In Silico and in Vivo Studies on the Mechanisms of Chinese Medicine Formula (Gegen Qinlian Decoction) in the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

In Silico and in Vivo Studies on the Mechanisms of Chinese Medicine Formula (Gegen Qinlian Decoction) in the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis 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,
Recommended publications
  • Molecular Structure and Physiological Function of Chloride Channels
    Physiol Rev 82: 503–568, 2002; 10.1152/physrev.00029.2001. Molecular Structure and Physiological Function of Chloride Channels THOMAS J. JENTSCH, VALENTIN STEIN, FRANK WEINREICH, AND ANSELM A. ZDEBIK Zentrum fu¨r Molekulare Neurobiologie Hamburg, Universita¨t Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany I. Introduction 504 II. Cellular Functions of Chloride Channels 506 A. Plasma membrane channels 506 B. Channels of intracellular organelles 507 III. The CLC Chloride Channel Family 508 A. General features of CLC channels 510 B. ClC-0: the Torpedo electric organ ClϪ channel 516 C. ClC-1: a muscle-specific ClϪ channel that stabilizes the membrane voltage 517 D. ClC-2: a broadly expressed channel activated by hyperpolarization, cell swelling, and acidic pH 519 Ϫ E. ClC-K/barttin channels: Cl channels involved in transepithelial transport in the kidney and the Downloaded from inner ear 523 F. ClC-3: an intracellular ClϪ channel that is present in endosomes and synaptic vesicles 525 G. ClC-4: a poorly characterized vesicular channel 527 H. ClC-5: an endosomal channel involved in renal endocytosis 527 I. ClC-6: an intracellular channel of unknown function 531 J. ClC-7: a lysosomal ClϪ channel whose disruption leads to osteopetrosis in mice and humans 531 K. CLC proteins in model organisms 532 on October 3, 2014 IV. Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator: a cAMP-Activated Chloride Channel 533 A. Structure and function of the CFTR ClϪ channel 533 B. Cellular regulation of CFTR activity 534 C. CFTR as a regulator of other ion channels 534 V. Swelling-Activated Chloride Channels 535 A. Biophysical characteristics of swelling-activated ClϪ currents 536 B.
    [Show full text]
  • Soy Isoflavones: Database Development, Estrogenic Activity of Glycitein and Hypocholesterolemic Effect of Daidzein Tongtong Song Iowa State University
    Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1998 Soy isoflavones: database development, estrogenic activity of glycitein and hypocholesterolemic effect of daidzein Tongtong Song Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Agriculture Commons, Food Science Commons, and the Human and Clinical Nutrition Commons Recommended Citation Song, Tongtong, "Soy isoflavones: database development, estrogenic activity of glycitein and hypocholesterolemic effect of daidzein " (1998). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 12528. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/12528 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly fi-om the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter fece, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.
    [Show full text]
  • The Phytochemistry of Cherokee Aromatic Medicinal Plants
    medicines Review The Phytochemistry of Cherokee Aromatic Medicinal Plants William N. Setzer 1,2 1 Department of Chemistry, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899, USA; [email protected]; Tel.: +1-256-824-6519 2 Aromatic Plant Research Center, 230 N 1200 E, Suite 102, Lehi, UT 84043, USA Received: 25 October 2018; Accepted: 8 November 2018; Published: 12 November 2018 Abstract: Background: Native Americans have had a rich ethnobotanical heritage for treating diseases, ailments, and injuries. Cherokee traditional medicine has provided numerous aromatic and medicinal plants that not only were used by the Cherokee people, but were also adopted for use by European settlers in North America. Methods: The aim of this review was to examine the Cherokee ethnobotanical literature and the published phytochemical investigations on Cherokee medicinal plants and to correlate phytochemical constituents with traditional uses and biological activities. Results: Several Cherokee medicinal plants are still in use today as herbal medicines, including, for example, yarrow (Achillea millefolium), black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa), American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), and blue skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora). This review presents a summary of the traditional uses, phytochemical constituents, and biological activities of Cherokee aromatic and medicinal plants. Conclusions: The list is not complete, however, as there is still much work needed in phytochemical investigation and pharmacological evaluation of many traditional herbal medicines. Keywords: Cherokee; Native American; traditional herbal medicine; chemical constituents; pharmacology 1. Introduction Natural products have been an important source of medicinal agents throughout history and modern medicine continues to rely on traditional knowledge for treatment of human maladies [1]. Traditional medicines such as Traditional Chinese Medicine [2], Ayurvedic [3], and medicinal plants from Latin America [4] have proven to be rich resources of biologically active compounds and potential new drugs.
