In Silico and in Vivo Studies on the Mechanisms of Chinese Medicine Formula (Gegen Qinlian Decoction) in the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 11 June 2021 doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.665102 In Silico and In Vivo Studies on the Mechanisms of Chinese Medicine Formula (Gegen Qinlian Decoction) in the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis Xiaolu Liu 1,2, Yuling Fan 2, Lipeng Du 2, Zhigang Mei 1,2* and Yang Fu 3* 1Institute of Basic Theory for Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, College of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China, 2Third-Grade Pharmacological Laboratory on Chinese Medicine Approved by State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Medical College of China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China, 3Xiangyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xiangyang, China Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and Gegen Qinlian Decoction (GQD), a Chinese botanical formula, has exhibited beneficial efficacy against UC. However, the mechanisms underlying the effect of GQD still remain to be elucidated. In this study, network pharmacology approach and molecular docking in silico were applied to uncover the potential multicomponent synergetic effect and molecular mechanisms. The targets of ingredients in GQD were obtained from Traditional Chinese Medicine Edited by: Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and Bioinformatics Shao Li, Tsinghua University, China Analysis Tool for Molecular mechANism of TCM (BATMAN-TCM) database, while the UC Reviewed by: targets were retrieved from Genecards, therapeutic target database (TTD) and Online Mert Ilhan, Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database. The topological parameters of Protein- ı Yüzüncü Y l University, Turkey Protein Interaction (PPI) data were used to screen the hub targets in the network. The Fabio Boylan, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland possible mechanisms were investigated with gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and *Correspondence: Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. Zhigang Mei Molecular docking was used to verify the binding affinity between the active [email protected] fi Yang Fu compounds and hub targets. Network pharmacology analysis successfully identi ed [email protected] 77 candidate compounds and 56 potential targets. The targets were further mapped to 20 related pathways to construct a compound-target-pathway network and an Specialty section: integrated network of GQD treating UC. Among these pathways, PI3K-AKT, HIF-1, This article was submitted to Ethnopharmacology, VEGF, Ras, and TNF signaling pathways may exert important effects in the treatment a section of the journal of UC via inflammation suppression and anti-carcinogenesis. In the animal experiment, Frontiers in Pharmacology treatment with GQD and sulfasalazine (SASP) both ameliorated inflammation in UC. The Received: 07 February 2021 Accepted: 01 June 2021 Published: 11 June 2021 Abbreviations: UC, ulcerative colitis; GQD, gegen qinlian decoction; TCMSP, traditional chinese medicine systems phar- Citation: macology database and analysis platform; BATMAN-TCM, bioinformatics analysis tool for molecular mechANism of TCM; Liu X, Fan Y, Du L, Mei Z and Fu Y TTD, therapeutic target database; OMIM, online mendelian inheritance in man; PPI, protein-protein interaction; GO, dene ontology; KEGG, kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes; SASP, sulfasalazine; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; TCM, (2021) In Silico and In Vivo Studies on traditional chinese medicine; GG, pueraria lobata (Willd.) ohwi (Ge-Gen in Chinese); HQ, scutellaria baicalensis georgi the Mechanisms of Chinese Medicine (Huang-Qin in Chinese); HL, coptis chinensis franch (Huang-Lian in Chinese); GC, glycyrrhiza uralensis fisch (Gan-Cao in Formula (Gegen Qinlian Decoction) in Chinese); OB, oral bioavailability; Caco-2, Caco-2 cell permeability; DL, drug-likeness; DAVID, database for annotation, the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis. visualization, and integrated discovery; DSS, dextran sulfate sodium; HPLC, high-performance liquid chromatography; TNF-α, Front. Pharmacol. 