Abstract
“Huagai san,” a Chinese classical herbal formulation, has been used for nearly 50 years to treat various conditions including bronchial asthma owing to its definite efficacy. It represents one of the few currently available options used to treat asthma. Although its effectiveness has been demonstrated in clinical applications, current research on “huagai san” focuses on its clinical efficacy, and there is a lack of systematic material-basis studies of its components. The mechanism of action and bioactive components of “huagai san” are still unknown. Here, an integrated strategy based on in vivo and in vitro substance analysis and network pharmacology is proposed. We aimed to elucidate the chemical composition of “huagai san”, identify the constituents absorbed in the blood, predict the main bioactive components, and discover key therapeutic targets to identify the potential anti-bronchial asthmatic substances in “huagai san.” A four-step filtering strategy was established using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry to elucidate the chemical composition of “huagai san” A total of 185 compounds were annotated in the herbal formulation, and 65 compounds including 40 original compounds from the analyzed preparation and 25 metabolic hepatic products produced by phase II conjugation reactions were identified in rats. Based on the composition analysis of “huagai san” in vivo, the bioactive components and potential therapeutic targets in treating bronchial asthma were investigated using network pharmacology. The results provide a scientific basis for understanding the bioactive components of the “huagai san” herbal formulation and their pharmacological mechanisms.
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Funding
This work was supported by Jiangxi Major Discipline and Technology Leaders Training Program-Leadership Program (20204BCJ22032) and Nanchang High-Level Science and Technology Innovation Talents “Double Hundred Plan” Project Hongke Word (2022) No. 321.
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NZ did the experiment, collected test data, and drafted the manuscript. RW provided some data for the study. LFL, WL, and XJL prepared tables and graphs. XYR analyzed the UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS data. MZH designed the study. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
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All animal studies were conducted in accordance with the Guiding Principles for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (National Institutes of Health). All experimental procedures in this study were conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the use of experimental animals mandated by the State Key Laboratory with reference number SCXK (Gan) 2022-0002.
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Zhou, N., Wang, R., Liu, Lf. et al. Anti-asthmatic Substances in the Chinese Herbal Formulation Huagai San Based on In Vitro and In Vivo Analysis and Network Pharmacology. Rev. Bras. Farmacogn. 34, 492–500 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43450-023-00496-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43450-023-00496-2