Uncovering the mechanism of the effects of Paeoniae Radix Alba on iron-deficiency anaemia through a network pharmacology-based strategy

Abstract

Background: Paeoniae Radix Alba, the root of the plant Paeonia lactiflora Pall, is a common blood-enriching drug in traditional Chinese medicine. Its effectiveness in the clinical treatment of anaemia is remarkable, but its potential pharmacologic mechanism has not been clarified. Methods: In this study, the potential pharmacologic mechanism of Paeoniae Radix Alba in the treatment of iron-deficiency anaemia was preliminarily elucidated through systematic and comprehensive network pharmacology. Results: Specifically, we obtained 15 candidate active ingredients from among 146 chemical components in Paeoniae Radix Alba. The ingredients were predicted to target 77 genes associated with iron-deficiency anaemia. In-depth analyses of these targets revealed that they were mostly associated with energy metabolism, cell proliferation, and stress responses, suggesting that Paeoniae Radix Alba helps alleviate irondeficiency anaemia by affecting these processes. In addition, we conducted a core target analysis and a cluster analysis of protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. The results showed that four pathways, the p53 signalling pathway, the IL-17 signalling pathway, the TNF signalling pathway and the AGE-RAGE signalling pathway in diabetic complications, may be major pathways associated with the ameliorative effects of Paeoniae Radix Alba on iron-deficiency anaemia. Moreover, molecular docking verified the credibility of the network for molecular target prediction. Conclusions: Overall, this study predicted the functional ingredients in Paeoniae Radix Alba and their targets and uncovered the mechanism of action of this drug, providing new insights for advanced research on Paeoniae Radix Alba and other traditional Chinese medicines.

Integrated Phytochemical Analysis Based on UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS, Network Pharmacology, and Experiment Verification to Explore the Potential Mechanism of Platycodon grandiflorum for Chronic Bronchitis

“…In general, molecules with “Oral bioavailability”(OB) ≥ 30% and “Drug likeness”(DL) ≥ 0.18 are considered to have better pharmacological effects, therefore this standard is also often used when screening for the active ingredients of drugs ( Alam et al., 2015 ; Li Z. et al., 2020 ; Meng et al., 2020 ; Ye et al., 2020 ).…”

“…used when screening for the active ingredients of drugs (Alam et al, 2015;Li Z. et al, 2020;Meng et al, 2020;Ye et al, 2020).…”

“…Network pharmacology is a theory based on systems biology, and emphasizes the multichannel regulation of signaling pathways, which coincides with the characteristics of multiingredient-multitargets of TCM ( Zhang et al., 2019 ; Li W. J. et al., 2020 ; Ou et al., 2020 ). Network pharmacology integrates TCM, active ingredients of TCM, TCM targets, disease targets, constructs drug-ingredients-gene symbols-disease four-dimensional graphs, and comprehensively analyzes common targets of Chinese medicine ingredients on diseases, and thoroughly analyzes target genes, proteins, and signal pathways, to identify possible mechanism of Chinese medicine treatment to treat diseases ( Park et al., 2018 ; Yang et al., 2019 ; Ye et al., 2020 ). Therefore, the network pharmacology approach is a tool that is sufficient to identify the mechanism underlying the treatment of CB by PG.…”

<p>Research Progress on Classical Traditional Chinese Medicine Jieyu Pills in the Treatment of Depression</p>

“…It is commonly used for blood deficiency, irregular menstruation, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, flank pain, abdominal pain, limb pain, headache, and dizziness. 6,7 Previous studies showed that PRA could be used for anti-inflammatory effects, 8 immune regulation, 9 treatment of depression 10,11 and anemia, 12 promotion of peripheral nerve regeneration, 13 and treatment of viral infections. 14 Modern studies of pharmacological mechanisms have found that the main active components of PRA include paeoniflorin, paeonol, paeonin, benzoylpaeoniflorin, albiflorin, oxypaeoniflorin, paeoniflorigenone, benzoic acid, β-sitosterol, and gal-lotannin.…”

Network Pharmacology Integrated Molecular Docking Analysis of Potential Common Mechanisms of Shu-Feng-Jie-Du Capsule in the Treatment of SARS, MERS, and COVID-19

“…Simultaneously, the top 10 core targets interacting with ACE2 were found through the STRING database. 16…”