Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Feb 11;20(3):752.
doi: 10.3390/ijms20030752.

A Novel Discovery: Holistic Efficacy at the Special Organ Level of Pungent Flavored Compounds from Pungent Traditional Chinese Medicine

Zhao Chen  1   2 , Yanfeng Cao  3   4 , Yanling Zhang  5   6 , Yanjiang Qiao  7   8
Affiliations

A Novel Discovery: Holistic Efficacy at the Special Organ Level of Pungent Flavored Compounds from Pungent Traditional Chinese Medicine

Zhao Chen et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Pungent traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) play a vital role in the clinical treatment of hepatobiliary disease, gastrointestinal diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, skin diseases and so on. Pungent TCMs have a vastness of pungent flavored (with pungent taste or smell) compounds. To elucidate the molecular mechanism of pungent flavored compounds in treating cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and liver diseases, five pungent TCMs with the action of blood-activating and stasis-resolving (BASR) were selected. Here, an integrated systems pharmacology approach is presented for illustrating the molecular correlations between pungent flavored compounds and their holistic efficacy at the special organ level. First, we identified target proteins that are associated with pungent flavored compounds and found that these targets were functionally related to CVDs and liver diseases. Then, based on the phenotype that directly links human genes to the body parts they affect, we clustered target modules associated with pungent flavored compounds into liver and heart organs. We applied systems-based analysis to introduce a pungent flavored compound-target-pathway-organ network that clarifies mechanisms of pungent substances treating cardiovascular diseases and liver diseases by acting on the heart/liver organ. The systems pharmacology also suggests a novel systematic strategy for rational drug development from pungent TCMs in treating cardiovascular disease and associated liver diseases.

Keywords: TCM; blood-activating and stasis-resolving; cardiovascular disease; liver disease; organ location; pungent flavored compound; systems pharmacology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Process of discovering the pungent flavored materials from traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs).
Figure 2
Figure 2
ClueGO analysis of the pungent flavored compound targets. A functionally grouped network of enriched categories was generated for the target genes. Gene ontology (GO) terms are represented as nodes, and the node size represents the term enrichment significance. Functionally related groups partially overlap. The node pie charts represent the molecular function, immune system processes, reactome analysis of targets. Only the most significant term in the group was labeled. (A) Representative molecular function interactions among targets. (B) Representative reactome analysis interactions among pungent flavored compounds’ targets. (C) Representative biological process among pungent flavored compounds’ targets.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The target tissue distribution based on tissue expression profile.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Target organ location map. The green diamond represents 5 pungent TCMs, and purple–red node represents the pungent flavored compounds. The pink triangle, yellow-green hexagon represents the target nodes along with the organs (Liver, heart) in which the target is located. The cyan ellipse represents the shared targets in liver and heart.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The representative cardiovascular disease pathway. The solid arrow represents molecular interaction or relation (activation), the dashed arrows indirect link or unknown reaction. The circle represents chemical compound, DNA and other moleculee. formula image: molecular interaction or relation (inhibition). formula image: Phosphorylation, formula image: dephosphorylation.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The representative liver disease pathway. The solid arrow represents molecular interaction or relation (activation), the dashed arrows indirect link or unknown reaction. The circle represents chemical compound, DNA and other moleculee. formula image: molecular interaction or relation (inhibition). formula image: Phosphorylation, formula image: dephosphorylation.
Figure 7
Figure 7
The workflow to study the relationship between pungent flavored compounds and their special targets organ location in the cardiovascular system. The cyan circle represents the shared target in liver and heart. The magenta circle represent the targets in liver. The yellowish green circle represents the target in heart.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Five pungent TCMs’ compounds PCA with Fingerprint of 166 bits.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Kahleova H., Levin S., Barnard N.D. Vegetarian dietary patterns and cardiovascular disease. Prog. Cardiovasc. Dis. 2018;61:54–61. doi: 10.1016/j.pcad.2018.05.002. - DOI - PubMed
    1. North B.J., Sinclair D.A. The intersection between aging and cardiovascular disease. Circ. Res. 2012;110:1097–1108. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.111.246876. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lakatta E.G., Levy D. Arterial and cardiac aging: Major shareholders in cardiovascular disease enterprises: Part I: Aging arteries: A “set up” for vascular disease. Circulation. 2003;107:139–146. doi: 10.1161/01.CIR.0000048892.83521.58. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Humphries K.H., Izadnegahdar M., Sedlak T., Saw J., Johnston N., Schenck-Gustafsson K., Wei J. Sex differences in cardiovascular disease-Impact on care and outcomes. Front. Neuroendocrinol. 2017;46:46–70. doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2017.04.001. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Xue M., Chen K., Yin H. Relationship between platelet activation related factors and polymorphism of related genes in patients with coronary heart disease of blood-stasis syndrome. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 2008;14:267–273. doi: 10.1007/s11655-008-0267-1. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources