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Pharmaceuticals
Special Issues
Metabolomics and Metabolism of Traditional Chinese Medicine
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Metabolomics and Metabolism of Traditional Chinese Medicine

A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmacology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2024) | Viewed by 4693

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ling-Feng Zeng

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Guest Editor
Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
Interests: osteoporosis; clinical methodology research; pharmacological Research
Dr. Ning Zhang

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Guest Editor
Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong
Interests: osteoporotic fracture; bone regeneration; sarcopenia; stem cells
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Claudio Lucchiari

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Guest Editor
Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, 7, 20122 Milan, Italy
Interests: creativity; learning; cognitive flexibility; decision-making; EEG; tDCS; neuro modulation; neurofeedback; emotions; applied cognitive science; multi-brain neuroscience
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Wenhua Ling

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Guest Editor
Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
Interests: phytochemicals; cardiometabolic diseases; gut microbiota

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As a prominent feature of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that differs from the modern medical diagnosis and treatment system, the syndrome represents a functional state in which the body responds to various internal and external environmental changes and pathogenic factors. Its essence lies in the alteration of one’s metabolism or its network caused by the body's imbalance, and the changes in endogenous metabolic components of body fluids are manifested through the alteration of biological phenotypes.

Metabolomics studies life activities at the metabolic level using pattern recognition, expert systems, and high-precision analysis. It establishes a direct correlation between metabolite changes and biological phenotypes, accurately reflecting the system’s state. This reveals the role of metabolic mechanisms in disease development and helps discover biomarkers. Metabolomics also provides crucial information for exploring therapeutic targets.

TCM faces challenges compared to Western medicine, including a lack of measurable indicators and difficulty detecting effective ingredients. However, modern technology and metabonomic analysis can help TCM gain acceptance by interpreting its core theories and employing multidimensional technologies. Metabolomics is used to study TCM’s composition and dynamic changes, track the fate of its components in the body, and evaluate the complex effects through metabolic profiling. Identifying the markers in the blood provides insights into active substances and measures the quality and effectiveness of Chinese medicinal materials. Metabolomics offer a new perspective for transforming TCM, shifting toward refined pharmacology by examining metabolites and their relationship with physiological and pathological changes.

The purpose of this Research Topic is to demonstrate the standardized protocols and interpret Chinese traditional medicine in the language of metabonomics, especially the advances in TCM clinical practice based on metabonomics and ethnopharmacology. The goal is to leverage metabolomics for scientific hypothesis testing in TCM modernization research, highlighting its potential value in dealing with TCM’s complexity and improving its relevance in the biomedical field. It also emphasizes the role of metabolomics in optimizing Chinese herbal extracts, connecting phytochemical analysis with pharmacological effects and therapy potential. Additionally, evidence-based clinical studies of natural products, medicinal foods, and herbal medicines are preferred.

Dr. Ling-Feng Zeng
Dr. Ning Zhang
Dr. Claudio Lucchiari
Dr. Wenhua Ling
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceuticals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • metabolomics
  • ethnopharmacology
  • medicinal plants
  • traditional Chinese medicine
  • plant-based natural products
  • evidence-based medicine
  • mechanisms

