Psychoactive Plant Database - Neuroactive Phytochemical Collection

1. Phytomedicine. 2024 Oct 28;135:156182. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2024.156182.
Online  ahead of print.

A stepwise integrated strategy to explore quality markers of Qishen Yiqi 
dripping pills against myocardial ischemia.

Liu LW(1), Tang M(2), Zhang ZB(1), Zhou PP(1), Xue LP(1), Jia QQ(1), Zhao LG(3), 
Zuo LH(4), Sun Z(5).

Author information:
(1)Department of Pharmacy, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou 
University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, 450052, PR China; Henan Engineering 
Research Center of Clinical Mass Spectrometry for Precision Medicine, Zhengzhou, 
Henan Province, 450052, PR China.
(2)The First Department of Orthopaedics, Zhengzhou Central Hospital Affiliated 
to Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, 450007, PR China.
(3)Center for Disease Prevention and Control of Baoan District, Shenzhen, 
Guangdong Province, 518101, PR China.
(4)Department of Pharmacy, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou 
University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, 450052, PR China; Henan Engineering 
Research Center of Clinical Mass Spectrometry for Precision Medicine, Zhengzhou, 
Henan Province, 450052, PR China. Electronic address: zuolihua2013@126.com.
(5)Department of Pharmacy, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou 
University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, 450052, PR China; Henan Engineering 
Research Center of Clinical Mass Spectrometry for Precision Medicine, Zhengzhou, 
Henan Province, 450052, PR China. Electronic address: sunzhi2013@163.com.

BACKGROUND: Numerous experiments and clinical practices have demonstrated the 
effectiveness of Qishen Yiqi dripping pills (QSYQ) on myocardial ischemia (MI). 
However, the bioactive ingredients and mechanisms remain unclear, leading to 
huge gaps between quality control and biological effect of QSYQ. Discovering 
quality markers (Q-markers) based on effective components is crucial for 
ensuring stable quality and clinical effectiveness of QSYQ.
PURPOSE: To explore Q-markers of QSYQ against MI by a stepwise strategy 
integrating serum pharmacochemistry, network pharmacology, metabolomics, 
quantitative analysis, and cell experiments.
METHODS: Firstly, liquid/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was applied to 
characterize chemical profiles of QSYQ in vitro and in vivo. Based on the serum 
migrating constituents, a component-target-MI interaction network was 
constructed. Subsequently, pharmacodynamics and metabolomics were conducted to 
evaluate cardioprotective effect and potential mechanism of QSYQ. Next, conjoint 
analysis of network pharmacology and metabolomics was performed to screen 
candidate Q-markers. Finally, the measurability and bioactivity were validated 
to justify their usage as Q-markers.
RESULTS: A total of 97 components were identified in QSYQ, 24 prototypes of 
which were detected in serum. The "component-target-disease" interaction network 
was constructed based on serum migrating constituents. Pharmacodynamic results 
showed that QSYQ effectively improved cardiac function, attenuated inflammatory 
cell infiltration, alleviated myocardial fibrosis, and reduced the levels of 
myocardial enzymes and oxidative stress in MI rats. Metabolomics study 
demonstrated that 59 metabolites were markedly altered in MI rats, 25 of which 
were significantly reversely regulated by QSYQ. After integrative analysis of 
network pharmacology and metabolomics, 12 components were selected as candidate 
Q-markers of QSYQ, and the contents were quantified. These candidate Q-markers 
displayed synergistic protective effects against H2O2-induced injury in H9c2 
cells. Taken together, 12 components with properties of transitivity and 
traceability, effectiveness, measurability, and compatibility contribution were 
defined as representative Q-markers of QSYQ, including Astragaloside IV, Ononin, 
Calycosin, Formononetin, Rosmarinic acid, Cryptotanshinone, Salvianolic acid A, 
Tanshinol, Ginsenoside Rb1, Ginsenoside Rg1, Nerolidol, and Santalol.
CONCLUSION: In this study, a novel stepwise integrated strategy was presented 
for discovering Q-markers related to therapeutic effects of traditional Chinese 
medicine prescriptions. Twelve comprehensive and representative Q-markers of 
QSYQ were identified for the first time to improve its quality control.

Copyright © 2024 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2024.156182
PMID: 39488103

Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of competing interest The authors 
declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal 
relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this 
paper.


