基于分子模拟技术发现潜在中药烟酸受体激动剂

烟酸能提高人体高密度脂蛋白水平,降低血清总胆固醇、低密度脂蛋白及三酰甘油水平,临床上常用于低高密度脂蛋白胆固醇血症和高三酰甘油血症的治疗。研究表明,烟酸在发挥疗效的同时易引起皮肤潮红等不良反应。以生物电子等排、片段搜索和类药五原则初筛中药化学成分数据库中可能与烟酸有相似药理作用的中药成分,结合同源模建和全柔性分子对接进一步筛选潜在的烟酸受体激动剂,获得候选化合物11个,来源于8味常用中药。其中,候选化合物与烟酸受体相互作用的方式和烟酸类似,且分子对接打分值均高于烟酸,其成药性有待进一步考察;8味来源中药中部分已有文献研究确证降脂疗效,提示其可能通过上述方式发挥作用。综上,本研究为从中药中获得新的烟酸受体激动剂、改善高脂血症用药现状提供了依据和指导。

Discovery of potential nicotinic acid receptor agonists from Chinese herbal medicines based on molecular simulation

Nicotinic acid could increase high density lipoprotein and reduce serum total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides in human bodies, thus is frequently applied in treating low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and hypertriglyceridemia in clinic. However, according to the findings, nicotinic acid could also cause adverse effects, such as skin flush, beside its curative effects. In this study, bioisosterism, fragment-based search and Lipinski's Rule of Five were used to preliminarily screen out potential TCM ingredients that may have similar pharmacological effects with nicotinic acid from Traditional Chinese medicine database (TCMD). Afterwards, homology modeling and flexible docking were used to further screen out potential nicotinic acid receptor agonists. As a result, eleven candidate compounds were derived from eight commonly used traditional Chinese medicines. Specifically, all of the candidate compounds' interaction with nicotinic acid receptor was similar to nicotinic acid, and their docking scores were all higher than that of nicotinic acid, but their druggability remained to be further studied. Some of the eight source traditional Chinese medicines were used to lower lipid according to literature studies, implying that they may show effect through above means. In summary, this study provides basis and reference for extracting new nicotinic acid receptor agonists from traditional Chinese medicines and improving the medication status of hyperlipidemia.