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Though widely used in the treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD), the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is still unclear because of its complex prescription rules. This study prospectively collected 715 prescriptions of TCM for the treatment of CHD. The characteristics of TCM in prescriptions were described and analyzed, and the rules of prescriptions were analyzed by using association rules. Frequency statistics showed that the high-frequency herbs with a frequency of more than 60% were Gan-cao, Huang-qi, Dang-gui, Chuan-xiong, Yan-hu-suo, and San-qi. The high-frequency herb combinations were summarized by using association rules. By using the method of the "Top N groups" to excavate the empirical prescriptions, the basic prescriptions for treating CHD were summarized. We named the intersection herbs of the basic prescriptions and the high frequency herbs as the core herbal prescription. To explore the possible mechanisms underlying the anti-CHD effect of the core herbal prescription, the bioactive components of core herbal prescription and their targets were screened out by using network pharmacology. Molecular docking was performed between the bioactive components and core targets. A total of 28 potential active ingredients and 5 core targets were identified for the treatment of CHD with core herbal prescription. The enrichment analysis results indicated that the mechanism of action mainly involved neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction and calcium signaling pathway. The commonly used herbal pairs for CHD with qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome were Huang-qi and Dang-gui. The mechanism of action of common herbal pairs was also studied by network pharmacology. This study summarized the prescription rule of TCM in the treatment of CHD and may provide a new idea for the treatment of CHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although data mining methods are extensively used in the rule analysis of famous old traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) experts' prescriptions for the treatment of hypertension, most of them only mine the association between herbs and herbs, ignoring the importance of symptoms in the disease. This study collected 439 cases of hypertension treated by famous old TCM experts from the FangNet platform. Using the structure network algorithm, the symptom-herb network was constructed, which redefined the importance of herb in disease. Based on the network, 21 driver herbs, 76 herb pairs, and 41 symptom-herb associations were mined. Finally, the basic prescription composed of Gouteng (Uncariae Ramulus cum Uncis), Huanglian (Coptidis Rhizoma), Chuanxiong (Chuanxiong Rhizoma), Gegen (Puerariae Lobatae Radix), Danggui (Angelicae Sinensis Radix), and Huangqin (Scutellariae Radix) was found. These herbs are the most significant among all herbs, and they have a potential correlation with each other. To further verify the rationality of the data mining results, we adopted the network pharmacology method. Network pharmacological analysis shows that the five core targets in the basic prescription include IL6, VEGFA, TNF, TP53, and EGF, which link 10 significant active compounds and 7 important KEGG pathways. It was predicted that anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, vascular endothelial protection, emotion regulation, and ion channel intervention might be the main mechanisms of the basic prescription against hypertension. This study reveals the prescription rule of famous old TCM experts for treating hypertension from a new perspective, which provides a new approach to inherit the academic experience of famous old TCM experts and develop new drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the proliferative activity and neuroprotective effect of a newly identified ligustrazine derivative (4-((3,5,6-trimethylpyrazine-2-yl)methoxyl)-3-methox-ybenzoic acid-3,5,6- trimethylpyrazin- 2-methyl ester, T-VA) and the possible mechanism related to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in cerebral ischemic injury. Methods: The pharmacological activity of T-VA was evaluated using MTT ((3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl2- yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide)) assay, while cellular morphology was observed with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. Chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model, immuno-histochemical analysis, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to determine the expression of VEGF. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model was used to investigate both VEGF expression and the survival rate after treatment with T-VA. Results: T-VA promoted neuron activity, and the doses of 15 and 30 µM showed more significant effect (p < 0.05). The viability of PC12 cells increased significantly in T-VA (30 and 60 µM) groups (p < 0.05) and increased in a dose-dependent manner. Immunohistochemical analysis showed stimulated VEGF expression, and CAM model results showed that T-VA (20 mg/egg) significantly promoted micro- angiogenesis (p < 0.01). Moreover, in MCAO model, the survival rate of T-VA (60 mg/kg) group reached 86.7 % while for the ischemia group it was 60.0 %. In addition, ELISA results showed that T-VA promoted the expression of VEGF (p < 0.05). Conclusion: These findings indicate that T-VA helps to prevent ischemic injury by increasing VEGF expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]