Sheng‑Tzung Tsaia,b, Hsin‑Yi Huangc*
aDepartment of Neurosurgery, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation and Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan, bNeuro‑Medical Scientific Center, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan, cDepartment of Medical Research, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan
Open Access funded by Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation
Abstract
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has the characteristics of multi‑component, multi‑target, and biological systems coordination, which meet the criteria of the network pharmacological application. Therefore, using network pharmacology to discover he relationship between TCM, diseases, and cellular responses is easily achievable. Aging‑induced imbalanced homeostasis is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a neuronal disease regulated by multiple genes. Meta‑analysis of TCM in metabolic regulation to improve symptoms of AD helps understand the pharmacological effects. The drug targets of TCM can be investigated using a holistic network pharmacology approach to find potential modulators involved in AD‑related metabolic pathways. Based on the theoretical prediction of TCM for AD, experimental validation is needed to develop pure compounds for specific treatments.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, Network pharmacology, Traditional Chinese medicine