    [Show full text]
  • Flavonoids and Isoflavonoids Biosynthesis in the Model
    plants Review Flavonoids and Isoflavonoids Biosynthesis in the Model Legume Lotus japonicus; Connections to Nitrogen Metabolism and Photorespiration Margarita García-Calderón 1, Carmen M. Pérez-Delgado 1, Peter Palove-Balang 2, Marco Betti 1 and Antonio J. Márquez 1,* 1 Departamento de Bioquímica Vegetal y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Química, Universidad de Sevilla, Calle Profesor García González, 1, 41012-Sevilla, Spain; [email protected] (M.G.-C.); [email protected] (C.M.P.-D.); [email protected] (M.B.) 2 Institute of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, P.J. Šafárik University in Košice, Mánesova 23, SK-04001 Košice, Slovakia; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +34-954557145 Received: 28 April 2020; Accepted: 18 June 2020; Published: 20 June 2020 Abstract: Phenylpropanoid metabolism represents an important metabolic pathway from which originates a wide number of secondary metabolites derived from phenylalanine or tyrosine, such as flavonoids and isoflavonoids, crucial molecules in plants implicated in a large number of biological processes. Therefore, various types of interconnection exist between different aspects of nitrogen metabolism and the biosynthesis of these compounds. For legumes, flavonoids and isoflavonoids are postulated to play pivotal roles in adaptation to their biological environments, both as defensive compounds (phytoalexins) and as chemical signals in symbiotic nitrogen fixation with rhizobia. In this paper, we summarize the recent progress made in the characterization of flavonoid and isoflavonoid biosynthetic pathways in the model legume Lotus japonicus (Regel) Larsen under different abiotic stress situations, such as drought, the impairment of photorespiration and UV-B irradiation. Emphasis is placed on results obtained using photorespiratory mutants deficient in glutamine synthetase.
    [Show full text]
  • Diet, Autophagy, and Cancer: a Review
    1596 Review Diet, Autophagy, and Cancer: A Review Keith Singletary1 and John Milner2 1Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois and 2Nutritional Science Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland Abstract A host of dietary factors can influence various cellular standing of the interactions among bioactive food processes and thereby potentially influence overall constituents, autophagy, and cancer. Whereas a variety cancer risk and tumor behavior. In many cases, these of food components including vitamin D, selenium, factors suppress cancer by stimulating programmed curcumin, resveratrol, and genistein have been shown to cell death. However, death not only can follow the stimulate autophagy vacuolization, it is often difficult to well-characterized type I apoptotic pathway but also can determine if this is a protumorigenic or antitumorigenic proceed by nonapoptotic modes such as type II (macro- response. Additional studies are needed to examine autophagy-related) and type III (necrosis) or combina- dose and duration of exposures and tissue specificity tions thereof. In contrast to apoptosis, the induction of in response to bioactive food components in transgenic macroautophagy may contribute to either the survival or and knockout models to resolve the physiologic impli- death of cells in response to a stressor. This review cations of early changes in the autophagy process. highlights current knowledge and gaps in our under- (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(7):1596–610) Introduction A wealth of evidence links diet habits and the accompa- degradation. Paradoxically, depending on the circum- nying nutritional status with cancer risk and tumor stances, this process of ‘‘self-consumption’’ may be behavior (1-3).
