The Regulation Networks of Chinese Medicines Against Rheumatoid Arthritis with Syndrome of Deficiency of Liver and Kidney.

In China, the integration of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and western medicine against rheumatoid arthritis (RA) delivers both low-level inflammation indexes and less side effects. Thus, exploring the mechanism of TCM against RA might help to explore the pathology of RA. As the diagnosis of TCM is based on syndrome differentiation and deficiency of liver and kidney is the leading one, then, explore associated Chinese medicines against RA may shed light on the therapeutic regulation network. In this study, network pharmacology analysis was carried out based on bioactive compounds, targeted proteins and protein interactions towards RA. As a result, the regulation network against RA delivered by the top five Chinese medicines was constructed. Further bioinformatics analysis on participant genes not only elucidate the relationships to RA and immune response, but also the reduced side effects e.g. osteoporosis. Validation of the therapeutic effect on RA patients was done via check indexes on C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Potential effects of the delivered regulation network were demonstrated with heatmap on the microarray data of RA synovium tissue.