AUTHOR=Zhang Yingchun , Wu Xiaoyi , Wang Xinhui , Zeng Yue , Liao Yixuan , Zhang Ruizhi , Zhai Fuqiang , Zeng Zhongliang 

TITLE=Grey Relational Analysis Combined With Network Pharmacology to Identify Antioxidant Components and Uncover Its Mechanism From Moutan Cortex

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.748501

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2021.748501

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p>The present study determines the potential antioxidants in Moutan Cortex (MC) and predicts its targets of anti-oxidative activities. The quantitative analysis and the free radical scavenging assays were conducted to detect the main components in MC and assess its anti-oxidant activities. The grey relational analysis and the <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332219313216" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">network pharmacology</ext-link> approach were employed to predict its key components and targets of anti-oxidant activities. Six main constitutes in MCs were quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and its anti-oxidant activities were evaluated by DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging methods. Then grey relational analysis was employed to predict the key components acting on anti-oxidative activity based on the chem-bio results. The predicted components and its mechanisms on anti-oxidation were uncovered by <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332219313216" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">network pharmacology</ext-link> approach and cell test, respectively. The content of paeonol and paeoniflorin accounts for more than 80% the whole content of detected components. However, the two main ingredients showed a great variety among MCs. The antioxidant capacities of MCs also showed a great discrepancy based on DPPH and ABTS methods. The key components acting on anti-oxidation were identified to be paeonol, gallic acid and benzoylpaeoniflorin, and their potential therapeutic targets were predicted and verified, respectively. The present results reveal that MC has a significant antioxidant activity and the compounds of paeonol, gallic acid and benzoylpaeoniflorin could be considered as the promising antioxidant candidates with the property of suppressing oxidative stress and apoptosis.</p>