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 have not been fully explained. OBJECTIVE Base on the multi-component, also the entire disease network targets, the present study set 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 visual the compound-target binding effect after docking analysis. Moreover，the targets enrichment analysis for biological processes and pathways were revealed 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 compounds act 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.