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This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of "Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus" (GX) on phlegm and blood stasis syndrome (PBSS) rats combining the methods of network pharmacology and experimental verification. Animal experiment ethical requirements were approved by the Ethical Committee Experimental Animal Center of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine (grant number: AHUCM-rats-2021070). Based on the HPLC-Q-TOF-MS analysis and database, 69 chemical constituents of GX and 163 targets of GX for the treatment of phlegm and blood stasis-related cardiovascular diseases were obtained. Then, key targets such as serine/threonine kinase 1 (Akt1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin 6 (IL6), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), cellular tumor antigen p53 (Tp53) were screened. Pathway analysis showed that the targets of GX in the treatment of phlegm and blood stasis-relate cardiovascular diseases were mainly involved in PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, sphingolipid metabolism, platelet activation, hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), ras-proximate-1 (rap1) and other signaling pathways. In addition, molecular docking analysis showed that apigenin, cucurbitacin D, linolenic acid and kaempferol and other key components had potential binding ability with Akt1, TNF, IL6, VEGFA and Tp53. In the animal experiments, compared to the phlegm and blood stasis syndrome group, GX could significantly improve the traditional Chinese medicine syndrome score, blood lipid, vascular endothelial structure disorders and reduce serum endothelin-1 (ET-1) level, increase serum nitric oxide (NO) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) levels, which could restore aortic endothelial function. In addition, the expression of intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in aorta could be significantly reduced, which could improve the vascular endothelial injury of aorta. Western blot revealed that GX could significantly decrease the phosphorylation levels of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and Akt in aorta. This study revealed the mechanism of GX in treatment of phlegm and blood stasis-relate cardiovascular diseases is consistent with the characteristics of multiple ingredients, multiple targets and multiple pathways. In addition, this study also clarified that the reversal of pathological of phlegm and blood stasis syndrome rats may be related to GX inhibiting PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, which could improve vascular inflammation and vascular endothelial function injury.
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In this study, ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS)-based liver metabolomics approach was used to explore the mechanism of "Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus" in improving atherosclerosis(AS) of mice with apolipoprotein E gene knockout(ApoE~(-/-)). AS mouse model was induced by high-fat diet. The pathological and biochemical indexes such as the histopathological changes, body weight, liver weight, blood lipid level and inflammatory factors in the liver of mice were determined. The metabolic profiling of mice liver samples was performed with UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. Multiple statistical analysis methods including partial least squares discriminant analysis(PLS-DA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA) were employed to screen and identify biomarkers. The levels of related enzymes including LCAT, sPLA2, EPT1 and ACER1 were detected. The results showed that "Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus" significantly reduced the areas of aortic plaque and fat vacuoles of liver in AS mice and decreased the accumulation of lipid droplets and liver coefficient. "Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus" also regulated the levels of blood lipid and inflammatory injury in the liver. The metabolites of the control group, the model group and the "Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus" group could be distinguished significantly. Fifteen potential biomarkers related to AS were discovered and preliminarily identified, seven of which could be regulated by "Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus" in a trend of returning to normal. Metabolic pathway analysis screened out two major metabolic pathways. "Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus" obviously regulated the levels of LCAT, sPLA2, EPT1 and ACER1. It was inferred that "Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus" could play a major role in AS treatment by regulating glycerophospholipid and sphingolipid metabolism disorders in the liver, with the mechanism probably relating to the intervention of the expression of LCAT, sPLA2, EPT1 and ACER1.