2. World J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2024 Oct 21;40(11):358. doi: 
10.1007/s11274-024-04163-z.

Salvianolic acids modulate lifespan and gut microbiota composition in 
amyloid-β-expressing Drosophila melanogaster.

Go W(1), Ishak IH(1), Zarkasi KZ(2), Azzam G(3).

Author information:
(1)School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Minden, 
Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
(2)School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Minden, 
Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. kamarul.zarkasi@usm.my.
(3)School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Minden, 
Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. ghows@usm.my.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a form of neurodegenerative disorder characterized by 
the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ), hyperphosphorylated Tau, and 
neuroinflammation. The increasing population affected by AD urges for the 
development of effective treatments. The correlation between AD and gut 
microbiome remains underexplored, potentially providing a better understanding 
of the disease. Salvianolic acid A (Sal A) and salvianolic acid B (Sal B) are 
the active components extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen), and their 
antioxidant, anti-inflammation and Aβ inhibition activities were shown 
previously. In this study, these compounds were used to investigate their 
effects on Aβ toxicity, using Drosophila melanogaster expressing human Aβ42 as 
the model organism, by examining their lifespan and changes in gut bacterial 
communities. The study used two batches of flies, reared on food with or without 
methylparaben (MP) supplementation to evaluate the influence of MP on this 
animal model during pharmacological studies. MP is a common antimicrobial agent 
used in flies' food. The treatment of Sal A prolonged the lifespan of 
Aβ-expressing flies reared on MP-supplemented food significantly (P < 0.001), 
but not those without MP. The lifespan of Sal B-treated flies did not show a 
significant difference compared to untreated flies for both groups reared on 
food with and without MP. Sal A-treated flies in the presence of MP exhibited a 
lower abundance of Corynebacterium and Enterococcus than the untreated flies, 
while Lactiplantibacillus was the most dominant taxa. Urea cycle was predicted 
to be predominant in this group compared to the untreated group. The control 
group, Aβ-expressing flies treated with Sal A and Sal B on MP-supplemented food 
had improved lifespan compared to their respective groups reared on food without 
MP, while untreated Aβ-expressing flies was the exception. The gut microbiota 
composition of flies reared on MP-supplemented food was also significantly 
different from those without MP (P < 0.001).

© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

DOI: 10.1007/s11274-024-04163-z
PMID: 39428437 [Indexed for MEDLINE]


3. Chin Med. 2024 Oct 5;19(1):136. doi: 10.1186/s13020-024-01017-6.

Development of a new paradigm model for deciphering action mechanism of Danhong 
injection using a combination of isothermal shift assay and database 
interrogation.

Wang T(#)(1), Yang C(#)(1), Tang Y(#)(1), Wen K(1), Ma Y(1), Chen Y(1), Li Z(1), 
Zhao Y(1), Zhu S(2), Meng X(1), Du S(1), Miao Z(1), Wei W(3), Deng H(4).

Author information:
(1)MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Center for Synthetic and Systematic 
Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, People's 
Republic of China.
(2)Chinese Institutes for Medical Research, Beijing, China.
(3)Wangjing hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 
China. sxxtyy@sina.com.
(4)MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Center for Synthetic and Systematic 
Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, People's 
Republic of China. dht@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.
(#)Contributed equally

BACKGROUND: Identification of active components of traditional Chinese Medicine 
(TCM) and their respective targets is important for understanding the mechanisms 
underlying TCM efficacy. However, there are still no effective technical methods 
to achieve this.
METHODS: Herein, we have established a method for rapidly identifying targets of 
a specific TCM and interrogating the targets with their corresponding active 
components based on Isothermal Shift Assay (iTSA) and database interrogation.
RESULTS: We optimized iTSA workflow and identified 110 targets for Danhong 
injection (DHI) which is used as an effective remedy for cardiovascular and 
cerebrovascular diseases. Moreover, we identified the targets of the nine major 
ingredients found in DHI. Database interrogation found that the potential 
targets for DHI, in which we verified that ADK as the target for salvianolic 
acid A and ALDH1B1 as the target for protocatechualdehyde in DHI, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Overall, we established a novel paradigm model for the 
identification of targets and their respective ingredients in DHI, which 
facilitates the discovery of drug candidates and targets for improving disease 
management and contributes to revealing the underlying mechanisms of TCM and 
fostering TCM development and modernization.

© 2024. The Author(s).

