Evaluating the efficacy and mechanisms of Hua-Zhuo-Ning-Fu-Decoction on psoriasis using integrated bioinformatics analysis and metabolomics.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Hua Zhuo Ning Fu Decoction (HZD) is an empirical prescription from traditional Chinese medicine that shows excellent clinical results for psoriasis patients. Uncertainty lingered over HZD's potential anti-psoriasis mechanisms. AIM OF THE STUDY: The study's objective is to investigate the pharmacological processes and therapeutic effects of HZD on psoriasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the initial phase of the study, an investigation was conducted to assess the effects of HZD on psoriasis-afflicted mice using an imiquimod (IMQ)-induced murine model. The experimental mice were randomly allocated to different groups, including the IMQ-induced model group, the control group, the HZD therapy groups with varying dosage levels (low, medium, and high), and Dexamethasone (DEX, the positive control medicine) group. Bioinformatics analysis and molecular docking were subsequently employed to identify the primary components and molecular targets associated with the therapeutic action of HZD in the context of psoriasis. Additionally, to find the impacts on metabolite regulation, plasma metabolomics based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF/MS) was used. It's interesting to note that the combined mechanisms from metabolomics were examined in tandem with the targets. In vivo tests were the last step in validating the potential mechanism. Throughout the trial, the following data were recorded: body weight, psoriasis area and severity index (PASI). The molecular targets connected to HZD's anti-psoriasis activities were revealed using histological examination, western blot (WB), and ELISA investigation. RESULTS: In mice induced with IMQ, HZD shown good anti-psoriasis effects in terms of PASI score and epidermal acanthosis. 95 HZD targets and 77 bioactive chemicals connected to psoriasis were found by bioinformatics research; of these, 7 key targets (EPHX2, PLA2G2A, TBXAS1, MAOA, ALDH1A3, ADH1A, and ADH1B) were linked to the mechanisms of HZD, the combination degree of which was finally expressed by the score of docking. In addition, HZD regulated nine metabolites. In line with this, HZD modified three metabolic pathways. Additionally, a combined examination of 7 key targets and 9 metabolites suggested that the metabolism of arachidonic acid might be the key metabolic route, which was identified by ELISA analysis. The in vivo investigation shown that HZD could control cytokines associated to inflammation (IL-10, TGF-ß, IL-17A, and IL-23), as well as important antioxidant system markers (ROS, GSH, and MDA). Moreover, HZD controlled iron levels and the expression of ferroptosis-related proteins (ACSL4 and GPX4), suggesting that ferroptosis played a crucial role in this process. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrated the whole mechanism and anti-psoriasis effectiveness of HZD, which will promote its clinical application and aid in the investigation of new bioactive components of HZD against psoriasis.

Potential mechanism of Taohong Siwu Decoction in uterine fibroid treatment based on integrated strategy of network pharmacology and experimental verification.

BACKGROUND: Taohong Siwu Decoction (THSWD) is a widely prescribed Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for treating gynecological diseases. It is used to treat uterine fibroids (UF) in China, while its potential therapeutic effects and mechanism are unknown. METHODS: The present study used network pharmacology to identify PI3K/AKT as one of the main THSWD signaling pathways that can be targeted to treat UF. The potential binding sites of miR-21-5p to PTEN were predicted using online databases. We were able to establish a UF rat model successfully. We selected the 15% THSWD serum after preparing THSWD drug-containing serum to culture tumor tissue-derived cells. These studies enabled us to assess the role of THSWD in UF improvement. RESULTS: In vivo, we observed that low, medium, and high doses of THSWD improved histological changes in UF rats by increasing the expression levels of PTEN and miR-21-5p in their uterus while decreasing the expression levels of p-PI3K, p-AKT, and miR-21-5p. Treatment with THSWD medicated serum (15%) effectively inhibited the proliferation of cells derived from human UF and promoted apoptosis in vitro. PI3K phosphorylation, Akt phosphorylation, and miR-21-5p expression were decreased, while PTEN and cleaved caspase-3 were increased. These findings were reversed by administering 740 Y-P (a PI3K/Akt pathway agonist) and a miR-21-5p mimic. In addition, the double luciferase reporter gene assay confirmed the targeted binding relationship between miR-21-5p and PTEN. CONCLUSIONS: THSWD inhibited the expression and activation of the PI3K/AKT and miR-21-5p/PTEN pathways, resulting in anti-UF activity in leiomyoma cell models. Our findings suggest that THSWD could be used to treat UF.

Origin identification of Cornus officinalis based on PCA-SVM combined model.

