Ralli Tanya, Alhalmi Abdulsalam
Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, COER University, Roorkee 247667, India.
Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Aden, Aden 8916162, Yemen.
Asian Biomed (Res Rev News). 2025 Apr 30;19(2):78-85. doi: 10.2478/abm-2025-0010. eCollection 2025 Apr.
With the increasing prevalence of metabolic disorders such as obesity and hyperlipidemia, there is a heightened tendency for inflammation in the hepatocytes, which can eventually progress to liver fibrosis. Despite its high incidence, no approved treatment currently exists for liver fibrosis.
This study aims to identify potential herbal drugs with anti-fibrotic activity by targeting multiple pathways involved in liver fibrosis, particularly focusing on the Tumour growth factor-beta (TGF-β) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) proteins.
We conducted in silico studies on 9 widely used herbal drugs to evaluate their binding affinities for TGF-β and TNF-α receptors. The herbal drugs analyzed included ginseng, danshen, silymarin, resveratrol, berberine, anthocyanin, ginger, curcumin, and tocopherol.
Our results indicate that ginseng and danshen exhibit the strongest anti-fibrotic potential, with the most favorable binding energies for both TGF-β and TNF-α receptors. Silymarin, resveratrol, berberine, and anthocyanin also demonstrated comparable or superior activity to the reference drug and pirfenidone. Conversely, ginger, curcumin, and tocopherol showed relatively lower activity.
Herbal drugs such as ginseng and danshen present promising candidates for the treatment of liver fibrosis due to their strong binding affinity to key fibrosis-related proteins and their lower side effect profile compared with synthetic drugs. The appropriate selection and combination of these herbal drugs could offer a viable therapeutic approach for managing liver fibrosis.
随着肥胖和高脂血症等代谢紊乱的患病率不断上升,肝细胞发生炎症的倾向增加,最终可发展为肝纤维化。尽管肝纤维化发病率很高,但目前尚无获批的治疗方法。
本研究旨在通过靶向参与肝纤维化的多种途径,特别是肿瘤生长因子-β(TGF-β)和肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)蛋白,来确定具有抗纤维化活性的潜在草药。
我们对9种广泛使用的草药进行了计算机模拟研究,以评估它们对TGF-β和TNF-α受体的结合亲和力。分析的草药包括人参、丹参、水飞蓟素、白藜芦醇、黄连素、花青素、生姜、姜黄素和生育酚。
我们的结果表明,人参和丹参表现出最强的抗纤维化潜力,对TGF-β和TNF-α受体具有最有利的结合能。水飞蓟素、白藜芦醇、黄连素和花青素也表现出与参考药物和吡非尼酮相当或更优的活性。相反,生姜、姜黄素和生育酚的活性相对较低。
人参和丹参等草药因其对关键纤维化相关蛋白的强结合亲和力以及与合成药物相比更低的副作用,成为治疗肝纤维化的有前景的候选药物。这些草药的适当选择和组合可为肝纤维化的管理提供一种可行的治疗方法。