DOI: 10.1186/s13020-024-01017-6
PMCID: PMC11452974
PMID: 39369254

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declared no competing interests.


4. Front Pharmacol. 2024 Sep 9;15:1431692. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1431692. 
eCollection 2024.

Combining systems pharmacology, metabolomics, and transcriptomics to reveal the 
mechanism of Salvia miltiorrhiza-Cortex moutan herb pair for the treatment of 
ischemic stroke.

Zhao C(#)(1)(2), Bai X(#)(3), Ding Y(2), Wen A(2), Fu Q(1)(4).

Author information:
(1)Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong 
University, Xi'an, China.
(2)Department of Pharmacy, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, 
China.
(3)Precision Pharmacy and Drug Development Center, Department of Pharmacy, 
Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China.
(4)Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, College of Pharmacy, Shenzhen 
Technology University, Shenzhen, China.
(#)Contributed equally

Ischemic stroke (IS), predominantly triggered by blockages in cerebral blood 
flow, is increasingly recognized as a critical public health issue. The 
combination of Salvia miltiorrhiza (SM) and Cortex moutan (CM), traditional 
herbs in Eastern medicine, are frequently used for managing heart and brain 
vascular conditions. However, the exact mechanisms by which this herb pair (SC) 
combats IS remain largely unexplored. This investigation focuses on pinpointing 
the active constituents in SC that contribute to its protective role and 
deciphering the mechanisms countering cerebral ischemia, particularly in a 
middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rat model. We employed UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS 
alongside network pharmacology for predicting SC's target actions against IS. 
Key ingredients were examined for their interaction with principal targets using 
molecular docking. The therapeutic impact was gauged through H&E, TUNEL, and 
Nissl staining, complemented by transcriptomic and metabolomic integration for 
mechanistic insights, with vital genes confirmed via western blot. 
UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS analysis revealed that the main components of SC included 
benzoylpaeoniflorin, salvianolic acid B, oxypaeoniflora, salvianolic acid A, and 
others. Network pharmacology analysis indicated that SC's mechanism in treating 
IS primarily involves inflammation, angiogenesis, and cell apoptosis-related 
pathways, potentially through targets such as AKT1, TNF, PTGS2, MMP9, PIK3CA, 
and VEGFA. Molecular docking underscored strong affinities between these 
constituents and their targets. Our empirical studies indicated SC's significant 
role in enhancing neuroprotection in IS, with transcriptomics suggesting the 
involvement of the VEGFA/PI3K/AKT pathway and metabolomics revealing 
improvements in various metabolic processes, including amino acids, 
glycerophospholipids, sphingomyelin, and fatty acids metabolisms.

Copyright © 2024 Zhao, Bai, Ding, Wen and Fu.

DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1431692
PMCID: PMC11417465
PMID: 39314757

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that the research was 
conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could 
be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


5. Biomed Pharmacother. 2024 Oct;179:117435. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2024.117435. 
Epub 2024 Sep 10.

Corrigendum to "Salvianolic acid A improve mitochondrial respiration and cardiac 
function via inhibiting apoptosis pathway through CRYAB in diabetic 
cardiomyopathy" [Biomed. Pharmacother. (2023) 160 114382].

Gong DF(1), Sun SC(1), Wang RR(1), Dawuti A(1), Kong DW(1), Liu RQ(1), Du LD(2), 
Wang SB(3), Lu Y(4), Yuan TY(5), Du GH(6), Fang LH(7).

Author information:
(1)State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural 
Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and 
Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of 
Drug Targets Identification and Drug Screening, Institute of Materia Medica, 
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 
100050, China.
(2)Shandong Soteria Pharmaceutical Co Ltd., Jinan 250022, China.
(3)Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Targets Identification and Drug Screening, 
Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking 
Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
(4)State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural 
Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and 
Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of 
Polymorphic Drugs, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical 
Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
(5)State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural 
Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and 
Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China. Electronic address: 
yuantianyi@imm.ac.cn.
(6)State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural 
Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and 
Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China. Electronic address: 
dugh@imm.ac.cn.
(7)State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural 
Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and 
Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of 
Drug Targets Identification and Drug Screening, Institute of Materia Medica, 
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 
100050, China. Electronic address: fanglh@imm.ac.cn.

Erratum for
    Biomed Pharmacother. 2023 Apr;160:114382. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114382.

DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2024.117435
PMID: 39261259