HPLC-MS and Network Pharmacology Analysis to Reveal Quality Markers of Huo-Xue-Jiang-Tang Yin, a Chinese Herbal Medicine for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Huo-Xue-Jiang-Tang Yin (HXJTY) is a Chinese medicine formulation, which has been widely used for the treatment of various lipometabolism- and glycometabolism-related diseases in clinics. Currently, HXJTY is mainly prescribed to treat patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), yet its chemical and pharmacologic profiles remain to be elucidated. Here, the potential bioactive compound and action mechanism were investigated using chemical and network pharmacology analysis. A rapid HPLC-MS was employed to identify and quantify the component of HXJTY. On the basis of the identified chemical markers from HXJTY, a network pharmacology study, including target gene prediction and functional enrichment, was applied to screen out the main quality markers of HXJTY and explore its potential mechanism for the treatment of T2DM. The results showed that a total of 22 components were identified and quantified from HXJTY by HPLC-MS. Furthermore, 12 active components such as astragaloside IV, calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside, hydroxysafflor yellow A, and others were proposed as quality markers of HXJTY for treating T2DM based on network pharmacology analysis. In addition, 125 corresponding possible therapeutic target genes of T2DM were obtained. These target genes are mainly related to peptidase activity, hydrolase activity, phosphatase activity, and cofactor binding, suggesting the involvement of PI3K-Akt, MAPK, AGE-RAGE, and Rap1 signaling pathways in HXJTY-treated T2DM. Our results may provide a useful approach to identify potential quality markers and molecular mechanism of HXJTY for treating T2DM.

Detoxification technology and mechanism of processing with Angelicae sinensis radix in reducing the hepatotoxicity induced by rhizoma Dioscoreae bulbiferae in vivo

“…Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the great treasure of the Chinese nation, plays an important value with its unique advantages (He et al, 2019;Luo et al, 2019;Jiang et al, 2020;Lin et al, 2020;Qiu et al, 2020;Wu et al, 2021). However, more recently, with the wide application of TCM, adverse reactions (like hepatotoxicity) have been attracted growing attention worldwide (Xie et al, 2020a;Liu et al, 2021;Zhang S. et al, 2021). Therefore, how to reduce the liver toxicity is the key link to ensure the safety of TCM (Chu et al, 2017;Zhou et al, 2018;Jin et al, 2019;Ruan et al, 2019;Deng et al, 2020;Zhang W. et al, 2021).…”

“…The “using Chinese botanical drugs to process other Chinese botanical drugs” method is the principle of processing the primary medicine by using a certain TCM as processing adjuvant in the processing technology, which could attenuate drug toxic reaction ( Huang et al, 2011 ; Su et al, 2016 ; Shan et al, 2018 ; Jiang T. et al, 2021 ; Zhang K. et al, 2021 ; Zhang M. et al, 2021 ; Ota and Makino, 2022 ) or (and) increase the synergistic effect ( Huang et al, 2011 ; Lu et al, 2018 ; Wang J. et al, 2019 ; Liao et al, 2021 ; Kong et al, 2022 ; Wang T. et al, 2022 ). Angelicae Sinensis Radix (ASR) is sweet in taste and warm in nature ( Chen Q. et al, 2021 ), and has been proved to have a variety of pharmacological effects such as hepatoprotective ( Hua et al, 2014 ), anti-oxidation ( Nai et al, 2021 ), and its main pharmacological components have been proved to significantly reduce liver damage induced by carbon tetrachloride ( Wang et al, 2020 ), ethanol ( Wang et al, 1997 ), and concanavalin A ( Wang et al, 2016 ). In addition, previous studies ( Wu et al, 2020a ; Wang C. et al, 2022 ) indicated that processing with ASR effectively reduced RDB - induced hepatotoxicity .…”

Active Compounds and Targets of Yuanzhi Powder in Treating Alzheimer’s Disease and Its Relationship with Immune Infiltration Based on HPLC Fingerprint and Network Pharmacology

“…However, it cannot discriminate between quality indicators, which indicate its effectiveness, and chemical markers. Network pharmacology involving HPLC has shown promise in illustrating TCM active compounds and pharmacological mechanisms [21].…”

Component-Effect Relationship between HPLC Fingerprints and Lipid-Lowering Activity of Buyang Huanwu Decoction

“…According to the research report, peak 14 is calycosin-7-glucoside [ 21 , 22 ], identified as a compound in BHD by comparing Figure 3 , and peak 16 was ononin. Calycosin-7-glucoside has good antioxidant activity [ 23 ] Studies have shown that calycosin-7-glucoside may play a potential role in the treatment of type 2 diabetes [ 24 ]. Calycosin-7-glucoside and ononin in the human small intestine triggered by β -glucosidase-induced deglycosylation can produce calycosin and formononetin, as a result, the aglycones can be absorbed effectively into the blood circulation [ 25 ], calycosin and formononetin have been shown to be activators of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR α and PPAR- γ ) [ 26 ].…”