Asthma, characterized by the continuous inflammatory response caused by a variety of immune cells, is one of the most common chronic respiratory diseases worldwide. Relevant clinical trials proved that the traditional Chinese medicine formula Guizhi Decoction (GZD) had multitarget and multichannel functions, which might be an effective drug for asthma. However, the effective ingredients and mechanisms of GZD against asthma are still unclear. Therefore, network pharmacology, molecular docking, and cell experiments were performed to explore the antiasthma effects and potential mechanisms of GZD. First, we applied the TCMSP database and literature to obtain the bioactivated ingredients in GZD. SwissTargetPrediction, TCMSP, GeneCards, OMIM, PharmGkb, TTD, DrugBank, and STRING database were used to get core genes. In addition, the key pathways were analyzed by the DAVID database. Molecular docking was used to predict whether the important components could act on the core target proteins directly. Finally, qPCR was carried out to verify the network pharmacology results and the possible mechanisms of GZD in the treatment of asthma. We collected 134 active ingredients in GZD, 959 drug targets, and 3223 disease targets. 431 intersection genes were screened for subsequent analysis. Through GO and KEGG analyses, enriched pathways related to inflammation and immune regulation were presented. Through the qPCR method to verify the role of essential genes, we found that GZD had an excellent anti-inflammatory effect. Direct or indirect inhibition of MAPK and NF-κB pathways might be one of the crucial mechanisms of GZD against asthma. GZD might be a promising potential drug for the treatment of asthma. This article provided a reference for the clinical application of GZD.
Background: Dry eye disease is a common ocular surface disease affecting tens of millions of people worldwide. It is characterized by an unstable tear film and increasing prevalence. Different commercial formulations of cyclosporine A for dry eye have been approved, however, it is still unclear whether the differences in formulations of these products will make a difference in clinical efficacy and safety.Methods: Randomized controlled trials of commercial cyclosporine A formulation for dry eye disease were searched in Pubmed, EMBASE, Scopus, and Cochrane controlled trials registries and Web of Science from inception till 1 December 2021. Independent literature screening, data extraction, quality evaluation, and the study in line with quality standards were analyzed by using Stata16.0 software. The study is registered with PROSPERO under the number CRD42022301423. Code and data for this study is publicly available (https://github.com/DongYangGao/Dongyang.github.io.git).Results: 21 randomized clinical trials with a total of 4,107 participants were included in this study. Restasis® (OR-4.82, 95% CI-6.18 to 3.45, SUCRA 77.2%) was the most effective commercial formulation for reducing OSDI, Zirun® (SUCRA 73.9%) performed better in improving Schirmer’s test. TJ Cyporin® (SUCRA 65.3%) ranked first in terms of improving tear film break-up time. For treatment-emergent adverse events incidence, Clacier® was close to placebo. The risk of reporting bias is considered low.Conclusion: In the comparison of outcomes included in this study, the optimal order of various commercial cyclosporine A formulations is different, so it is difficult to select the optimal formula. Appropriate commercial formulations should be selected according to patients’ conditions in clinical practice.
Introduction: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a serious lung disease with a high mortality rate. Baoyuan decoction (BYD), a classic medicinal food homology recipe, has anti-apoptotic effects, enhances immune function, and alleviates fibrosis, suggesting that it may be a potential therapeutic drug for IPF.Objectives: We aimed to identify the main active ingredients of BYD, determine the basis of its efficacy, prove its anti-IPF effects, and explore the mechanisms underlying its anti-IPF effects. Materials and methods:In this study, the active components of BYD were detected and analysed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid quadrupole Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap-MS). A network pharmacology analysis was performed to determine the potential targets and relevant pathways of BYD in treating IPF. Western blotting and quantitative realtime polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were conducted to verify the efficacy of BYD against IPF. Finally, molecular docking and qPCR were performed to identify the central targets of BYD.Results: A total of 39 components of BYD were identified. After performing the network pharmacology analysis, 35 active components and eight presumptive targets of BYD were found to play a central role in its anti-IPF effects. The molecular docking results indicated that most of the active components of BYD exhibited good binding activity with these eight central target proteins. In addition, the expression of collagen, α-SMA, and these eight targets in human pulmonary fibroblast (HPF) cells was suppressed from treatment with BYD. Conclusion:This study determined the efficacy of BYD against IPF and clarified its multiple-target and multiple-pathway mechanisms. Furthermore, the study also provides a new method for exploring the chemical and pharmacological bases of other traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
IntroductionPrimary hyperhidrosis (PHH) is a chronic condition characterized by excessive sweating. Several topical anticholinergic agents have been developed, but the evidence for the efficacy and tolerability of changing medication pathways of anticholinergics for PHH is limited.Methods and analysisPubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, the Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials will be searched from inception to March 2022 for studies that may be eligible for inclusion. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of PHH treated by topical anticholinergic drugs will be included. The primary outcomes include severity of hyperhidrosis measured quantitatively, the Hyperhidrosis Disease Severity Scale (HDSS) score or the proportion of subjects with a minimum 2-grade improvement from baseline in HDSS, the Hyperhidrosis Disease Severity Measure-Axillary (HDSM-Ax) score and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). The secondary outcomes focused on safety and tolerability. Study selection, data extraction and assessment of risk of bias will be performed by two investigators independently. Data synthesis will be performed with RevMan 5.4 software.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval will not be needed in this review due to no data are involved in patient’s information and privacy. The results will be published and diffused in a peer-reviewed journal or relative conferences.Strengths and limitations of this studyThis systematic review will be the first to evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical anticholinergic agents in the treatment of PHH.Different inclusion criteria between studies and different skin sites where drugs applied may lead to clinical heterogeneity, which will be explored in the subgroup analysis.This study will also focus on evaluating systemic and topical safety and tolerability of topical application of anticholinergics.
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