[Pharmacodynamic material basis and mechanism of Baoyuan Decoction in treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]

This study aimed to investigate the pharmacodynamic material basis and potential mechanism of Baoyuan Decoction(BYD) in treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) based on serum pharmacochemistry and network pharmacology. UPLC-Q-Exactive-Orbitrap-MS was employed to identify the chemical constituents of BYD and its components absorbed in rat plasma. A total of 493 chemical compounds were identified in BYD, 174 of which were reported for the first time. In the drug-containing plasma, 76 prototype components and 44 metabolites were identified, with 27 components exhibiting both prototype and metabolic properties. Through network pharmacology approaches, potential targets of the absorbed prototype components were predicted and intersected with COPD-related targets, yielding 724 common targets. Key targets such as SRC, PIK3R1, and HSP90AA1 were further screened out. Gene Ontology(GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed via the DAVID database, revealing that BYD may exert its effects by regulating biological processes such as response to external stimuli and peptidyl-tyrosine phosphorylation. KEGG analysis indicated involvement of key pathways including calcium signaling pathway, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, and cAMP signaling pathway. A component-target-pathway network was constructed, and molecular docking results demonstrated strong binding affinity between the core components of BYD and the key targets. In summary, components such as vitexin, sanguisorbigenin, 6-gingerol, 4-hydroxycinnamic acid, 10-shogaol, liquiritin, ononin, calycosin-7-glucoside, ginsenoside Ro, and ginsenoside Rf may serve as the main pharmacodynamic material basis of BYD in treating COPD. The underlying mechanism may be associated with the regulation of targets such as SRC and PIK3R1, which influences inflammatory and oxidative stress processes. This study preliminarily clarifies the multi-component, multi-target mechanism of BYD against COPD, providing a reference for quality standard improvement and formulation development of BYD.