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 9047 KiB  
Article
Integrating Metabolomics and Network Pharmacology to Explore the Mechanism of Xiao-Yao-San in the Treatment of Inflammatory Response in CUMS Mice
by Yi Zhang, Xiao-Jun Li, Xin-Rong Wang, Xiao Wang, Guo-Hui Li, Qian-Yin Xue, Ming-Jia Zhang and Hai-Qing Ao
Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16(11), 1607; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph16111607 - 14 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1153
Abstract
Depression can trigger an inflammatory response that affects the immune system, leading to the development of other diseases related to inflammation. Xiao-Yao-San (XYS) is a commonly used formula in clinical practice for treating depression. However, it remains unclear whether XYS has a modulating [...] Read more.
Depression can trigger an inflammatory response that affects the immune system, leading to the development of other diseases related to inflammation. Xiao-Yao-San (XYS) is a commonly used formula in clinical practice for treating depression. However, it remains unclear whether XYS has a modulating effect on the inflammatory response associated with depression. The objective of this study was to examine the role and mechanism of XYS in regulating the anti-inflammatory response in depression. A chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) mouse model was established to evaluate the antidepressant inflammatory effects of XYS. Metabolomic assays and network pharmacology were utilized to analyze the pathways and targets associated with XYS in its antidepressant inflammatory effects. In addition, molecular docking, immunohistochemistry, Real-Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR), and Western Blot were performed to verify the expression of relevant core targets. The results showed that XYS significantly improved depressive behavior and attenuated the inflammatory response in CUMS mice. Metabolomic analysis revealed the reversible modulation of 21 differential metabolites by XYS in treating depression-related inflammation. Through the combination of liquid chromatography and network pharmacology, we identified seven active ingredients and seven key genes. Furthermore, integrating the predictions from network pharmacology and the findings from metabolomic analysis, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGFA) and Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-γ (PPARG) were identified as the core targets. Molecular docking and related molecular experiments confirmed these results. The present study employed metabolomics and network pharmacology analyses to provide evidence that XYS has the ability to alleviate the inflammatory response in depression through the modulation of multiple metabolic pathways and targets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolomics and Metabolism of Traditional Chinese Medicine)
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18 pages, 10816 KiB  
Article
Plastrum testudinis Ameliorates Oxidative Stress in Nucleus Pulposus Cells via Downregulating the TNF-α Signaling Pathway
by Peng Zhang, Jiahui He, Yanchi Gan, Qi Shang, Honglin Chen, Wenhua Zhao, Gengyang Shen, Xiaobing Jiang and Hui Ren
Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16(10), 1482; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph16101482 - 17 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1116
Abstract
Background Plastrum testudinis (PT), a widely used traditional Chinese medicine, exerts protective effects against bone diseases such as intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Despite its effectiveness, the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of PT on IDD remain unclear. Methods In this study, we [...] Read more.
Background Plastrum testudinis (PT), a widely used traditional Chinese medicine, exerts protective effects against bone diseases such as intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Despite its effectiveness, the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of PT on IDD remain unclear. Methods In this study, we used a comprehensive strategy combining bioinformatic analysis with experimental verification to investigate the possible molecular mechanisms of PT against IDD. We retrieved targets for PT and IDD, and then used their overlapped targets for protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis. In addition, we used Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses to investigate the anti-IDD mechanisms of PT. Moreover, in vivo and in vitro experiment validations including hematoxylin–eosin (HE) and safranine O-green staining, senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) assay, cell immunofluorescence staining, intracellular ROS measurement and Western blot analysis were performed to verify bioinformatics findings. Results We identified 342 and 872 PT- and IDD-related targets (32 overlapping targets). GO enrichment analysis yielded 450 terms related to oxidative stress and inflammatory response regulation. KEGG analysis identified 48 signaling pathways, 10 of which were significant; the TNF-α signaling pathway had the highest p-value, and prostaglandin G/H synthase 2 (PTGS2), endothelin-1 (EDN1), TNF-α, JUN and FOS were enriched in this pathway. Histopathological results and safranin O/green staining demonstrated that PT attenuated IDD, and SA-β-gal assay showed that PT ameliorated nucleus pulposus cell (NPC) senescence. An ROS probe was adopted to confirm the protective effect of PT against oxidative stress. Western blot analyses confirmed that PT downregulated the protein expression of PTGS2, EDN1, TNF-α, JUN and FOS in the TNF-α signaling pathway as well as cellular senescence marker p16, proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL6), while PT upregulated the expression of NPC-specific markers including COL2A1 and ACAN in a concentration-dependent manner. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to report that PT alleviates IDD by downregulating the protein expression of PTGS2, EDN1, TNF-α, JUN and FOS in the TNF-α signaling pathway and upregulating that of COL2A1 and ACAN, thus suppressing inflammatory responses and oxidative stress in NPCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolomics and Metabolism of Traditional Chinese Medicine)
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15 pages, 3671 KiB  
Article
Morroniside Inhibits Inflammatory Bone Loss through the TRAF6-Mediated NF-κB/MAPK Signalling Pathway
by Jirimutu Xiao, Qiuge Han, Ziceng Yu, Mengmin Liu, Jie Sun, Mao Wu, Heng Yin, Jingyue Fu, Yang Guo, Lining Wang and Yong Ma
Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16(10), 1438; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph16101438 - 10 Oct 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 960
Abstract
Osteoporosis is a chronic inflammatory disease that severely affects quality of life. Cornus officinalis is a Chinese herbal medicine with various bioactive ingredients, among which morroniside is its signature ingredient. Although anti-bone resorption drugs are the main treatment for bone loss, promoting bone [...] Read more.
Osteoporosis is a chronic inflammatory disease that severely affects quality of life. Cornus officinalis is a Chinese herbal medicine with various bioactive ingredients, among which morroniside is its signature ingredient. Although anti-bone resorption drugs are the main treatment for bone loss, promoting bone anabolism is more suitable for increasing bone mass. Therefore, identifying changes in bone formation induced by morroniside may be conducive to developing effective intervention methods. In this study, morroniside was found to promote the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) and inhibit inflammation-induced bone loss in an in vivo mouse model of inflammatory bone loss. Morroniside enhanced bone density and bone microstructure, and inhibited the expression of IL6, IL1β, and ALP in serum (p < 0.05). Furthermore, in in vitro experiments, BMSCs exposed to 0–256 μM morroniside did not show cytotoxicity. Morroniside inhibited the expression of IL6 and IL1β and promoted the expression of the osteogenic transcription factors Runx2 and OCN. Furthermore, morroniside promoted osteocalcin and Runx2 expression and inhibited TRAF6-mediated NF-κB and MAPK signaling, as well as osteoblast growth and NF-κB nuclear transposition. Thus, morroniside promoted osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs, slowed the occurrence of the inflammatory response, and inhibited bone loss in mice with inflammatory bone loss. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolomics and Metabolism of Traditional Chinese Medicine)
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