Abstract:
OBJECTIVE To reveal the pharmacological mechanism of Sofren Injection in the treatment of Qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome of angina pectoris in coronary heart disease, and to preliminarily verify the reliability of the prediction results by cell experiments.
METHODS Firstly, we screened the main chemical components of Sofren injection and their targets from biomedical databases and literature. Then, using the DIAMOnD algorithm, we constructed the angina disease module by screening Qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome-related genes from the GeneCards and MalaCards databases. Next, we conducted gene functional enrichment analysis of the core targets in the "angina pectoris-Qi deficiency and blood stasis-Sofren Injection" network to identify key pathways. Finally, we performed cell experiments to verify the effect of Sofren Injection on the expression of key pathway proteins in hypoxic H9C2 cardiomyocytes.
RESULTS We identified 7 main chemical components of Sofren Injection, targeting a total of 362 genes. We screened 232 known angina pectoris-related genes and added 100 predicted genes by constructing the angina pectoris disease module. A total of 2 960 genes related to Qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome were obtained. Network topological analysis revealed 30 core targets for Sofren Injection in treating coronary heart disease angina pectoris with Qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome, including STAT3, EGFR, TNF, and IL-6. Gene functional enrichment analysis identified 82 pathways. Literature analysis combined with the results indicated that STAT3 and the JAK2/STAT3 pathway might be key pathways for Sofren Injection in treating coronary heart disease angina pectoris with Qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome. Cell experimental results showed significant decreases in mRNA and protein expression of JAK2 and STAT3 in the SI group and the nicorandil group compared to the model group (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION Disease module analysis and cell experiments confirm that STAT3 is a key gene in the pathological mechanism of coronary heart disease angina pectoris with Qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome, and the JAK2/STAT3 pathway is a core pathway for Sofren Injection in treating this condition. This study demonstrates the effectiveness and novelty of combining disease module for mining the treatment of TCM formulas with specific disease and syndrome.