Molecular Target-Oriented Phytochemical Database and Its Application to the Network Analysis of Action Mechanisms of Herbal Medicines

Kampo medicines, the Japanese adaptation of traditional Chinese medicines, are formed by combining several herbs containing multiple phytochemicals. The considerable ambiguity of pharmacological profiles of Kampo medicines is expected to be clarified by identifying the molecular targets of constituent phytochemicals and analyzing the combined effects of the phytochemicals on the pharmacological pathways formed by those targets. To facilitate this line of study, we constructed paired databases named PhytodamaTarget and PhytodamaTaxon DBs which treat molecular targets of phytochemicals and constituent phytochemicals of plant taxa, respectively, by utilizing information from the literature. We then used the databases to explore possible mechanisms of synergism in analgesic activity between Glycyrrhiza globra and Paeonia lactiflora.