Pharmacology mechanism of Flos magnoliae and Centipeda minima for treating allergic rhinitis based on pharmacology network

Abstract

Chinese herbs such as Flos magnoliae (FM) and Centipeda minima (CM) can be effective in treating allergic rhinitis (AR). However, there is little research on the therapeutic mechanism of these two drugs acting on AR at the same time. In order to systematically understand the mechanism of action of two drugs acting on AR at the same time, we searched various databases to obtain 31 components and 289 target proteins of FM, 25 components and 465 target proteins of CM. The interaction networks of FM, CM, and AR proteins were constructed by Cytoscape-v3.2.1 software. The core protein of two network intersections was obtained by using Venny 2.1.0. The R platform was used for the core target protein gene ontology (GO) comment analysis and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway analysis. Thirteen common targets and seven acting pathways were obtained. The results of animal experiments showed that FM and CM volatile oil could effectively improve the symptoms of AR by regulating the common targets. In summary, this study successfully explained the potential therapeutic mechanism of FM and CM in the treatment of AR. At the same time, it indicates that the two drugs can be compatible as a new application.

Keywords:

• Flos magnoliae
• Centipeda minima
• network pharmacology
• pathway enrichment
• allergic rhinitis

Acknowledgement

Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Chinese Medicine Pharmaceutical Key Discipline of Shaanxi Province [grant number 303061107]; Key Research and Development Plan of Shaanxi Province [grant number 2018SF-314]; Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 81703720]; Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicine Preparation of Ministry of Education Opens Fund in 2017 [grant number 2017003]; Shaanxi Province Key Subject of Pharmacy Engineering of Shaanxi Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Administration [grant number 2017001].