Network Pharmacological Analysis and Experimental Validation of the Effect of Smilacis Glabrae Rhixoma on Gastrointestinal Motility Disorder

Gastrointestinal motility disorder (GMD) is a disease that causes digestive problems due to inhibition of the movement of the gastrointestinal tract and is one of the diseases that reduce the quality of life of modern people. Smilacis Glabrae Rhixoma (SGR) is a traditional herbal medicine for many diseases and is sometimes prescribed to improve digestion. As a network pharmacological approach, we searched the TCMSP database for SGR, reviewed its constituents and target genes, and analyzed its relevance to gastrointestinal motility disorder. The effects of the SGR extract on the pacemaker activity in interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) and gastric emptying were investigated. In addition, using the GMD mouse model through acetic acid (AA), we investigated the locomotor effect of SGR on the intestinal transit rate (ITR). As a result of network pharmacology analysis, 56 compounds out of 74 candidate compounds of SGR have targets, the number of targets is 390 targets, and there are 904 combinations. Seventeen compounds of SGR were related to GMD, and as a result of comparing the related genes with the GMD-related genes, 17 genes (active only) corresponded to both. When looking at the relationship network between GMD and SGR, it was confirmed that quercetin, resveratrol, SCN5A, TNF, and FOS were most closely related to GMD. In addition, the SGR extract regulated the pacemaker activity in ICC and recovered the delayed gastric emptying. As a result of feeding the SGR extract to AA-induced GMD mice, it was confirmed that the ITR decreased by AA was restored by the SGR extract. Through network pharmacology, it was confirmed that quercetin, resveratrol, SCN5A, TNF, and FOS were related to GMD in SGR, and these were closely related to intestinal motility. Based on these results, it is suggested that SGR in GMD restores digestion through the recovery of intestinal motility.

Myasthenia gravis: The pharmacological basis of traditional Chinese medicine for its clinical application

We aimed to investigate the target and signal pathway of Smilacis Glabrae Rhixoma (SGR) in the treatment of myasthenia gravis (MG) based on network pharmacology, and to explore its potential molecular mechanism. The main active components of SGR were searched in the pharmacology database of traditional Chinese medicine systems, and analysis platform. The related targets of SGR were obtained by Genecards, connective tissue disease, therapeutic target database, Drugbank, and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man database. Moreover, the target information was corrected through UniProtKB and also, this data integrated to draw the "Ingredients-targets" network of SGR. Protein interaction analysis was performed in data platform, gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways as well as enrichment analysis on disease-drug target was carried out through metascape online platform. A total of 15 active components were collected from SGR, which correspond to 159 targets; There were 1758 MG-related targets; there are 81 targets related to both drug components and diseases, including 12 key targets. In GO bioaccumulation analysis, 1933 GO items were gathered, which were mainly related to the metabolism of active oxygen species and the active factors of postsynaptic neurotransmitter receptor. According to KEGG analysis, SGR may play a role in the treatment of MG through phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase-protein kinase B signaling pathway, T-cell receptor, cAMP, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and interleukin-17 (IL-17) signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation, endocrine resistance, hepatitis, and some cancer pathways. This study shows that SGR mainly treat myasthenia gravis through the regulation of TNF, MAPK1, JUN, TP53 and other targets, T-cell receptor, TNF, and IL-17 signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation and other pathways, which reflects the characteristics of multicomponent, multitarget, and multichannel of traditional Chinese medicine, and providing a certain pharmacological basis for the follow-up study.