Erchen Decoction treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease:Integrated study on efficacy characterization of dampness and phlegm elimination,targeted network and material basis
Objective To elucidate the clinical evidence and potential mechanism of Erchen Decoction(二陈汤,ECD)in the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)through Meta-analysis combined with network pharmacology analysis and in vivo experiments verification.Methods Randomized controlled clinical studies of ECD in the treatment of NAFLD that met the inclusion criteria were screened,study quality evaluation and data extraction were conducted,and data analysis was performed using Revman 5.4 software.The active components and their corresponding targets from ECD and traditional Chinese medicines(TCMs)with dampness and phlegm elimination were screened.The"drug-active ingredient-key target"action network for the dampness and phlegm elimination efficacy of ECD was constructed by using Cytoscape 3.10.1 and other software,and the key target of the dampness and phlegm elimination efficacy of ECD was intersected with the disease target of NAFLD.The gene ontology(GO)function and the Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG)enrichment of the intersection targets were analyzed using the Matescape platform.According to the network pharmacology and modern pharmacodynamic substance research,the animal model of NAFLD was constructed.Levels of alanine aminotransferase(ALT),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),total cholesterol(TC)andtriglyceride(TG)in serum were detected.The pathological changes of liver tissue were detected by hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining and oil red O staining.And the core target of ECD in the treatment of NAFLD was verified by real-time fluorescence quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR)technology.Results Meta-analysis showed that ECD had superior improvements in key indicators such as ALT,AST,TC and TG compared to the control group.A total of 145 active ingredients and 392 related targets were obtained from network pharmacology,and 37 key targets were obtained for the dampness and phlegm elimination effect of ECD,and 25 key targets such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma(PPARG),B-cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2),prostaglandin G/H synthase 2(PTGS2),tumor protein p53(TP53),glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta(GSK-3β)were involved in the treatment of NAFLD.Enrichment analysis revealed 545 biological processes,13 cell components,40 molecular functions and 136 KEGG pathways.The signaling pathways are mainly related to lipid and atherosclerosis,non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,apoptosis,phosphatidylinositol-3-hydroxykinase-protein kinase B(PI3K-Akt)signaling pathway,mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK)signaling pathway,tumor necrosis factor(TNF)signaling pathway,interleukin-17(IL-17)signaling pathway,etc.The results of animal experiments showed that ECD could effectively reduce the levels of blood lipids and improve the liver function in NAFLD mice,and up-regulate the expression of PPARG and Bcl-2 mRNA in the livers of mice.Conclusion ECD has a certain therapeutic effect on NAFLD,manifested by its ability to exert dampness and phlegm elimination effects,reducing levels of ALT,AST,TC,and TG,ameliorating the accumulation and degeneration of hepatocyte fat.It also improves symptoms such as right hypochondrium discomfort or swelling,heavy body,and unpleasant stool.The efficacy is associated with a network of key targets including PPARG,Bcl-2,PTGS2 and multiple signaling pathways such as lipid and atherosclerosis,non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and apoptosis.These collectively play a role in regulating lipid metabolism and reducing hepatocyte apoptosis.Combined with animal experiments,it was found that PPARG and Bcl-2 may be the core targets through which ECD exerts its dampness and phlegm elimination effects in the treatment of NAFLD.
Erchen Decoctiondampness and phlegm eliminationnon-alcoholic fatty liver diseasenetwork pharmacologyMeta-analysis
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
