Study of TCM Medication Rules against Aging based on Network Pharmacology and Data Mining

Background and Objective: Aging and age-related diseases have become a global concern. There may be a lot of room for the development of TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE (TCM) in the future. However, it has yet to fully form a system. Therefore, this study aims to explore the material basis and rules of TCM anti-aging based on network pharmacology and data mining. Methods: In this study, potential targets were searched using the HAGR and Aging Atlas databases, followed by compounds and traditional Chinese herbs from the TCMSP database. On this basis, the target-compound network, compound-Chinese herb network and target-compound-herb network were constructed and visualized using Cytoscape 3.7.2. These networks were used to identify potential targets, compounds and herbs. Finally, the rules of Chinese herbs were summarized by the analysis of properties, flavors, and meridian tropism. Results: A total of 25 potential targets, 210 candidate small compounds and 135 kinds of herbs were obtained. The top five targets included PTGS2, AR, ESR1, GSK3B and CCNA2, and diosgenin, formononetin, tanshinone IIA, phaseolin and phaseollidin were identified as the top 5 compounds. In addition, five core herbs (Huluba, Tiandong, Danshen, Kushen and Shandougen) were confirmed. Moreover, according to the frequency statistics, the Chinese herbs that interfere with aging were mainly bitter, acrid, and sweet, had both cold and warm properties, and belonged to the liver and lung meridians. Conclusion: We explored the potential mechanisms of TCM anti-aging by using network pharmacology and summarized the general rules of traditional Chinese herbs medicine. TCM has great potential in the treatment of aging, and this study provides a new approach and idea for the clinical application of integrated Chinese and Western medicine in the treatment of aging.