12:665102. tumor necrosis factor-α; IL-1β, interleukin-1 beta; IL-6, interleukin-6; EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor erbB1; PI3K, doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.665102 phosphoinositide 3-kinase; AKT, serine/threonine-protein kinase akt-1; Q-marker, quality marker. Frontiers in Pharmacology | www.frontiersin.org 1 June 2021 | Volume 12 | Article 665102 Liu et al. Gegenqinlian Decoction for Ulcerative Colitis proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) induced by UC were significantly decreased by GQD and SASP. Moreover, the protein expression of EGFR, PI3K, and phosphorylation of AKT were reduced after GQD and SASP treatment, and there was no significance between the GQD group and SASP group. Our study systematically dissected the molecular mechanisms of GQD on the treatment of UC using network pharmacology, as well as uncovered the therapeutic effects of GQD against UC through ameliorating inflammation via downregulating EGFR/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and the pro- inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6. Keywords: gegen qinlian decoction (GQD), network pharmacology, molecular docking, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis INTRODUCTION pharmacopoeia, GQD consists of four botanical drugs, namely Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi (Ge-Gen in Chinese, GG), Ulcerative colitis (UC), a subcategory of inflammatory bowel Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (Huang-Qin in Chinese, HQ), disease (IBD), is an idiopathic chronic inflammatory disorder of Coptis chinensis Franch (Huang-Lian in Chinese, HL), and intestinal mucosa or lamina propria (Torres, et al., 2012). The Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch (Gan-Cao in Chinese, GC) at the cardinal symptom of this disease can range from mild to severe ration of 8:3:3:2. Our previous study and clinical studies have with many characteristics, including abdominal pain, diarrhea, revealed that GQD possessed amazing curative effects in the rectal urgency, and bloody stool (Head and Jurenka, 2003). In treatment of UC (Shijun, 2010; Yan et al., 2012; Fan et al., 2019). recent years, the overall incidence and prevalence of UC is However, researches on GQD were limited to single reported to be increased per year (Shivashankar et al., 2017). pharmacological activity, such as alleviating the However, the occurrence and development of UC are connected gastrointestinal function, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial to the etiology and pathology of multiple factors in human body, properties, the overall relationships between compounds and such as age, sex, genetics, environmental factors and pharmacological mechanisms of GQD have not been clarified autoimmunity, which makes UC a complex disease (Ordás in depth (Yu et al., 2005; Xu et al., 2015). Systems network et al., 2012). Notably, with continuous infiltration of immune pharmacology is a newly prominent field that combines multiple cells and repeated stimulation of epithelial cells in intestinal disciplines and techniques and attempts to probe potential mucosa, a risk of tumor initiation on UC also has dramatically molecular mechanisms and relationships by constructing increased (Rubin et al., 2012). Effective treatment is still lacking in biological network models (Huang et al., 2014; Kim et al., clinic, the traditional drug, such as sulfasalazine (SASP) and 2018a). At present, the network pharmacology analysis has glucocorticoids, have severe side effects, which restrict their been largely applied for several TCM formulae widespread use in clinic. Currently, the options of medication pharmacological research such as the Sini powder for the depend on the severity of disease, while 5-Aminosalicylate and treatment of chronic hepatitis, the Banxia Xiexin decoction corticosteroids are recommended for mild to moderate UC against irritable bowel syndrome, and the antidiabetic activity (Bressler et al., 2015). For the patients with moderate to severe of GQD in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, as well as the potential UC, calcineurin inhibitors or biologic agent should be selected mechanisms underlying the formulae effect have also been (Lv et al., 2014). Although there are optimized medical systematically illuminated (Li et al., 2014; Shu et al., 2018; Li management to choose, some patients still require colectomy, et al., 2019). Thus, in current study, the newly network which is an option for decreasing risk of neoplasia and pharmacology-based approach was employed to integrate improvement in health-related quality of life (Gallo et al., active compounds, targets and pathways prediction, and 2018). Therefore, up to now no regular method is fit for every network analysis, which may provide novel insights into the patient, and patients may require multiple and integral treatment therapeutic effects and molecular mechanisms of GQD. In modalities to achieve best therapeutic effect. Fortunately, this addition, in vivo experiment was also conducted to reveal the happened to coincide with the theory of traditional Chinese underlying mechanisms of GQD in the treatment for UC. medicine (TCM) based on the comprehensive and individual medicinal system. TCM has been used clinically in Asia for more than MATERIALS AND METHODS 2000 years, and numerous Chinese botanical medicines can be adopted as an auxiliary treatment for UC (Sałaga et al., 2014). Chemical Ingredients Database Gegen Qinlian decoction (GQD), a well-known Chinese Construction medicinal formula, was originally invented by Zhongjing All components of the four Chinese botanical drugs in GQD were Zhang,