Exploring the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine as an "iron blade" to get rid of a "hidden murderer" hypertension

Abstract

The world faces the dual pressures of an aging population and the prevalence of metabolic risk factors. The morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease (CVD) continue to increase, becoming one of the important causes of death in the population. Chinese herbal medicine can also change abnormal metabolism while lowering blood pressure. It has an extraordinary curative impact and promises to prevent and treat hypertension. Iron-dependent lipid reactive oxygen species buildup and polyunsaturated fatty acid consumption in the plasma membrane, involving three processes—lipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and iron metabolism—are always present when ferroptosis occurs. It is crucial for the pathophysiology of CVD. Therefore, finding Chinese herbal medicine to treat ferroptosis, screen out the active ingredients, and explore the therapeutic targets related to ferroptosis in hypertension is an urgent problem. In this study, network pharmacology was used to find that Stigmsterol, sitosterol, kaempferol, beta-sitosterol, and quercetin were the main active constituents of Toosendan Fructus, Jujubae Fructus, Flos Puerariae Lobatae, Peucedani Radix, Crataegi Folium, and Potentiliae. To reach the goal of treating hypertension, these active components target CAV1, IL6, TGFB1, HMOX1, TP53, IL1B, HIF1A, GJA1, EGFR, and NEDD4L to control ferroptosis. The current work provides a more in-depth understanding of Chinese herbal medicine used to treat hypertension through ferroptosis for future drug optimization.