Integrating UPLC-Q-TOF-MS and Network Pharmacology to Explore the Potential Mechanisms of Paeonia lactiflora Pall. in the Treatment of Blood Stasis Syndrome

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 29; no. 13; p. 3019
• Main Authors: Ma, Mengzhen, Du, Qianqian, Shi, Suying, Lv, Jiahui, Zhang, Wei, Ge, Dezhu, Xing, Lihua, Yu, Nianjun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26.06.2024
• Subjects: Animals; blood stasis syndrome; Blood Viscosity - drug effects; Cardiovascular disease; Chinese medicine; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods; Disease Models, Animal; Drugs; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - chemistry; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Male; Mass spectrometry; molecular docking; Molecular Docking Simulation; Network Pharmacology; Paeonia - chemistry; Paeonia lactiflora Pall; Pharmacology; R&D; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Research & development; Scientific imaging; UPLC-Q-TOF-MS; Viscosity; China; blood stasis syndrome; molecular docking; network pharmacology; UPLC-Q-TOF-MS; Paeonia lactiflora Pall
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules29133019

Pall. (PLP) is thought to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis. This study used blood component analysis, network pharmacology, and molecular docking to predict the mechanism of PLP in the treatment of blood stasis syndrome (BSS). PLP was processed into Alba (PRA) and Rubra (PRR). PRA and PRR could significantly reduce whole blood viscosity (WBV) at 1/s shear rates and could increase the erythrocyte aggregation index (EAI), plasma viscosity (PV), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) of rats with acute blood stasis. They prolonged the prothrombin time (PT), and PRR prolonged the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). PRA and PRR increased the thrombin time (TT) and decreased the fibrinogen (FBG) content. All the results were significant ( < 0.05). Ten components of Paeoniflorin, Albiflorin, Paeonin C, and others were identified in the plasma of rats using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). A protein-protein interaction network (PPI) analysis showed that AKT1, EGFR, SRC, MAPK14, NOS3, and KDR were key targets of PLP in the treatment of BSS, and the molecular docking results further verified this. This study indicated that PLP improves BSS in multiple ways and that the potential pharmacological mechanisms may be related to angiogenesis, vasoconstriction and relaxation, coagulation, and the migration and proliferation of vascular cells.