    [Show full text]
  • Influence of Carbon Sources on Growth and GC-MS Based Metabolite Profiling of Arnica Montana L
    Turkish Journal of Biology Turk J Biol (2015) 39: 469-478 http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/biology/ © TÜBİTAK Research Article doi:10.3906/biy-1412-37 Influence of carbon sources on growth and GC-MS based metabolite profiling of Arnica montana L. hairy roots 1, 1 2 2 2 Maria PETROVA *, Ely ZAYOVA , Ivayla DINCHEVA , Ilian BADJAKOV , Mariana VLAHOVA 1 Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria 2 AgroBioInstitute, Sofia, Bulgaria Received: 08.12.2014 Accepted/Published Online: 17.02.2015 Printed: 15.06.2015 Abstract: Arnica montana L. (Asteraceae) is an economically important herb that contains numerous valuable biologically active compounds accumulated in various parts of the plant. The effects of carbon sources (sucrose, maltose, and glucose) at different concentrations (1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, and 9%) on growth were studied and GC-MS based metabolite profiling of A. montana hairy roots was conducted. The optimal growth and biomass accumulation of transformed roots were observed on an MS nutrient medium containing 3% or 5% sucrose. GC-MS analysis of hairy roots of A. montana showed the presence of 48 compounds in polar fractions and 22 compounds in apolar fractions belonging to different classes of metabolites: flavones, phenolic acids, organic acids, fatty acids, amino acids, sugars, sugar alcohols, hydrocarbons etc. Among the various metabolites identified, only the sugars and sugar alcohols were influenced by the concentration of the respective carbon sources in the nutrient medium. Key words: Arnica, transformed roots, carbon sources, GC-MS analysis 1. Introduction Thiruvengadam et al., 2014; Shakeran et al., 2015). It is The perennial herb Arnica montana L.
    [Show full text]
  • Science Based Authentication of Dietary Supplements
    University of Mississippi eGrove Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2010 Science Based Authentication of Dietary Supplements: Studies on the Chemical Constituents, Analytical Method and Biological Activities of Scutellaria Spp and Pfaffiaaniculata P Jing Li Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd Part of the Plant Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Li, Jing, "Science Based Authentication of Dietary Supplements: Studies on the Chemical Constituents, Analytical Method and Biological Activities of Scutellaria Spp and Pfaffiaaniculata P " (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 179. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/179 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SCIENCE BASED AUTHENTICATION OF DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS ---STUDIES ON THE CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS, ANALYTICAL METHOD AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF SCUTELLARIA SPP AND PFAFFIA PANICULATA KUNTZE A Dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Pharmacognosy The University of Mississippi JING LI Nov. 2010 Copyright © 2010 by Jing Li All rights reserved ii ABSTRACT During the last decade, the use of herbal medicine has expanded globally and gained popularity. With the tremendous expansion in the use of herbal medicine worldwide, safety and efficacy as well as quality control of herbal medicines have become more and more issues of concern for both health authorities and the public. Although herbal medicine has been in use for hundreds to thousands years, very limited science-based data exist to explicit its chemical constituents, pharmacological activities and toxicity.
