A Systems-Pharmacology Analysis of Herbal Medicines Used in Health Improvement Treatment: Predicting Potential New Drugs and Targets

Author:

Liu Jianling1,Pei Mengjie1,Zheng Chunli1,Li Yan2,Wang Yonghua3,Lu Aiping4,Yang Ling5

Affiliation:

1. College of Life Science, Northwest University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710000, China

2. Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116000, China

3. Center of Bioinformatics, College of Life Science, Northwest A & F University, Yang ling, Shaanxi 712100, China

4. School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong 999077, Hong Kong

5. Lab of Pharmaceutical Resource Discovery, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, Liaoning 116000, China

Abstract

For thousands of years, tonic herbs have been successfully used all around the world to improve health, energy, and vitality. However, their underlying mechanisms of action in molecular/systems levels are still a mystery. In this work, two sets of tonic herbs, so called Qi-enriching herbs (QEH) and Blood-tonifying herbs (BTH) in TCM, were selected to elucidate why they can restore proper balance and harmony inside body, organ and energy system. Firstly, a pattern recognition model based on artificial neural network and discriminant analysis for assessing the molecular difference between QEH and BTH was developed. It is indicated that QEH compounds have high lipophilicity while BTH compounds possess high chemical reactivity. Secondly, a systematic investigation integrating ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) prediction, target fishing and network analysis was performed and validated on these herbs to obtain the compound-target associations for reconstructing the biologically-meaningful networks. The results suggest QEH enhance physical strength, immune system and normal well-being, acting as adjuvant therapy for chronic disorders while BTH stimulate hematopoiesis function in body. As an emerging approach, the systems pharmacology model might facilitate to understand the mechanisms of action of the tonic herbs, which brings about new development for complementary and alternative medicine.

Funder

National Natural Science Foundation of China

Publisher

Hindawi Limited

Subject

Complementary and alternative medicine

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