Investigating the medicinal potential, material basis and mechanism of Polygoni Orientalis Fructus based on multi-technology integrated network pharmacology

Kai Chen; Jianjiang Qu; Hongwei Chen; Jue Wang; Huilian Hua; Jindong Li; Lei Zhou; Wei Zhang; Zheng Li

doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2021.153685

Investigating the medicinal potential, material basis and mechanism of Polygoni Orientalis Fructus based on multi-technology integrated network pharmacology

Phytomedicine. 2021 Oct:91:153685. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2021.153685. Epub 2021 Jul 25.

Authors

Kai Chen¹, Jianjiang Qu¹, Hongwei Chen², Jue Wang², Huilian Hua¹, Jindong Li¹, Lei Zhou³, Wei Zhang⁴, Zheng Li⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy, The Hospital Affiliated to Medical School of Yangzhou University (Taizhou People's Hospital), Taizhou, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China.
³ Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Cardiovascular Drugs Targeting Endothelial Cells, College of Health Sciences, School of Life Science, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China. Electronic address: wzhang@must.edu.mo.
⁵ Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Cardiovascular Drugs Targeting Endothelial Cells, College of Health Sciences, School of Life Science, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China; State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Peking University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: lizhengcpu@163.com.

PMID: 34339945
DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2021.153685

Abstract

Background: Polygoni Orientalis Fructus (POF) refers to the dried ripe fruit of Polygonum orientale L. which has a long historical application in clinic for treatment of various conditions in China. However, its chemical constituents, pharmacological effects and their coupled correlation have not been intensively investigated.

Purpose: In present work, we aimed to elucidate the medicinal material basis, optimum indication and corresponding therapeutic mechanism of POF.

Methods: The main phytochemical ingredients in POF were characterized by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis. The optimum medicinal potential and corresponding molecular mechanism of POF were deduced based on integrated statistic pattern recognition and network pharmacology. The deduced pharmacologic efficacy and mechanism of POF were further validated through in vitro study in free-fatty acid (FFA)-induced LO₂ cells.

Results: Total 30 main phytochemical ingredients were identified in POF in which 18 ingredients were screened to yield 277 potential targets. Based on analyzing the quantitative data matrix of drug-disease targets by statistic pattern recognition, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was screened as the optimum indication of POF from 23 candidate diseases. Promising action targets (PPARG, IL6, TNF, IL1B, IKBKB, RELA, etc.) and signaling pathways (AMPK signaling pathway, NF-κB signaling pathway, etc.) were screened and refined to elucidate the therapeutic mechanism of POF against NAFLD based on network pharmacology. In vitro study demonstrated that POF effectively alleviated FFA-induced steatosis, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation, and these beneficial effects were attributed to the activation of AMPK signaling pathway and suppression of NF-κB signaling pathway.

Conclusion: POF could be exploited as a promising phytotherapy in the treatment of NAFLD.

Keywords: Integrative analysis; Mechanism; Medicinal material basis; NAFLD; Polygoni Orientalis Fructus.

MeSH terms

Adenylate Kinase
Cell Line
Drugs, Chinese Herbal* / pharmacology
Fruit / chemistry
Hepatocytes / drug effects
Humans
NF-kappa B
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease* / drug therapy
Polygonum / chemistry*
Signal Transduction

Substances

Drugs, Chinese Herbal
NF-kappa B
Adenylate Kinase