Application of network pharmacology in synergistic action of Chinese herbal compounds

• Published in: Theory in biosciences = Theorie in den Biowissenschaften Vol. 143; no. 3; pp. 195 - 203
• Main Authors: Duan, Xianchun, Wang, Ni, Peng, Daiyin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.09.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bioinformatics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Complex Systems; Computational Biology - methods; Cross-fertilization; Drug Compounding; Drug Synergism; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - chemistry; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Evolutionary Biology; Fertilization; Herbal medicine; Humans; Life Sciences; Mathematical and Computational Biology; Medicine, Chinese Traditional - methods; Network Pharmacology; Pharmacology; Philosophy of Biology; Review; Software; Theoretical Ecology/Statistics; Traditional Chinese medicine; Network pharmacology; Traditional Chinese medicine compound; Synergistic effect
• ISSN: 1431-7613; 1611-7530; 1611-7530
• DOI: 10.1007/s12064-024-00419-2

Herbal medicines are frequently blended in the form of multi-drug combinations primarily based on the precept of medicinal compatibility, to achieve the purpose of treating diseases. However, due to the lack of appropriate techniques and the multi-component and multi-target nature of Chinese medicine compounding, it is tough to explain how the drugs interact with each other. As a rising discipline, cyber pharmacology has formed a new approach characterized by using holistic and systematic “network targets” via the cross-fertilization of computer technology, bioinformatics, and different multidisciplinary disciplines. It can broadly screen the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine, enhance the effective utilization of drugs, and elucidate the mechanism of drug action. We will overview the principles of Chinese medicine compounding and dispensing, the research methods of network pharmacology, and the software of network pharmacology in the lookup of compounded Chinese medicines, aiming to supply thoughts for the better application of network pharmacology in the research of Chinese medicines.