A Systems Pharmacology-Based Study of the Molecular Mechanisms of San Cao Decoction for Treating Hypertension
Chongyang Ma, Changming Zhai, Tian Xu, Fang Lü, Shuang Zhang, Changxiang Li, Qingguo Wang, Fafeng Cheng, Xueqian Wang · Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine · 2019
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a longstanding history and has gained widespread clinical applications. San Cao Decoction (SCD) is an experience prescription first formulated by Prof. Duzhou Liu. We previously demonstrated its antihypertensive effects; however, to systematically explain the underlying mechanisms of action, we employed a systems pharmacology approach for pharmacokinetic screening and target prediction by constructing protein-protein interaction networks of hypertension-related and putative SCD-related targets, and Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery enrichment analysis. We identified 123 active compounds in SCD and 116 hypertension-related targets. Furthermore, the enrichment analysis of the drug-target network showed that SCD acts in a multidimensional manner to regulate PI3K-Akt-endothelial nitric oxide synthase signaling to maintain blood pressure. Our results highlighted the molecular mechanisms of antihypertensive actions of medicinal herbs at a systematic level.