School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China.
Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Comput Math Methods Med. 2022 Nov 30;2022:3945063. doi: 10.1155/2022/3945063. eCollection 2022.
To reveal the safety, efficacy, and mechanism of action of et Folium (TCEF) for treating depression.
The maximum dose method was employed to evaluate the safety of TCEF, and its antidepressant activity was assessed using the tail suspension and sugar water depletion tests. The main components of TCEF were determined using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole exactive orbitrap mass spectrometer (UHPLC-Q-EOMS). The active ingredients and their action targets were obtained using network pharmacology with SwissADME and SwissTargetPrediction screening, and the targets of depression were obtained using GeneCards, DrugBank, etc. The drug and depression-related targets were intersected and analyzed PPI network, GO, and KEGG. Subsequently, the binding ability of the core components of TCEF to the core targets was validated molecular docking and simulation.
No statistically significant difference was observed between the normal and TCEF groups in terms of body weight, visceral index, and biochemical parameters ( > 0.05). Compared with the model group, all dose groups of TCEF had reduced the immobility time of tail suspension ( < 0.05) and increased the rate of sugar water consumption ( < 0.05). UHPLC-Q-EOMS was employed to identify 59 major components of TCEF, and network pharmacology analysis was used to screen 48 active components of TCEF for treating depression, corresponding to 139 relevant targets, including ALB, AKT1, TNF, ESR1, and CTNNB1. The involved pathways include neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction. The molecular docking results indicated that the core components have a good binding activity to the core targets.
TCEF is a relatively safe antidepressant medicine that exerts therapeutic effects through multiple components, targets, and pathways, providing a new idea and theoretical basis for future use of TCEF to treat depression.
揭示紫金牛叶（TCEF）治疗抑郁症的安全性、疗效和作用机制。
采用最大剂量法评价 TCEF 的安全性，采用悬尾和糖水消耗试验评价其抗抑郁活性。采用超高效液相色谱-四级杆精确轨道阱质谱联用（UHPLC-Q-EOMS）法测定 TCEF 的主要成分。采用网络药理学结合 SwissADME 和 SwissTargetPrediction 筛选法获得 TCEF 的活性成分及其作用靶点，采用 GeneCards、DrugBank 等方法获得抑郁症的靶点。对药物和抑郁症相关靶点进行交集分析，构建 PPI 网络，进行 GO 和 KEGG 分析。然后，采用分子对接和模拟验证 TCEF 核心成分与核心靶点的结合能力。
正常组与 TCEF 组之间在体重、内脏指数和生化参数方面无统计学差异（>0.05）。与模型组相比，TCEF 的所有剂量组均降低了悬尾试验的不动时间（<0.05），增加了糖水消耗率（<0.05）。采用 UHPLC-Q-EOMS 法鉴定 TCEF 的 59 种主要成分，采用网络药理学分析筛选 TCEF 治疗抑郁症的 48 种活性成分，对应 139 个相关靶点，包括 ALB、AKT1、TNF、ESR1 和 CTNNB1。涉及的途径包括神经活性配体-受体相互作用。分子对接结果表明，核心成分与核心靶点具有良好的结合活性。
TCEF 是一种相对安全的抗抑郁药，通过多种成分、靶点和途径发挥治疗作用，为今后使用 TCEF 治疗抑郁症提供了新的思路和理论依据。