Infrared spectroscopy can quickly and non-destructively extract analytical information from samples. It can be applied to the authenticity identification of various Chinese herbal medicines, the prediction of the mixing amount of defective products, and the analysis of the origin. In this paper, the spectral information of Cornus officinalis from 11 origins was used as the research object, and the origin identification model of Cornus officinalis based on mid-infrared spectroscopy was established. First, principal component analysis was used to extract the absorbance data of Cornus officinalis in the wavenumber range of 551~3998 cm-1. The extracted principal components contain more than 99.8% of the information of the original data. Second, the extracted principal component information was used as input, and the origin category was used as output, and the origin identification model was trained with the help of support vector machine. In this paper, this combined model is called PCA-SVM combined model. Finally, the generalization ability of the PCA-SVM model is evaluated through an external test set. The three indicators of Accuracy, F1-Score, and Kappa coefficient are used to compare this model with other commonly used classification models such as naive Bayes model, decision trees, linear discriminant analysis, radial basis function neural network and partial least square discriminant analysis. The results show that PCA-SVM model is superior to other commonly used models in accuracy, F1 score and Kappa coefficient. In addition, compared with the SVM model with full spectrum data, the PCA-SVM model not only reduces the redundant variables in the model, but also has higher accuracy. Using this model to identify the origin of Cornus officinalis, the accuracy rate is 84.8%.

The efficacy and safety of Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction combined with Mifepristone in the treatment of uterine leiomyoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Uterine leiomyoma (UL) is a common severe gynecological issue. In China, Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction (XFZYD), combined with Mifepristone, is widely used in the treatment of UL. However, their combined effectiveness and safety for this purpose have not yet been explored. AIM OF THE STUDY: This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of XFZYD combined with Mifepristone as a method of treatment for UL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched the following 7 databases: 3 English medical databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library), and 4 Chinese medical databases (Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), and the Wanfang database). The primary outcome was the effect of XFZYD combined with Mifepristone on the effective rate, uterine leiomyoma volume (ULV), and uterine volume (UV) of uterine leiomyoma. Bias risk was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. The software RevMan5 was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies and process the data. RESULTS: The 11 studies included in this systematic review were all undertaken in China, with a total of 902 participants. The meta-analysis of XFZYD combined with Mifepristone compared with Mifepristone alone showed that the effective rate (RR 1.20, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14-1.27, P < 0.00001), ULV (SMD -1.60, 95% CI: 2.11 to -1.08, P < 0.00001), and UV (SMD -1.65, 95% CI: 1.85 to -1.44, P < 0.00001) in the primary outcomes, and estradiol (E2) (MD -51.81, 95% CI: 69.68 to -33.94, P < 0.00001), luteinizing hormone (LH) (MD -3.09, 95% CI: 3.58 to -2.60, P < 0.00001), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) (MD -1.09, 95% CI: 1.86 to -0.31, P = 0.006), progesterone (P) (MD -3.55, 95% CI: 4.54 to -2.55, P < 0.00001), and adverse events (RR 0.55, 95% CI: 0.34-0.89), P = 0.01) in the secondary outcomes were significantly reduced, and the data were statistically significant. The subgroups of ULV, E2, and FSH showed that the treatment time might not have been the heterogeneous source of ULV and FSH, but was the heterogeneous source of E2. Sensitivity analysis was carried out on the 3 outcome indicators, and the results were relatively stable after excluding one reference for each indicator. CONCLUSION: There is some encouraging evidence that the combination of XFZYD and Mifepristone can benefit patients by treating UL. However, because of research shortcomings such as lacking allocation concealment and blindness, this study's results should be treated with caution. In order to verify the advantages of this method, it is necessary to carry out further large-scale randomized controlled trials.

The efficacy and safety of Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction combined Mifepristone in the treatment of Uterine leiomyoma: A protocol systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Uterine leiomyoma (UL) is a common severe gynecological issue. In China, Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction (XFZYD), combined with Mifepristone, is widely used in the treatment of UL. However, their combined effectiveness and safety for this purpose have not yet been explored. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of XFZYD combined with Mifepristone as a method of treatment for UL. METHODS: We searched the following 7 databases: 3 English medical databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library), and 4 Chinese medical databases (Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), and the Wanfang database). The primary outcome was the effect of XFZYD combined with Mifepristone on the effective rate, uterine leiomyoma volume (ULV), and uterine volume (UV) of uterine leiomyoma. Bias risk was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. The software RevMan5 was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies and process the data. RESULTS: This study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of XFZYD combined with Mifepristone in the treatment of uterine fibroids by evaluating the effective rate, Uterine Leiomyoma volume, and uterine volume, the incidence of estradiol, luteinizing hormone, and other indicators. CONCLUSION: This study will provide reliable evidence-based evidence for Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction Combined with Mifepristone in the treatment of uterine fibroids. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Private information from individuals will not be published. This systematic review also does not involve endangering participant rights. Ethical approval will not be required. The results may be published in a peer-reviewed journal or disseminated at relevant conferences. OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/YADN3.