Network pharmacology-based screening of the active ingredients and potential targets of the genus of Pithecellobium marthae (Britton & Killip) Niezgoda & Nevl for application to Alzheimer's disease

Nat Prod Res. 2019 Aug;33(16):2368-2371. doi: 10.1080/14786419.2018.1440222. Epub 2018 Feb 16.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder associated with synaptic dysfunction, pathological accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ), and neuronal loss. Given the prevalence of AD and the lack of effective long-term therapies, there is a pressing need to discover viable leads that can be developed into clinically approved drugs with disease-modifying effects. The analysis of current reported literatures confirms the importance of the plants of Pithecellobium genus as candidate against AD. Hence, it is necessary to identify selective anti-dementia agents from this genus. To explore potential compounds with marked effect on AD in Pithecellobium genus, a compound database based on the methods of network pharmacology prediction was established in this paper by constructing the compound-disease target network. The result showed that the most effective compound in the plants of this genus might be (7'R,8'R)-7'-methoxyl strebluslignanol, and the most potential target might be Macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor.

Keywords: genus; Alzheimer’s disease; network pharmacology.

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease / drug therapy*
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / analysis
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / drug effects
  • Drug Discovery / methods
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / methods*
  • Fabaceae / chemistry*
  • Humans
  • Nootropic Agents / isolation & purification*
  • Nootropic Agents / pharmacology
  • Plant Extracts / chemistry
  • Receptor, Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / antagonists & inhibitors

Substances

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • Nootropic Agents
  • Plant Extracts
  • Receptor, Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor