Reveal the Antimigraine Mechanism of Chuanxiong Rhizoma and Cyperi Rhizoma Based on the Integrated Analysis of Metabolomics and Network Pharmacology

Abstract

Migraine is a common neurological disorder that manifests as recurrent attacks of unilateral and throbbing headache. Conioselinum anthriscoides “Chuanxiong” (Apiaceae; Chuanxiong rhizoma) and Cyperus rotundus L. (Cyperaceae; Cyperi rhizoma) (CRCR), is a classic prescription for treating migraine. This study aimed to reveal the potential mechanisms of CRCR extract against migraine using integrated analysis of metabolomics and network pharmacology. Behavioral changes in the nitroglycerin rat migraine model were determined from von Frey withdrawal response. Untargeted serum metabolomics was used to identify the differentially expressed metabolites and metabolic pathways. The differentially expressed metabolites were analyzed to obtain the corresponding targets by a compound–reaction–enzyme–gene network. Network pharmacology was used to construct a compound–target–pathway network. The common targets of metabolomics and network pharmacology were further analyzed. Metabolomics analysis identified 96 differentially expressed metabolites and 77 corresponding targets. Network pharmacology analysis identified 201 potential targets for CRCR against migraine. By intersecting 77 targets with 201 targets, monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B), and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) were identified as the common targets, and MAO-A, MAO-B, and COMT were involved in the tyrosine metabolism pathway. Further experiments demonstrated that the contents of MAO-A and COMT were significantly increased in serum and brainstem tissue of the migraine rats. CRCR extract significantly decreased the contents of MAO-A and COMT, while no significant difference was found in MAO-B. Metabolomics analysis indicated that the contents of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetate (DOPAC) and 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)pyruvate (HPP) were significantly increased in the migraine rats, and CRCR extract caused significant decreases in DOPAC and HPP. Interestingly, DOPAC and HPP were two differentially expressed metabolites involved in the tyrosine metabolism pathway. Correlation analysis showed that DOPAC and HPP were highly positively correlated with MAO-A and COMT. Taken together, two key differentially expressed metabolites (DOPAC and HPP), two key targets (MAO-A and COMT), and one relevant metabolic pathway (tyrosine metabolism) showed great importance in the treatment of migraine. This research could provide a new understanding of the potential mechanism of CRCR against migraine. More attentions should be paid into the tyrosine metabolism pathway in future studies.

Assessing leaf physiological traits in response to flooding among dominant riparian herbs along the Three Gorges Dam in China

“…Traditionally, PFTs are rooted in plant taxonomy (He et al., 2020 ), life history, leaf habits (Liu et al., 2023 ), habitat types, and other such criteria. Although there has been research on plant functional traits within riparian forests along the drawdown zone so far, it has only looked at how functional traits of individual species or a few species change in response to environmental factors (Zhu et al., 2022 ). While this approach offers valuable insights into how individual species adapt to their surroundings, it lacks the ability to account for uncontrollable factors that drive community‐level responses to the environment.…”

“…The mass ratio hypothesis asserts that ecosystem characteristics are primarily determined by the characteristics of dominant species within a community (Bär Lamas et al., 2016 ; Zhu et al., 2022 ). It follows that these dominant species profoundly influence ecosystem dynamics (Cadotte, 2017 ).…”