High-throughput chinmedomics strategy for discovering the quality-markers and potential targets for Yinchenhao decoction

BACKGROUND

Yinchenhao decoction (YCHD) has been widely applied in the clinic for various kinds of liver disease, especially for the therapy of dampness-heat jaundice syndrome (DHJS). Some studies have investigated the pharmacological activity and compositions of YCHD. However, its Q-markers and the action targets are still unrevealed.

PURPOSE

This work aims to clarify the therapeutic effect of YCHD against DHJS and discover the quality-markers (Q-markers) of YCHD based on the high-throughput chinmedomics strategy and then predict the potential targets and action mechanism of YCHD against DHJS.

METHODS

Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) combined with pattern recognition method was utilized to analyze serum samples and urine samples. Multivariate data analysis and network pharmacology technology were used to identify the effective components and biomarkers associated with therapeutic effects.

RESULTS

With the high sensitivity UPLC-MS technology, a total of 69 compounds from YCHD were identified and 41 of them were absorbed in blood. Besides, 34 urine biomarkers from DHJS were identified. Of note, we utilized chinmedomics technology on the correlation analysis of urine biomarkers and absorbed components to determine 9 core-compounds as the Q-markers responsible for the efficacy of YCHD. Finally, a total of 12 potential targets were discovered.

CONCLUSION

This work provides a powerful method for clarifying the efficacy of TCM and discovering the effective ingredients as Q-markers.

Rapid discovery of quality-markers from Kaixin San using chinmedomics analysis approach

BACKGROUND

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a progressive neurodegenerative disease, is more common disease of dementia among the elderly by multiple factors and presents enormous challenges in terms of diagnosis and treatment. Kaixin San (KXS), is a classic prescription for the treatment of memory decline and applied for AD nowadays. However, the quality-markers of KXS for the treatment of AD remain unclear.

PURPOSE

To investigate the effects and potential quality-markers of KXS against an APP/PS1 transgenic mouse model of AD.

METHODS

Two month old APP/PS1 transgenic model mice of AD were orally given KXS for 10 month to intervene. Through the novel object recognition (NOR), the classic Morris water maze (MWM), immunohistochemistry detection of Aβ1-42, Hematoxylin-eosin staining (HE), blood metabolic profiling evaluated the therapeutic effect of KXS on AD. PCMS software was applied to analysis correlations between biomarkers and serum constituents and became a powerful tool for excavating effective material basis. Behavior, histopathology and Chinmedomics were applied for assessing the efficacy and discovering potential quality-markers.

RESULTS

The result of MWM showed oral KXS could shorten the escape latency and increased the times of crossing the platform. The result of NOR showed oral KXS increased discrimination index (DI). Though the histopathology, KXS reduced the necrosis of neuron in brain tissue and the deposition of Aβ1-42. Chinmedomics strategy was used to analyze the biomarkers and blood components. KXS called back 20 biomarkers of AD. The effective material basis of KXS was ginsenoside Rf, ginsenoside F1, 20-O-glucopyranosyl ginsenoside Rf, dehydropachymic acid and E-3, 4, 5-trimethoxycinnamic acid.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrate that KXS significantly improved cognitive function of transgenic mice of AD, repaired the damage caused by Aβ, regulated amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism abnormalities and determined the effective material basis of KXS treating AD. Clarifying the quality-markers of KXS can establish scientific quality standard to reflect the safety and effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

A novel concept of Q-markers: Molecular connectivity index

BACKGROUND

Drugs derived from botany have been playing essential role in both clinical treatment and pharmaceutical industry, unfortunately our worry is still that its quality and therapeutic efficacy are inconsistent. Recently many scientists launched a new project on quality (Q)-marker of medicinal herbs, this study was thus designed to generate a novel concept of quality (Q)-markers: molecular connectivity index (MCI), and to test and verify the new concept of molecular connectivity index (MCI).

METHODS

The first-order term (¹χ) was selected to calculate and study quality (Q)-marker for TCM. Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (HCT) was adopted as a model to verify the hypothesis. Volatile oils of HCT were determined using gas chromatography-mass (GC-MS). SIMCA 13.0 and SPSS 21.0 were used to deal with the data.

RESULTS

The minimum of the MCI values was 1.273, belonging to the peak 15, but the maximum (12.822) belonged to the peak 34, and the average value of fifty volatile oils was 5.798. The results demonstrated that MCI was the principle component, and monoterpenoid and sesquiterpenoid were also the principle components in oils. Fig. 2a shows peak 5, 24, 34 were the significant ingredients, while Fig. 2b shows peak 2, 5, 24 were the significant components.

CONCLUSION

The data demonstrated that MCI was associated with the structure of molecules and the therapeutic efficacy, MCI could directly exhibit the relationship between ingredients and effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). So MCI could be a potential and promising parameter for quality (Q)-marker. Therefore, MCI may be developed as a novel potential concept to control the quality of TCM.