Hepatoprotective Effects of a Functional Formula of Three Chinese Medicinal Herbs: Experimental Evidence and Network Pharmacology-Based Identification of Mechanism of Action and Potential Bioactive Components

Abstract

Various Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) have shown beneficial liver protection effects. Jian-Gan-Bao (JGB), a functional herbal formula, consists of three famous CHMs, including Coriolus versicolor, Salvia miltiorrhiza and Schisandra chinensis, which has been used as a folk medicine for several chronic liver diseases. In the present study, we aim systemically to evaluate the effects of JGB on acute and chronic alcoholic liver diseases (ALD) as well as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in mouse models, and identify its potential bioactive components and mechanism of action. JGB showed preventive effects for acute and chronic ALD as well as NAFLD, while post-treatment of JGB showed no significant effect, suggesting the nature of JGB as a health supplement rather than a drug. Furthermore, a compound-target network was constructed to identify the potential bioactive compounds and pathways that regulate its hepatoprotective effects. There are 40 bioactive compounds and 15 related targets that have been identified via this network pharmacology study. Among them are miltirone, neocryptotanshinone II and deoxyshikonin, with desirable pharmaceutical properties. Pathways relating to inflammation, fatty acid oxidation, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production and cell proliferation were predicted as bioactive compounds and potential underlying mechanisms, which should be the focus of study in this field in the future.

Traditional Chinese medicine as supportive care for the management of liver cancer: Past, present, and future

“…Additionally, lack of high-level clinical research evidence severely limits the development of CHM. 108 …”

Combination of high‐resolution accurate mass spectrometry and network pharmacology provides a new method for the chemical constituents’ study and target prediction in vivo of Garcinia multiflora

“…Network pharmacology is a new method based on systems biology, poly‐pharmacology, and molecular networks which can be employed to analyze the relationship between drugs and diseases in recent years . In the studies of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), network pharmacology is extremely popular due to its remarkable ability in illustrating the potential relationships between multiple herbs’ components and targets.…”

Effects of salvianolic acid B on liver fibrosis

“…Salvianolic acid B (Sal B) is the main active component in the water-soluble extract from Salvia miltiorrhiza, which is a traditional Chinese medicine usually used for treating cardiovascular and liver diseases. [ 11 , 12 ] Sal B have various pharmacological effects, such as antagonizing atherosclerosis, alleviating myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, anti-inflammation and alleviation liver injury. [ 13 ] It is reported that Sal B shown a good action against liver fibrosis in animal model experiment via numerous signaling pathways, [ 14 , 15 ] which indicate that Sal B is a potential candidate drug for the treatment of liver fibrosis.…”