    [Show full text]
  • Consumption of Lactobacillus Acidophilus and Bifidobacterium Longum Do Not Alter Urinary Equol Excretion and Plasma Reproductive Hormones in Premenopausal Women
    European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2004) 58, 1635–1642 & 2004 Nature Publishing Group All rights reserved 0954-3007/04 $30.00 www.nature.com/ejcn ORIGINAL COMMUNICATION Consumption of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium longum do not alter urinary equol excretion and plasma reproductive hormones in premenopausal women MJL Bonorden1, KA Greany1, KE Wangen1, WR Phipps2, J Feirtag1, H Adlercreutz3 and MS Kurzer1* 1Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA; 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA; and 3Division of Clinical Chemistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland Objective: To confirm the results of an earlier study showing premenopausal equol excretors to have hormone profiles associated with reduced breast cancer risk, and to investigate whether equol excretion status and plasma hormone concentrations can be influenced by consumption of probiotics. Design: A randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel-arm trial. Subjects: In all, 34 of the initially enrolled 37 subjects completed all requirements. Intervention: All subjects were followed for two full menstrual cycles and the first seven days of a third cycle. During menstrual cycle 1, plasma concentrations of estradiol (E2), estrone (E1), estrone-sulfate (E1-S), testosterone (T), androstenedione (A), dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S), and sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were measured on cycle day 2, 3, or 4, and urinary equol measured on day 7 after a 4-day soy challenge. Subjects then received either probiotic capsules (containing Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium longum) or placebo capsules through day 7 of menstrual cycle 3, at which time both the plasma hormone concentrations and the post-soy challenge urinary equol measurements were repeated.
    [Show full text]
  • Research Article Human Environmental Disease Network: a Computational Model to Assess Toxicology of Contaminants1
    ALTEX Online first published October 21, 2016 https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.1607201 Research Article Human Environmental Disease Network: A computational model to assess toxicology of contaminants1 Olivier Taboureau1,2,3and Karine Audouze1,2 1INSERM UMR-S973, Molécules Thérapeutiques in silico, Paris, France; 2 University of Paris Diderot, Paris, France; 3Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark Summary During the past decades, many epidemiological, toxicological and biological studies have been performed to assess the role of environmental chemicals as potential toxicants for diverse human disorders. However, the relationships between diseases based on chemical exposure have been rarely studied by computational biology. We developed a human environmental disease network (EDN) to explore and suggest novel disease-disease and chemical-disease relationships. The presented scored EDN model is built upon the integration on systems biology and chemical toxicology using chemical contaminants information and their disease relationships from the reported TDDB database. The resulting human EDN takes into consideration the level of evidence of the toxicant-disease relationships allowing including some degrees of significance in the disease-disease associations. Such network can be used to identify uncharacterized connections between diseases. Examples are discussed with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Additionally, this computational model allows to confirm already know chemical-disease links (e.g. bisphenol A and behavioral disorders) and also to reveal unexpected associations between chemicals and diseases (e.g. chlordane and olfactory alteration), thus predicting which chemicals may be risk factors to human health. With the proposed human EDN model, it is possible to explore common biological mechanism between two diseases through chemical exposure helping us to gain insight into disease etiology and comorbidity.
    [Show full text]
  • Herbal Therapy in the Treatment of Drug Addiction
    HERBAL THERAPY IN THE TREATMENT OF DRUG ADDICTION Laxman Singh*, Renu Suyal and I. D. Bhatt G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development, Kosi- Katarmal, Almora, Uttarakhand, India *Correspondence: [email protected] ABSTRACT A search for novel herbal therapy for the phenomenon of substance abuse has progressed significantly in the past decade. The powerful potential of phytotherapy being equally competent to the counterpart i.e. synthetic analogue and is presumed to be safe without any side effects. As a result of which a large numbers of herbal formulations are being prepared and are being tested for its psychotherapeutic potential in a variety of animal models. The objective of this article is to highlight some of the herbal extracts from the Indian sub-constituents, having significant therapeutic potential against drug addiction. Herbal remedies, although have demonstrable psychotherapeutic potentials, but proper scientific validation with adequate proof is still in its initial stage. Hence, in future studies it deserves special attention, taking into considerations the growing rate of abuse addiction. Keywords: Phytotherapy, Drug addiction, Herbal therapy. INTRODUCTION globe consume one drug or the other (Sharma et al., 2017). Plants have evolved intrinsic mechanisms to synthesize an array To an estimate, the binge alcohol addiction alone results into of biologically active compounds that are in turn important for 2.5 million death per year, while, cocaine, heroin and other them to survive and perpetuate. One such special category of drugs accounts to about 0.1 to 0.2 million deaths per year plants are the psychoactive plants, which have been used since (UNDOC 2010).
