Systems Pharmacology-Dissection of the Molecular Mechanisms of Dragon's Blood in Improving Ischemic Stroke Prognosis

Meng Jiang; Xing Su; Jianling Liu; Chunli Zheng; Xiaogang Li

doi:10.1155/2020/4858201

Systems Pharmacology-Dissection of the Molecular Mechanisms of Dragon's Blood in Improving Ischemic Stroke Prognosis

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020 May 17:2020:4858201. doi: 10.1155/2020/4858201. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Meng Jiang¹, Xing Su², Jianling Liu³, Chunli Zheng³, Xiaogang Li³

Affiliations

¹ Precision Medicine Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 277 Yanta West Street, Xi'an 710061, China.
² Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource and Utilization, Ministry of Education, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832002, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, China.

Abstract

Materials and methods: (1) Based on system-pharmacology platform, the potential active compounds of DB are screened out according to ADME. (2) The ischemic stroke-related targets are predicted by utilizing these active compounds as probes, mapping the targets to the CTD database to establish a molecular-target-disease network. (3) To analyze the mechanism of DB treatment for the prognosis of ischemic stroke, we used the Metascape and DAVID databases to construct "ischemic stroke pathways". (4) PC12 cells were used to explore the protective effect of loureirin B on oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) injury, and BV-2 cells were used to determine the anti-inflammation effect of 4',7-dihydroxyflavone.

Results: Finally, we obtained 38 active compounds and 58 stroke-related targets. Network and pathway analysis indicate that DB is effective in the treatment of ischemic stroke by enhancing cell survival and inhibiting inflammatory and antiplatelet activation. In in vitro experiments, the main component loureirin B promoted the expression of HO-1 and Bcl-2 via positive regulation of PI3K/AKT/CREB and Nrf2 signaling pathways in PC12 cells against OGD/R damage. And the anti-inﬂammatory activity of 4',7-dihydroxyflavone was related to the inhibition of COX-2, TNF-α, and IL-6 in LPS-induced BV-2 cells.

Conclusions: In our study, the results illustrated that DB in improving ischemic stroke prognosis may involve enhancing cell survival and antioxidant, anti-inflammation, and antiplatelet activities.