Sera and lungs metabonomics reveals key metabolites of resveratrol protecting against PAH in rats

Network pharmacology provides new insights into the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine and natural products used to treat pulmonary hypertension

BACKGROUND

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a rare cardiovascular disease with high morbidity and mortality rates. It is characterized by increased pulmonary arterial pressure. Current research into relevant therapeutic drugs and targets for PH, however, is insufficient still. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and natural products have a long history as therapeutics for PH. Network pharmacology is an approach that integrates drug-target interactions and signaling pathways based on biomarkers information obtained from drug and disease databases. The concept of network pharmacology shows many similarities with the TCM philosophy. Network pharmacology help elucidate the mechanisms of TCM in PH. This review presents representative applications of network pharmacology in the study of the mechanisms of TCM and natural products for the treatment of PH.

METHODS

In this review, we used ("pulmonary hypertension" OR "pulmonary arterial hypertension" OR "chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension") AND ("network pharmacology" OR "systematic pharmacology") as keywords to search for reports from PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases from ten years ago. The studies were screened and those chosen are summarized here. The TCM and natural products inPH and their corresponding targets and signaling pathways are described. Additionally, we discuss the application of network pharmacology in the study of TCM in PH to provide insights for future application strategies.

RESULTS

Network pharmacology have shown that AKT-related pathways, HIF-1 signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, TGF-β-Smad pathway, cell cycle-related pathways and inflammation-related pathways are the main signaling pathways enriched in the PH targets of TCM. Reservatrol, curcumol, genistin, formononetin, wogonin, luteolin, baicalein, berberine, triptolide and tanshinone llA are active ingredients specific for PH treatment. A number of databases and tools specific for the treatment of PH are used in network pharmacology and natural product research.

CONCLUSION

Through the reasonable combination of molecular docking, omics technology and bioinformatics technology, the mechanism of multi-targets can be explained more comprehensively. Analyzing the complex mechanism of TCM from the clinical perspective may be a potential development trend of network pharmacology. Combination of predicted targets and traditional pharmacology improves efficiency of drug development.

Metabolomics in Pulmonary Hypertension-A Useful Tool to Provide Insights into the Dark Side of a Tricky Pathology

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a multifaceted illness causing clinical manifestations like dyspnea, fatigue, and cyanosis. If left untreated, it often evolves into irreversible pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), leading to death. Metabolomics is a laboratory technique capable of providing insights into the metabolic pathways that are responsible for a number of physiologic or pathologic events through the analysis of a biological fluid (such as blood, urine, and sputum) using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy or mass spectrometry. A systematic review was finalized according to the PRISMA scheme, with the goal of providing an overview of the research papers released up to now on the application of metabolomics to PH/PAH. So, eighty-five papers were identified, of which twenty-four concerning PH, and sixty-one regarding PAH. We found that, from a metabolic standpoint, the hallmarks of the disease onset and progression are an increase in glycolysis and impaired mitochondrial respiration. Oxidation is exacerbated as well. Specific metabolic fingerprints allow the characterization of some of the specific PH and PAH subtypes. Overall, metabolomics provides insights into the biological processes happening in the body of a subject suffering from PH/PAH. The disarranged metabolic pathways underpinning the disease may be the target of new therapeutic agents. Metabolomics will allow investigators to make a step forward towards personalized medicine.

Small molecule metabolites: discovery of biomarkers and therapeutic targets

Metabolic abnormalities lead to the dysfunction of metabolic pathways and metabolite accumulation or deficiency which is well-recognized hallmarks of diseases. Metabolite signatures that have close proximity to subject's phenotypic informative dimension, are useful for predicting diagnosis and prognosis of diseases as well as monitoring treatments. The lack of early biomarkers could lead to poor diagnosis and serious outcomes. Therefore, noninvasive diagnosis and monitoring methods with high specificity and selectivity are desperately needed. Small molecule metabolites-based metabolomics has become a specialized tool for metabolic biomarker and pathway analysis, for revealing possible mechanisms of human various diseases and deciphering therapeutic potentials. It could help identify functional biomarkers related to phenotypic variation and delineate biochemical pathways changes as early indicators of pathological dysfunction and damage prior to disease development. Recently, scientists have established a large number of metabolic profiles to reveal the underlying mechanisms and metabolic networks for therapeutic target exploration in biomedicine. This review summarized the metabolic analysis on the potential value of small-molecule candidate metabolites as biomarkers with clinical events, which may lead to better diagnosis, prognosis, drug screening and treatment. We also discuss challenges that need to be addressed to fuel the next wave of breakthroughs.

Natural Products for the Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension: Mechanism, Progress, and Future Opportunities

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a lethal disease due to the remodeling of pulmonary vessels. Its pathophysiological characteristics include increased pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance, leading to right heart failure and death. The pathological mechanism of PH is complex and includes inflammation, oxidative stress, vasoconstriction/diastolic imbalance, genetic factors, and ion channel abnormalities. Currently, many clinical drugs for the treatment of PH mainly play their role by relaxing pulmonary arteries, and the treatment effect is limited. Recent studies have shown that various natural products have unique therapeutic advantages for PH with complex pathological mechanisms owing to their multitarget characteristics and low toxicity. This review summarizes the main natural products and their pharmacological mechanisms in PH treatment to provide a useful reference for future research and development of new anti-PH drugs and their mechanisms.

Prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons could increase the risk of low birth weight by affecting the DNA methylation states in a Chinese cohort

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as a kind of endocrine disruptors, can enter the fetus body cross the placental barrier from prenatal PAHs exposure to cause adverse birth outcomes. However, it is controversial association between prenatal PAHs exposure and low birth weight (LBW) of their infants. So the present study aimed to estimate the effects of prenatal PAHs exposure during the pregnancy on the risk of LBW in a Chinese cohort through modifying the DNA methylation states. A longitudinal prospective study with 407 pregnant women was established from May to October 2019. The prenatal PAHs exposure during the pregnancy was assessed using the internal dose such as the PAHs metabolites and PAH-DNA adducts in the umbilical cord blood. The methylation levels of genomic DNA and growth-related genes (IGF1 and IGF2) were assessed, while the expressions of these genes were both determined by RT-PCR and Elisa methods. The growth outcomes and relevant Z-scores were recorded at birth. The correlations between the DNA methylation status and concentrations of PAHs, expression levels of growth-related genes and body weight/WAZ were investigated as the measures. According to the PAH-DNA adducts, the subjects were divided into two groups: PAHs-exposed group (PAH-DNA adducts>0, n = 55) and non-exposed group (PAH-DNA adducts = 0, n = 352). Compared with the non-exposed group, it displayed marked decreased birth weight, and increased concentrations of PAHs and DNA methylation levels of the global genomic, IGF1 and IGF2 with their lower expressions in the PAHs-exposed group. These hypermethylation (global genomic, CpG14 and CpG15 of IGF1, and CpG14 of IGF2) were positively correlated with the contents of PAHs in the umbilical cord blood, and negatively correlated with the growth outcomes and their expressions. Totally, prenatal PAHs exposures may contribute to an increased risk of LBW of their infants by modulating the DNA methylation states of genomic DNA and growth-related genes (IGF1 and IGF2) in the umbilical cord blood, which could provide the prenatal prevention of PAHs exposure from possible environmental media except from the occupation and tobacco usage to ensure the health of their infants.