    [Show full text]
  • Phenolic Compounds and Uses in Fruit Growing A,B Melekber SULUSOGLU * Akocaeli University, Arslanbey Agricultural Vocational School, TR-41285, Kocaeli/Turkey
    Turkish Journal of Agricultural and Natural Sciences Special Issue: 1, 2014 TÜRK TURKISH TARIM ve DOĞA JOURNAL of AGRICULTURAL BİLİMLERİ DERGİSİ and NATURAL SCIENCES www.turkjans.com Phenolic Compounds and Uses in Fruit Growing a,b Melekber SULUSOGLU * aKocaeli University, Arslanbey Agricultural Vocational School, TR-41285, Kocaeli/Turkey. bKocaeli University, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Department of Horticulture, TR-41380, Kocaeli/Turkey *Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract Phenolic compounds are a class of chemical compounds in organic chemistry which consist of a hydroxyl group directly bonded to an aromatic hydrocarbon group. Phenolic compounds find in cell wall structures and play a major role in the growth regulation of plant as an internal physiological regulators or chemical messengers. They are used in the fruit growing field. They are related with defending system against pathogens and stress. They increase the success of tissue culture; can be helpful to identification of fruit cultivars, to determination of graft compatibility and identification of vigor of trees. They are also important because of their contribution to the sensory quality of fruits during the technological processes. In this review, the simple classification was given for these compounds and uses in the agricultural field were described. Key words: Phenolic compounds, fruit quality, fruit growing, cultivar identification, grafting, tree vigor Fenolik Bileşikler ve Meyve Yetiştiriciliğinde Kullanımı Özet Aromatik hidrokarbon grubuna bağlı bir hidroksil grubu içeren fenolik bileşikler organik kimyanın bir sınıfıdır. Fenolik bileşikler hücre duvarı yapısında bulunmakta ve içsel bir fizyolojik düzenleyici veya kimyasal haberci olarak bitki büyümesinin organizasyonunda önemli rol oynamaktadır. Meyve yetiştiriciliği alanında kullanılmaktadır.
    [Show full text]
  • Deciphering Diseases and Biological Targets for Environmental Chemicals Using Toxicogenomics Networks
    Deciphering Diseases and Biological Targets for Environmental Chemicals using Toxicogenomics Networks Karine Audouze, Agnieszka Sierakowska Juncker, Francisco J. S. S. A. Roque, Konrad Krysiak-Baltyn, Nils Weinhold, Olivier Taboureau, Thomas Skøt Jensen, Søren Brunak* Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Department of Systems Biology, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark Abstract Exposure to environmental chemicals and drugs may have a negative effect on human health. A better understanding of the molecular mechanism of such compounds is needed to determine the risk. We present a high confidence human protein-protein association network built upon the integration of chemical toxicology and systems biology. This computational systems chemical biology model reveals uncharacterized connections between compounds and diseases, thus predicting which compounds may be risk factors for human health. Additionally, the network can be used to identify unexpected potential associations between chemicals and proteins. Examples are shown for chemicals associated with breast cancer, lung cancer and necrosis, and potential protein targets for di-ethylhexyl-phthalate, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodiben- zo-p-dioxin, pirinixic acid and permethrine. The chemical-protein associations are supported through recent published studies, which illustrate the power of our approach that integrates toxicogenomics data with other data types. Citation: Audouze K, Juncker AS, Roque FJSSA, Krysiak-Baltyn K, Weinhold N, et al. (2010) Deciphering Diseases and Biological Targets for Environmental Chemicals using Toxicogenomics Networks. PLoS Comput Biol 6(5): e1000788. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000788 Editor: Olaf G. Wiest, University of Notre Dame, United States of America Received September 11, 2009; Accepted April 15, 2010; Published May 20, 2010 Copyright: ß 2010 Audouze et al.
    [Show full text]