title: Understanding the diverse functions of Huatan Tongluo Fang on rheumatoid arthritis from a pharmacological perspective.
abstract: Huatan Tongluo Fang (HTTLF) is a traditional herbal formula that can resolve phlegm and dredge collaterals. HTTLF has also been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA); however, the mechanism underlying the therapeutic effects of HTTLF on RA has not been clearly elucidated at the molecular level. In the present study, an integrated model of system pharmacology containing chemical space analysis, potential active compound prediction and compound-target-disease network was constructed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of HTTLF. The compounds from HTTLF dispersed well in the chemical space. Most of the compounds from HTTLF had similar chemical spaces to drug/drug-like compounds associated with RA, according to the MDL Drug Data Report. A total of 127 potentially active compounds and 17 targets of RA were identified. Among them, 50 compounds interacted with ≥2 targets, while 77 compounds interacted with only one target. In addition, 17 targets were associated with 82 diseases that belonged to 26 categories. These results indicate that HTTLF has diverse chemical spaces and polypharmacology with regards to the treatment of RA. In addition, HTTLF demonstrated therapeutic potential against diverse diseases other than RA, including osteoarthritis, atherosclerosis and brain cancer. This study provides a novel platform for understanding how HTTLF treats RA; this is beneficial for explaining the diverse functions of HTTLF with regards to RA, and may help develop novel compounds with desirable therapeutic targets to treat RA.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bone Disease, Academy of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chunsong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatism and Immunology, Affiliated Xiamen Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xiamen, Fujian 361009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Mingshan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bone Disease, Academy of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, P.R. China; College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaojie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bone Disease, Academy of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, P.R. China; Fujian Key Laboratory of Integrative Medicine on Geriatrics, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hongzhi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatism and Immunology, Affiliated Xiamen Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xiamen, Fujian 361009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatism and Immunology, Affiliated Xiamen Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xiamen, Fujian 361009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yihan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bone Disease, Academy of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xianxiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatism and Immunology, Affiliated Xiamen Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xiamen, Fujian 361009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jinchun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
keywords: Huatan Tongluo Fang; diverse functions; rheumatoid arthritis; systems pharmacology; traditional Chinese medicine