Research indicates that the Cold-Damp Epidemic Formula exerts anti-COVID-19 effects through multiple components, multiple targets, and multiple signaling pathways.
Release Date:
2020-09-15
Traditional Chinese medicine has played an indispensable role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Cold-Damp Epidemic Formula,” formulated after discussions between Academician Tong Xiaolin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and experts from Wuhan, Hubei Province, has been particularly effective on the front lines of Wuhan’s epidemic response. Comprising 20 herbal ingredients, the formula is derived from and adapted from several renowned classical prescriptions, including Maxing Shigan Decoction, Tingli Dazao Xiefei Decoction, Huopu Xialing Decoction, Shenshu San, and Dayuan Yin. It functions to diffuse and regulate lung qi, eliminate dampness and turbid factors, and detoxify while unblocking the meridians.
Recently, the journal Chinese Medicine (with a latest impact factor of 2.96) published a study titled “Potential mechanism prediction of Cold-Damp Plague Formula against COVID-19 via network pharmacology analysis and molecular docking,” with Tong Xiaolin and Zhao Linhua, a researcher at the Guang’anmen Hospital of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, serving as the corresponding authors. This study elucidated the active constituents of the Cold-Damp Plague Formula (CDPF) and their potential molecular mechanisms in the treatment of COVID-19, suggesting that, at the molecular level, CDPF exerts its anti-COVID-19 effects through multiple components, multiple targets, and multiple signaling pathways.
This study, based on mining a traditional Chinese medicine database and relevant literature, screened the active constituents of the Han Shi Yi formula and their candidate targets, thereby constructing a “drug–component–target” network. Subsequently, the intersection between the candidate targets of the active compounds and COVID-19–related targets was identified, yielding 71 potential targets for the Han Shi Yi formula in the treatment of COVID-19. Further analysis of these potential targets through the construction of a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network led to the selection of 68 candidate targets, which were then subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses.
GO analysis revealed that the mechanisms by which the Han-Shi-Yi formula treats COVID-19 are primarily concentrated in four areas: cellular responses to external stimuli; regulation of hematopoiesis and circulation; free-radical modulation; and immunomodulation and anti-inflammatory effects. KEGG pathway analysis indicated that the pharmacological actions of the Han-Shi-Yi formula in treating COVID-19 are mainly associated with antiviral, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory pathways.
This study also conducted molecular docking to evaluate the binding affinity of the active constituents of the Han Shi Yi formula with key targets and to explore their potential binding modes. Specifically, the study selected IL-6—the most central hub in the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network—and ACE2—the primary receptor through which SARS-CoV-2 enters host cells—and performed molecular docking with the key constituents of the Han Shi Yi formula, revealing favorable binding properties.
This study constructed a visualized “Cold-Damp Epidemic Formula–Drug–Component–Target–Pathway–COVID-19” network, suggesting that the Cold-Damp Epidemic Formula exerts its anti-COVID-19 effects at the molecular level through multiple components, multiple targets, and multiple pathways. This provides a reference basis for more in-depth research into the mechanisms of action of the Cold-Damp Epidemic Formula in the treatment of COVID-19.
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