Clinical and Translational Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 6, 2022; 10(34): 12500-12514
Published online Dec 6, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i34.12500
Coptis, Pinellia, and Scutellaria as a promising new drug combination for treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection
Zhang Yu, Wu-Dong Sheng, Xu Yin, Yu Bin
Zhang Yu, Xu Yin, Yu Bin, Department of Internal Medicine, The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410007, Hunan Province, China
Wu-Dong Sheng, Department of Surgery, The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410007, Hunan Province, China
Author contributions: Bin Y initiated the project; Yu Z and Sheng WD had the idea for this study and performed the experiments; Yu Z wrote the manuscript; Bin Y and Yin X performed the experiments and wrote the manuscript; all authors contributed to the final manuscript.
Supported by the Domestic First-class Construction Disciplines of the Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 2018[03]; the Key Scientific Research Project of Hunan Provincial Education Board, No. 20A371; and the Key Programs of Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Hunan Province, No. C2022016.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine Institutional Review Board (Approval No. ZYFY20190620).
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yu Bin, MM, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 95 Shaoshan Middle Road, Yuhua District, Changsha 410007, Hunan Province, China. yubin410@163.com
Received: July 23, 2022
Peer-review started: July 23, 2022
First decision: September 26, 2022
Revised: October 9, 2022
Accepted: November 7, 2022
Article in press: November 7, 2022
Published online: December 6, 2022
Processing time: 132 Days and 1.4 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is associated with severe digestive diseases, while successful eradication of this pathogen is known to prevent the occurrence of peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer.

Research motivation

H. pylori eradication has become more challenging over the past decade due to increasing antimicrobial resistance. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has unique advantages for treating H. pylori infection, which can reduce drug resistance and increase the eradication rate of H. pylori.

Research objectives

To effectively treat H. pylori infection in the future, we need efficient therapeutic agents or strategies.

Research methods

Here, we attempted to identify medication rules, effective materials, and the molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of TCM against H. pylori using data mining, in vivo experiment, and network pharmacology.

Research results

Coptis, Pinellia, and Scutellaria (CPS) were identified as the core drug combination for H. pylori eradication. We evidenced that CPS eradicated H. pylori, alleviated the gastric pathology, and reduced circulating tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β levels. Nine key compounds and nine hub target proteins were further determined as the key active ingredients and therapeutic targets of CPS against H. pylori, respectively.

Research conclusions

Altogether, our data strongly suggest that the efficacy of CPS in the treatment of H. pylori is worthy of affirmation.

Research perspectives

We will further explore the mechanism of CPS in treating H. pylori infection through in vitro and in vivo experiments based on the close association between an H. pylori-induced persistent chronic inflammatory state and gastric cancer progression and extra-gastric diseases.