AUTHOR=Cui Zhanhu , Li Siqi , Chang Jiayin , Zang Erhuan , Liu Qian , Zhou Baochang , Li Chao , Li Mengzhi , Huang Xianzhang , Zhang Zhongyi , Li Minhui 

TITLE=The pharmacophylogenetic relationships of two edible medicinal plants in the genus Artemisia

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.949743

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.949743

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Artemisia argyi</italic> and <italic>Artemisia indica</italic> are edible medicinal plants belonging to the genus <italic>Artemisia</italic> in the Asteraceae. There are many similarities in their morphology, traditional curative effect, and modern pharmacological treatment. In this study, we built distribution maps of <italic>A. argyi</italic> and <italic>A. indica</italic> in China and a phylogenetic tree of common medicinal plants in Asteraceae. Then, we verified the chemical composition changes of <italic>A. argyi</italic> and <italic>A. indica</italic> via their metabolome. Traditional efficacy and modern pharmacological action were verified by network pharmacology and <italic>in vitro</italic> using RAW264.7 cells. The results showed that <italic>A. argyi</italic> and <italic>A. indica</italic> are widely distributed in China, and they shared pharmaphylogeny, which provides theoretical support for the mixed use of <italic>A. argyi</italic> and <italic>A. indica</italic> in most regions of China. Furthermore, there were both similarities and differences in volatile oil and flavonoid composition between <italic>A. argyi</italic> and <italic>A. indica</italic>. The network pharmacology results showed that <italic>A. argyi</italic> and <italic>A. indica</italic> had 23 common active compounds and that both had pharmacological effects on chronic gastritis (CG). Molecular docking analyses showed that quercetin, luteolin, and kaempferol have strong binding affinities with the target proteins JUN, TP53, AKT1, MAPK3, TNF, MAPK, and IL6. The cell experiment results further demonstrated that <italic>A. argyi</italic> and <italic>A. indica</italic> treat CG <italic>via</italic> the NOD-like receptor pathway. Based on the theory of pharmaphylogeny, this study explored the pharmaphylogeny between <italic>A. argyi</italic> and <italic>A. indica</italic> from various perspectives to provide a basis for the substitution of <italic>A. argyi</italic> and <italic>A. indica</italic>.</p>