Action Mechanism of Zhuang Medicine Jin-mu Granules Against Chronic Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Explored Using Comprehensive Network Pharmacology and Metabolomics

Abstract

Zhuang Medicine Jin-mu Granules (ZMJG) are prescriptions derived from the Zhuang nationality, which is the largest minority among 56 ethnic groups in China. They have been widely used in the treatment of chronic pelvic inflammatory disease (CPID) in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for clearing away heat and toxins, removing dampness and poisoning. CPID is a common gynecological disease of female reproductive organs and surrounding tissues and is characterized by persistent and recurrent symptoms, causing serious physical and psychological damage to the patient. Preliminary research found that ZMJG have beneficial effects on CPID model rats, but the metabolic mechanism underlying their protective effects is unclear. In this study, we used the strategy of combining network pharmacology, pharmacodynamic, and metabolomic approaches to investigate the molecular mechanisms and potential targets of ZMJG for the treatment of CPID. First, a network diagram of “medicinal materials-components-targets-pathways” based on network pharmacology was constructed to obtain a preliminary understanding of the biologically active compounds and related targets of ZMJG and clarify their molecular mechanism in CPID. Subsequently, the in vivo efficacy of ZMJG was verified in a rat model. Furthermore, we analyzed the corresponding metabolomics profile to explore the differentially induced metabolic markers and elucidate the metabolic mechanism by which ZMJG treat CPID. The results show that the therapeutic effect of ZMJG on CPID is mediated through multiple pathways, metabolic pathways, and multi-component multi-target modes, providing a detailed theoretical basis for the development and clinical application of ZMJG and a new research idea for the treatment of CPID in Chinese medicine.

Immunotherapeutic approaches for systemic lupus erythematosus: early overview and future potential

“…The combination of Zhuang medicine cupping and pricking blood therapy has shown a significant improvement in the clinical symptoms of patients with arthralgia diseases. Moreover, Zhuang medicine thread Moxibustion has been observed to notably decrease the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and IL-1β [ 72 ], [ 73 ], [ 74 ], [ 75 ].…”

Maqin Xiaoke Granule Alleviates Acute Bronchitis Induced by Smoking Combined With Streptococcus pneumoniae by Regulating NLRP3/p38 MAPK/Glycerophospholipid Pathway

“…Metabolomics is an important part of systems biology, 9,10 which mainly studies the changing law of its metabolites after an organism is perturbed, 11 including targeted and nontargeted metabolomics, and nontargeted metabolomics can provide metabolite information through high-throughput screening, which is more suitable for the study of the mechanism of action of traditional Chinese medicines and other multicomponent drugs. 12 The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of MQ in the treatment of AB through the observation of pathological changes in lung tissue and bronchus by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, the analysis of the expression levels of inflammatory factors by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the analysis of the expression levels of relevant mRNAs by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and then to investigate the mechanism of action of MQ in the treatment of AB in rats through the screening and characterization of the differential metabolites by the nontargeted metabolomics approach based on ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS), as well as the analysis of the possible metabolic pathways to provide a basis for the further treatment of AB.…”