*Corresponding author:
Rong Qiang LIU, College of Basic Medicine, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, ChinaReceived: September 14, 2018; Published: October 01, 2018
DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.09.001810
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Introduction: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a healthcare and societal priority and the cost of care and the burden on caregivers keep increasing. Danggui-shaoyao-san (DSS), a classic formula of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been widely used in the treatment of AD. Although well-practiced in clinical medicine, its molecular mechanisms in the treatment of AD remain to be elucidated.
Material and Methods: The candidate compounds of DSS were collected from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), the pharmacological indices of each candidate including oral bioavailability and drug-likeness were analyzed, and the protein target of the candidate and corresponding genes were retrieved from TCMSP and UniProt Knowledgebase, respectively. The potential pathways associated with the genes were identified by using the functional annotation tool of The Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery bioinformatics resource 6.8.
Results: A total of 534 compounds were retrieved from DSS, and 31 active compounds and 58 targets relevant to AD were obtained. Further analysis of gene enrichment acquired 79 significant pathways that interacted with 53 of those AD targets, such as modulating neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, calcium signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway and cAMP signaling pathway.
Conclusions: The network pharmacology-based study reveals that DSS’s favorable potency on AD may be associated with its 31 bioactive compounds that interact on 53 targets of AD through 79 significant pathways and may provide a preliminary evidence on how DSS treat AD through multiple components, targets and pathways.
Keywords: Danggui Shaoyao San; Alzheimer’s Diseases; Network Pharmacology
Abstract | Introduction | Material and Methods | Results| Discussion| Conclusion| Acknowledgement| References|