Background
Compound Turkish gall ointment (CTGO) has a long history of being widely used as a folk medicine in Xinjiang for the treatment of eczema. CTGO is currently in the pre-investigational new drug application stage, but its pharmacological mechanisms of action have not yet been clarified.
Conclusion
We predicted and validated our prediction that CTGO may be used to treat eczema by affecting the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway, which provides guidance for future experimental studies.
Methods
First, a sensitive and reliable ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-Q exactive hybrid quadrupole-orbitrap high-resolution accurate mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS) technique was established. Second, an integrative strategy of network analysis and molecular docking based on identified and retrieved ingredients was implemented to investigate the potential targets and pathways involved in the treatment of eczema with CTGO. Finally, Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats with eczema were prepared to verify the predicted
Results
A total of 29 compounds were identified. We found 38 active components and 58 targets for the treatment of eczema, which included 118 signaling pathways related to inflammation, immunity, and apoptosis. CTGO significantly improved the skin surface and histopathological characteristics of eczema-affected rats, downregulated the expression of IL-4, TLR4, NF-κB (p65), IL-1β, and TNF-α, and upregulated the expression level of IFN-γ.