Network pharmacology implicates traditional Chinese medicine in regulating systemic homeostasis to benefit Alzheimer's disease

Sheng-Tzung Tsai; Hsin-Yi Huang

doi:10.4103/tcmj.tcmj_125_22

Network pharmacology implicates traditional Chinese medicine in regulating systemic homeostasis to benefit Alzheimer's disease

Tzu Chi Med J. 2023 Feb 13;35(2):120-130. doi: 10.4103/tcmj.tcmj_125_22. eCollection 2023 Apr-Jun.

Authors

Sheng-Tzung Tsai^{1

2}, Hsin-Yi Huang³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation and Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
² Neuro-Medical Scientific Center, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan.
³ Department of Medical Research, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan.

Abstract

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has the characteristics of multi-component, multi-target, and biological systems coordination, which meet the criteria of the network pharmacological application. Therefore, using network pharmacology to discover the relationship between TCM, diseases, and cellular responses is easily achievable. Aging-induced imbalanced homeostasis is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), a neuronal disease regulated by multiple genes. Meta-analysis of TCM in metabolic regulation to improve symptoms of AD helps understand the pharmacological effects. The drug targets of TCM can be investigated using a holistic network pharmacology approach to find potential modulators involved in AD-related metabolic pathways. Based on the theoretical prediction of TCM for AD, experimental validation is needed to develop pure compounds for specific treatments.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Network pharmacology; Traditional Chinese medicine.

Publication types

Review