Assuntos
Animais , Camundongos , Apolipoproteínas E/genética , Aterosclerose/genética , Cromatografia Líquida de Alta Pressão , Medicamentos de Ervas Chinesas , Fígado , MetabolômicaRESUMO
OBJECTIVE Atherosclerosis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the accumulation of lipids, vascular fibrosis, and inflammation. Paeonol (Pae) is a natural phenolic compounds isolated from a traditional Chinese medicine, Cortex Moutan, which exhibits anti-AS effects. Our previous work demonstrated that gut microbiota plays an important role during AS treatment as it affects the efficacy of Pae. However, the mechanism of Pae in protect?ing against vascular fibrosis as related to gut microbiota has yet to be elucidated. To investigate the anti-fibrosis effect of Pae on AS mice and demonstrate the underlying gut microbiota-dependent mechanism. METHODS ApoE-/- mice were fed with high-fat-diet (HFD) to replicate the AS model. HE and Masson staining were used to observe the plaque forma?tion and collagen deposition. Gut microbiota alteration and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) production were analyzed through 16S rRNA sequencing and LC-MS/MS. The frequency of immune cells in spleen were phenotyped by flow cytometry. The mRNA expression of aortic inflammatory cytokines were detected by qRT-PCR. The protein expression of LOX and fibrosis related indicators were examined by Western blotting. RESULTS Pae restricted the development of AS and collagen deposition. Notably, the anti-fibrosis effect of Pae was achieved by regulating the gut microbiota. 16S rRNA sequencing and LC-MS/MS data indicated that the relative abundance of SCFAs-producing bacteria and SCFAs production was increased. Additionally, Pae administration selectively up-regulated the frequency of regulatory T (Treg) cells as well as down-regulated the ratio of T helper type 17 (Th17) cells in the spleen of AS mice, improving the Treg/Th17 balance. In addition, as expected, Pae intervention significantly down-regulate the mRNA expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-αand IL-17 in the aorta tissue, up-regulate the levels of anti-inflammatory factor IL-10, a marker of Treg cells. Finally, Pae's intervention in the gut microbiota resulted in the restoration of the balance of Treg/Th17, which indirectly down-regulated the protein expression level of LOX and fibrosis-related indicators (MMP-2/9 and collagenⅠ/Ⅲ). CONCLUSION Pae attenuates vascular fibrosis in a gut microbiota-dependent manner. The under?lying protective mechanism is associated with the improved Treg/Th17 balance in spleen mediated through the increased microbiota-derived SCFAs production.
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Objective:Based on the hyperlipidemia rat model and network pharmacology technology, the mechanism of action of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs against hyperlipidemia was analyzed. Method:The levels of blood lipids and inflammatory factors were measured through prophylactic administration of low, medium and high-dose Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs in hyperlipidemia rats. The active ingredients of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs were screened out through Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and text mining. The targets of active ingredients screened through the Swiss Target Prediction, Similarity ensemble approach (SEA), DrugBank database. The disease targets were collected through Therapeutic Target Database (TTD), Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), DrugBank, DisGeNET database. The targets of active ingredients and disease target were integrated, and screened through topological parameters to gain the main candidate targets of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs against hyperlipidemia. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis and the gene ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis were conducted through ClueGO and Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID), respectively. The traditional Chinese medicine-chemical ingredient-target network model, and the target-pathway network model were constructed through Cytoscape, and their crosstalk target and signal pathway were analyzed. Result:Animal experiments showed that the prophylactic administration of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs significantly reduced the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in serum of rats with hyperlipidemia, increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) levels, and inhibited the expressions of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). According to the findings, 27 active ingredients, such as mandenol, diosmetin and α-spinasterol, might be the main active ingredients of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs, 16 crosstalk targets and 10 signal pathways might be the main therapeutic targets and pathways, main targeting apolipoprotein A1 (APOA1), apolipoprotein A2 (APOA2), apolipoprotein C3 (APOC3), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and other crosstalk targets affected cholesterol metabolism, bile secretion, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) signaling pathway in regulating the lipid level, targeting tumor necrosis factor (TNF), IL-6, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1), C-C motif chemokine 2 (CCL2) and other crosstalk targets affected tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, interleukin-17 (IL-17) signaling pathway, and hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) signaling pathway in regulating the inflammatory factor level. The DAVID database for GO enrichment analysis showed that the hyperlipidemia was treated mainly through biological processes, such as inflammation, lipid localization, storage and lipid metabolism. Conclusion:These findings can predict the mechanism of action of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs against hyperlipidemia, and provide a theoretical basis for the material basis and clinical application of Trichosanthis Fructus-Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus herb pairs.
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The MS and multi-MS spectra of gambogic acid and gambogenic acid in positive ion detection mode were analyzed by electrospray ion trap mass spectrometry (ESI-QITMS) and their cleavage patterns were summarized. Gamboge samples were separated by a Kromasil C18 column and analyzed by HPLC-PDA and MS. Sixteen xanthones could be separated and detected, A collision induced dissociation (CID) experiment was carried out. Molecular weight and UV spectra with of these compounds were obtained. Ten xanthone compounds in Gamboge were identified by online photodiode array detection-MS(n) and by comparing with data from literature. It is expected to develop a comprehensive quality control method for this kind of compounds in commonly used herbal preparation especially in structure analysis of trace substances.