A systems biology approach for discovering the action mechanism of Niaoduqing particles in rats with chronic renal failure

Chronic renal failure (CRF) is a major public health problem worldwide, and Traditional Chinese medicine has a long history of dealing with diseases for several thousand years. Niaoduqing particles (NDQ) composed of 16 Chinese herbs, and has been proved to have remarkable effects on treating CRF in clinical. However, because of its complex prescriptions and unclear efficacy material basis, the mechanism of NDQ is still unclear.

In this study, combined with network pharmacology (target prediction), system biology research platform (lab study) was used to discover the mechanism of NDQ. In target prediction, 83 components identified by fingerprints technology (LC-MS) were subjected to target prediction and bioinformatics analysis, 39 signal pathways regulated by these components were obtained. In lab studies, the rat model with CRF was induced by adenine. The plasma protein and miRNAs expression levels were respectively detected by protein chip and miRNAs expression chip after NDQ intervention. 31 differentially expressed protein related pathways and 17 differentially expressed miRNAs related pathways were finally obtained.

Based on the above findings, a “component – miRNA – protein” topology network was built up and used to find the common pathways. Consequently, MAPK, Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, T cell receptor and Jak-Stat signaling pathways were screened. It is presumed that the four pathways are the main paths regulated by NDQ. Then, through reverse analysis, Radix Astragali, Rheum Officinale, Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae, Radix Glycyrrhizae and Poria Cocos were found to play major regulatory roles in the four signal pathways, which indicated that the five herbs had an indispensable role in NDQ.

In summary, based on the combination of laboratory research and target prediction, the action mechanism of NDQ was explored, and the herbal medicines played a major effect in the prescription were clear, which is worth further study.