets. Assessment of molecular docking revealed that these active compounds and targets had good-binding interactions.
The results indicated that the effects of THSWD against AGA may be related to anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation properties of the compounds through the specific biological processes and the related pathways.
桃红四物汤（THSWD）在中医临床实践中传统上用于治疗雄激素性脱发（AGA）。本研究采用网络药理学方法阐明THSWD对AGA作用的分子机制。
筛选THSWD的主要活性成分及其相应靶点。通过分析AGA患者与健康个体之间的差异表达基因获得AGA相关靶点。将THSWD假定靶点与AGA相关靶点的蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用网络可视化并合并，以确定THSWD抗AGA的候选靶点。对核心靶点进行基因本体论（GO）生物学过程和京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）富集分析。最后，通过分子对接验证筛选出的关键有效成分和核心靶点。
本研究筛选出THSWD的69种化合物和202个化合物靶点，以及1158个疾病靶点。确定了45个相互作用靶点用于构建“成分-靶点”网络。发现靶基因的功能注释与氧化应激、活性氧和过氧化氢有关。治疗AGA涉及的途径包括凋亡和PI3K-AKT信号通路。木犀草素、槲皮素、山奈酚、黄芩素和β-胡萝卜素被确定为重要的活性化合物，AKT1、TP53、JUN、CASP3和MYC被视为核心靶点。分子对接评估显示这些活性化合物与靶点具有良好的结合相互作用。
结果表明，THSWD对AGA的作用可能与化合物通过特定生物学过程和相关途径的抗炎和抗氧化特性有关。
