Molecular Networking, Network Pharmacology, and Molecular Docking Approaches Employed to Investigate the Changes in Ephedrae Herba before and after Honey-Processing

Abstract

Raw Ephedrae herba (REH) and honey-processed Ephedrae herba (HEH) were the different decoction pieces of Ephedrae herba (EH). Honey-processing that changes REH into HEH has been shown to relieve cough and asthma to a synergistic extent. However, the chemical markers and the synergistic mechanism of HEH need to be further studied. In this study, the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) and molecular networking (MN) were used to investigate the chemical composition of REH and HEH, which led to the identification of 92 compounds. A total of 38 differential chemical markers for REH and HEH were identified using principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). Network pharmacology suggests that the synergistic effect of HEH in relieving cough and asthma may be due to 31 differential chemical markers acting through 111 biological targets. Among them, four compounds and two targets probably played an important role based on the results of molecular docking. This study enriched our knowledge about the chemical composition of REH and HEH, as well as the synergistic mechanism of HEH.

Exploration of chemical components and metabolite synthesis pathways in eight Ephedra species based on HS-GC-MS and UPLC-Q-TOF-MS

“…Additionally, bilobalide ( m/z 291.0863, [M+H] + ), formononetin ( m/z 327.0887, [M-H] - ), and byakangelicin ( m/z 379.1035, [M-H] - ) were identified using the Agilent herbal library-v20–04-17. Other components include schaftoside ( m/z 565.1552, [M+H] + ) ( Li et al., 2022 ) and 5,7-dihydroxy-3’,4’-dimethoxyflavanone ( m/z 315.0748, [M-H] - ), deduced from secondary fragment ions at m/z 315.0771, 164.8337, 152.012, and 108.0227. (-)-Epigallocatechin ( m/z 305.0694, [M-H] - ) ( Khattabi et al., 2022 ) and cyanidanol ( m/z 289.0747, [M-H] - ) were identified, with secondary fragment ions observed at m/z 289.076, 245.0850, 221.0867, 203.0733, 179.0362, 151.0427, 125.0265, 125.0257, and 109.0305.…”

“…Flavonoids glycosides identified in MHS include nebrodenside A ( m/z 358.1847, [M+H] + ) ( Cottiglia et al., 2005 ), vicenin-2 ( m/z 593.1373, [M-H] - ) ( Qi et al., 2014 ; Guo, 2021 ; Li et al., 2022 ), linalool 3- O - β -D-glucopyranoside ( m/z 315.0748, [M-H] - ), with secondary fragment ions observed at m/z 315.0771, 153.0218, and 109.0306. Aditionally, apigenin-6,8- C -dihexoside ( m/z 593.1584, [M-H] - ) ( Xia et al., 2017 ; Li et al., 2022 ), vitexin-2 ( m/z 593.1584, [M-H] - ) ( Guo, 2021 ; Li et al., 2022 ), vitexin-2- O -rhamnoside ( m/z 577.1635, [M+H] + ) ( Guo, 2021 ; Li et al., 2022 ), and quercetin-4’- O -glucoside ( m/z 463.0954, [M-H] - ) ( Li et al., 2022 ).…”

Ethnobotanical Uses and Pharmacological Activities of Moroccan Ephedra Species

“…It would be interesting to apply network pharmacology approaches to determine how these different metabolites participate and cooperate to promote the activity of the plant extract. This type of approach has proved useful to predict the combinatorial effects of Ephedrae herba components [162,[168][169][170].…”

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“…It would be interesting to apply network pharmacology approaches to determine how these different metabolites participate and cooperate to promote the activity of the plant extract. This type of approach has proved useful to predict the combinatorial effects of Ephedrae herba components [162,[168][169][170].…”