Discovery of anti-flu substances and mechanism of Shuang-Huang-Lian water extract based on serum pharmaco-chemistry and network pharmacology.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Shuang-Huang-Lian preparation has captured wide attention since its clinical applications for the successful treatment of upper respiratory tract infection. However, its functional basis under actual therapeutic dose in vivo was still unrevealed. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aimed to reveal the anti-flu substances and mechanism of Shuang-Huang-Lian water extract (SHL) on H1N1 infected mouse model by a strategy based on serum pharmaco-chemistry under actual therapeutic dose and network pharmacology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: H1N1 infected mouse model was employed for evaluation of the anti-flu effects of SHL. A simultaneous quantification method was developed by UPLC-TQ-XS MS coupled switch-ions mode and applied to characterize the pharmacokinetics of the multiple components of SHL under actual therapeutic dose. The potential active ingredients were screened out based on their pharmacokinetic parameters. And then, a compound mixture of these active candidates was re-evaluated for the anti-flu activity on H1N1 infected mouse model. Furthermore, the anti-flu mechanism of SHL was also predicted by network pharmacology coupled with the experimental result. RESULTS: SHL significantly increased the survival rate and prolonged survival days on H1N1 infected mice at a dosage of 20 g crude drug/kg/day by reversing the increased lung index, down-regulating the inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6) and inhibiting the release of IFN-ß in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF). Concomitantly, the pharmacokinetic parameters of fourteen quantified and twenty-one semi-quantified constituents of SHL were characterized. And then, five compounds (baicalin, sweroside, chlorogenic acid, forsythoside A and phillyrin), which displayed satisfactory pharmacokinetic features, were considered as potential active ingredients. Thus, a mixture of these five ingredients was administered to H1N1-infected mice at a dose of 4.24 mg/kg/day. As a result, the therapeutical effects of the mixture were similar to SHL in terms of survival rate, lung index and the release of cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6) in BALF. Moreover, network pharmacology analysis indicated that the TNF-signal pathways might play a role in the anti-flu mechanism of SHL. CONCLUSIONS: A mixture of five compounds (baicalin, sweroside, chlorogenic acid, forsythoside A and phillyrin) were the anti-flu substances of SHL. The strategy based on serum pharmaco-chemistry under actual therapeutic dose provided a new sight on exploring in vivo effective substances of TCM.

A combination of representative compounds, metabolism platform and diagnostic extraction strategy for characterization of metabolites of Shuang-Huang-Lian oral liquid in vivo by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) usually contained a large number of chemical components, which could be transformed into more complex metabolites in vivo. In this work, a "Representative compounds-Metabolism platform-Diagnostic extraction" strategy (RMD strategy) was proposed for comprehensively identification or characterization of xenobiotics in rat after oral administration of TCMs. Shuang-Huang-Lian oral liquid (SHL), a well-known traditional Chinese medicine preparation, was used as an example. The metabolic pathways of six representative compounds, bearing five different core structures in SHL, were elucidated and their metabolic reactions were employed for exploring metabolites of homologous components in metabolism platform. Meanwhile, diagnostic ions extraction were also used for screening more structural analogues in biofluids. All this work was completed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled electrospray ionization quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Qtof MS) and UNIFI metabolism platform. As a result, a total of 254 xenobiotics were identified or tentatively characterized in rat plasma and urine after oral administration of SHL and six representative compounds. The metabolism reaction included phase I reaction (hydroxylation, hydrolysis reaction, deglycosylation, hydrogenation, demethylation, dehydroxylation and ring opening reaction) and phase II reaction (glucuronidation, sulfation and methylation). This research provided useful information for further study of the pharmacology and mechanism of SHL in vivo. It also demonstrated that RMD strategy was an efficient approach for facilitate screening-out and rapid identification of xenobiotics in biological samples after oral administration of TCMs.