Unraveling the Action Mechanism of Buyang Huanwu Tang (BYHWT) for Cerebral Ischemia by Systematic Pharmacological Methodology

Background: Buyang Huanwu Tang (BYHWT) and relevant Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has its unique advantages in the treatment of cerebral ischemia. However, its pharmacological mechanism has not been fully explained. Objective: Base on the multi-component, also the entire disease network targets, the present study sets out to identify major bioactive ingredients, key disease targets, and pathways of BYHWT against cerebral ischemia disease by systematic pharmacological methodology. Methods: Both the bioactive compounds from the BYHWT and the positive drugs against cerebral ischemia were fully investigated. The binding targets of the positive drugs were then obtained. A virtual screening protocol was then used to highlight the compound-target interaction and network was constructed to visualize the compound-target binding effect after docking analysis. Moreover, the targets enrichment analysis for biological processes and pathways were performed to further explore the function of bio-targets protein gene and its role in the signal pathway. Results: A total of 382 active ingredients of the BYHWT and 23 candidate disease targets were identified. Virtual screening results indicated that multiple bioactive compounds targeted multiple proteins. Each compound acts on one or more targets. The mechanisms were linked to 20 signaling pathways, and the key mechanism was related to serotonergic synapse, calcium signaling pathway and camp signaling pathways. Conclusion: The present study explored the bioactive ingredients and mechanisms of BYHWT against cerebral ischemia by systematic pharmacological methodology. The novel methodology would provide a reference for the lead discovery of precursors, disease mechanism and material base for TCM.