Yantiao Formula intervention in Rats with Sepsis: Network Pharmacology and Experimental Analysis

Leilei Zhu; Deng Liu; Menghan Xu; Wenqing Wang; Xudong Xiong; Qianmei Zhou; Rong Shi

doi:10.2174/0113862073262718230921113659

Yantiao Formula intervention in Rats with Sepsis: Network Pharmacology and Experimental Analysis

Comb Chem High Throughput Screen. 2023 Oct 4. doi: 10.2174/0113862073262718230921113659. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Leilei Zhu¹, Deng Liu², Menghan Xu³, Wenqing Wang³, Xudong Xiong³, Qianmei Zhou², Rong Shi³

Affiliations

¹ Shuguang Hospital clinical research center Shanghai China.
² Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine TCM Shanghai China.
³ Shuguang Hospital emergency department Shanghai China.

PMID: 37817514
DOI: 10.2174/0113862073262718230921113659

Abstract

Aim and objective: Traditional Chinese Medicine prescribes Yantiao Formula (YTF; peach kernel, mirabilite, Angelica sinensis, Radix Scrophulariae, raw rhubarb, Radix Paeoniae, Flos Lonicerae, Forsythia, and Ophiopogon japonicus) to treat sepsis. Clinically, it reduced the inflammatory response of sepsis. It also reduced lung damage by decreasing the level of TNF-α in septic rats' serum. Using network pharmacology analysis, we investigated the efficacy network and mechanism of YTF in treating sepsis.

Materials and methods: We used the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and a Bioinformatics Analysis Tool for Molecular Mechanisms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (BATMAN-TCM) combined with literature to collect the main components in YTF and their targets. DisGeNET and GENECARDS databases were used for sepsis-related targets. Cytoscape 3.7.1 software was used to construct the herbcomponent- target and ingredient-target-disease interaction protein-protein interaction networks of YTF. The jvenn was used to perform the intersection of YTF targets and sepsis targets. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis were performed． We also created a sepsis rat model using cecal ligation and perforation and stimulated alveolar macrophages (NR8383) with endotoxin to investigate the mechanisms of YTF.

Results: GO, and KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that these targets involved mineralocorticoid secretion, aldosterone secretion, active regulation of chronic inflammatory response, the exogenous coagulation pathway, and other pathophysiology. It was linked to various inflammatory factors and the MAPK pathway. YTF inhibits the p38MAPK pathway and decreases TNF- α, IL-6, and CXCL8 levels.

Conclusion: YTF has a multi-component, multi-target, and multi-channel role in treating sepsis. The primary mechanisms may involve inhibiting the p38MAPK pathway to reduce the inflammatory response.

Keywords: Network pharmacology; Yantiao Fang; sepsis; inflammatory reaction; p38MAPK pathway.