title: Bioinformatics analysis for the antirheumatic effects of huang-lian-jie-du-tang from a network perspective.
abstract: Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang (HLJDT) is a classic TCM formula to clear "heat" and "poison" that exhibits antirheumatic activity. Here we investigated the therapeutic mechanisms of HLJDT at protein network level using bioinformatics approach. It was found that HLJDT shares 5 target proteins with 3 types of anti-RA drugs, and several pathways in immune system and bone formation are significantly regulated by HLJDT's components, suggesting the therapeutic effect of HLJDT on RA. By defining an antirheumatic effect score to quantitatively measure the therapeutic effect, we found that the score of each HLJDT's component is very low, while the whole HLJDT achieves a much higher effect score, suggesting a synergistic effect of HLJDT achieved by its multiple components acting on multiple targets. At last, topological analysis on the RA-associated PPI network was conducted to illustrate key roles of HLJDT's target proteins on this network. Integrating our findings with TCM theory suggests that HLJDT targets on hub nodes and main pathway in the Hot ZENG network, and thus it could be applied as adjuvant treatment for Hot-ZENG-related RA. This study may facilitate our understanding of antirheumatic effect of HLJDT and it may suggest new approach for the study of TCM pharmacology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Logistical Engineering University, Chongqing 401311, China.
authors.forename: Haiyang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Logistical Engineering University, Chongqing 401311, China.
authors.forename: Yichuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Logistical Engineering University, Chongqing 401311, China.
authors.forename: Tinghong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Tibet Traditional Medical College, Lhasa 850000, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ga
authors.affiliation: The National Medical College, Chengdu University of TCM, Chengdu 610075, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Runhui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Weidong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Logistical Engineering University, Chongqing 401311, China ; Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao