Network Pharmacology Exploration Reveals Gut Microbiota Modulation as a Common Therapeutic Mechanism for Anti-Fatigue Effect Treated with Maca Compounds Prescription

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 14; no. 8; p. 1533
• Main Authors: Zhu, Hongkang, Wang, Ruoyong, Hua, Hanyi, Cheng, Yuliang, Guo, Yahui, Qian, He, Du, Peng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 07.04.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Animals; Bar codes; Bioinformatics; Chemical compounds; Chinese medicine; Chronic fatigue syndrome; Clinical medicine; Digestive system; Digestive tract; Ecosystem; Fatigue; Fatigue - drug therapy; Feces; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Gene expression; gut microbiota; Ingredients; Intestinal microflora; Intestine; Lepidium; maca; Mice; Microbiota; Microorganisms; Multiple sclerosis; Nervous system; Network Pharmacology; Pharmacology; Prescriptions; Proteins; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; rRNA 16S; United States > US; maca; fatigue; network pharmacology; gut microbiota
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu14081533

Maca compounds prescription (MCP) is a common botanical used in dietary supplements, primarily to treat exercise-induced fatigue. The aim of this study is to elucidate the multi-target mechanism of MCP on fatigue management via network pharmacology and gut microbiota analysis. Databases and literature were used to screen the chemical compounds and targets of MCP. Subsequently, 120 active ingredients and 116 fatigue-related targets played a cooperative role in managing fatigue, where several intestine-specific targets indicated the anti-fatigue mechanism of MCP might be closely related to its prebiotics of intestinal bacteria. Thus, forced swimming tests (FSTs) were carried and mice fecal samples were collected and analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing. Gut microbiota were beneficially regulated in the MCP-treated group in phylum, genus and OTU levels, respectively, and that with a critical correlation included Lactobacillus and . The results systematically reveal that MCP acts against fatigue on multi-targets with different ingredients and reshapes the gut microbial ecosystem.