Coptis, Pinellia, and Scutellaria as a promising new drug combination for treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection

Abstract

BACKGROUND Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori ) is the most important infectious agent and plays an important role in the progression of chronic gastritis and the development of gastric cancer. AIM To identify efficient therapeutic agents or strategies that can treat H. pylori infection. METHODS We performed literature analysis, experimental validation, and network pharmacology. First, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescriptions for the treatment of H. pylori infection were obtained from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Biology Medicine, China Science and Technology Journal Database, and WanFang databases. In addition, we conducted a relevant search by Reference Citation Analysis ( RCA ) ( ). Next, we used TCM Inheritance Support System V2.5 to identify core drug combinations in the TCM prescriptions. Then, an H. pylori -associated chronic mouse model of gastritis was established. The antibacterial properties and anti-inflammatory potential of the core drug combination were evaluated by the rapid urease test, modified Warthin-Starry silver staining, histopathological analysis, and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Finally, the active compounds, hub targets, and potential signaling pathways associated with the core drug combination were analyzed by network pharmacology. RESULTS The TCM treatment of H. pylori was mainly based on reinforcing the healthy Qi and eliminating pathogenic factors by simultaneously applying pungent dispersing, bitter descending, cold and warm drugs. The combination of Coptis , Pinellia, and Scutellaria (CPS) was identified as the core drug combination from 207 prescriptions and 168 herbs. This drug combination eradicated H. pylori , alleviated the gastric pathology induced by H. pylori infection, and reduced the expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α ( P = 0.024) and interleukin-1β ( P = 0.001). Moreover, a total of 35 compounds and 2807 targets of CPS were identified using online databases. Nine key compounds (tenaxin I, neobaicalein, norwogonin, skullcapflavone II, baicalein, 5,8,2'-trihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone, acacetin, panicolin, and wogonin) and nine hub target proteins (EGFR, PTGS2, STAT3, MAPK3, MAPK8, HSP90AA1, MAPK1, MMP9, and MTOR) were further explored. Seventy-seven signaling pathways were correlated with H. pylori -induced inflammation and carcinogenesis. CONCLUSION In summary, we showed that CPS is the core drug combination for treating H. pylori infection. Animal experiments demonstrated that...

Progress in traditional Chinese medicine against chronic gastritis: From chronic non-atrophic gastritis to gastric precancerous lesions

“…A meta-analysis of 26 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) showed that Banxia Xiexin decoction is more effective in inhibiting H. pylori , reducing H. pylori -related mucosal inflammation, and relieving symptoms such as stomach distending pain, and belching in treating CG [ 17 ]. Further studies have shown that Rhizome Coptidis , Radix Scutellariae , and Rhizoma Pinelliae were responsible for the inhibition of H. pylori infection [ 27 ].…”