Exploring the mechanism of Buxue Yimu Pills on postpartum abdominal pain through network pharmacology and experimental validation

doi:10.5246/jcps.2023.09.057

Abstract

Abstract:

To investigate the molecular mechanisms of Buxue Yimu Pills (BYP) on postpartum abdominal pain (PAP) through network pharmacology and experimental validation, we filtered the main active components of BYP using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis (TCMSP), Symptom Mapping (SymMap), Bioinformatics Analysis Tool for Molecular Mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine (BATMAN-TCM) database, and Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China (ChP). The targets related to PAP were obtained from Genecards, and an intersection of genes was discovered. Subsequently, protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed using Cytoscape 3.9.0 and the String database. In addition, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed to analyze the intersection of targets using the Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) 6.8. We constructed a compound-target (C-T) network based on the above analysis. Animal experiments were performed to verify the core targets, and immunohistochemistry was used to detect protein expression in incomplete abortion rats. Network pharmacology analysis suggested that 40 potentially active ingredients in BYP might affect 40 potential disease-related targets, such as ESR1, PGR, and MMP2, and regulate pathways, such as the HIF-1 signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, and Estrogen signaling pathway. According to immunohistochemistry, the protein expression levels of ERα, PR, and MMP2 in the model rats were significantly increased (P < 0.01). After administration of BYP, the expression level of PR was increased (P < 0.01), and the expression levels of ERα and MMP2 were decreased significantly (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). BYP could treat PAP through a multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway approach, regulating estrogen and progesterone receptors and improving collagen metabolism, thereby promoting postpartum uterine recovery.

Key words: Buxue Yimu Pills, Traditional Chinese medicine, Postpartum abdominal pain, Network pharmacology, Target

Supporting:

Mengyao Wu, Lu Liu, Peng Zhang, Lele Zhang, Yun Gong, Xiuwei Yang. Exploring the mechanism of Buxue Yimu Pills on postpartum abdominal pain through network pharmacology and experimental validation[J]. Journal of Chinese Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2023, 32(9): 691-703.

Figures/Tables 7

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