New insights into tendinopathy treatment: Rhizoma coptidis active components explored

A groundbreaking study published in Current Pharmaceutical Analysis has shed new light on the potential therapeutic mechanisms of Rhizoma Coptidis (RC) in treating tendinopathy, a common and complex tendon pathology. The research, led by Dr. Haoyu Bian and Dr. Jun Tan, utilized network pharmacology and molecular docking to explore the active components of RC and their interactions with key biological targets.

The study identified 154 active ingredients in RC and intersected these with differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from the GSE26051 dataset, revealing 45 key genes. Among these, Cyclin B1 (CCNB1) and Kinesin family member 11 (KIF11) emerged as significant targets, with a strong binding affinity to RC's active components, Berberine and Tetrandrine. "Our findings suggest that these compounds may modulate cell cycle dysfunction in tendinopathy, offering a novel therapeutic approach," Dr. Tan said.

The research also constructed a diagnostic model incorporating CCNB1 and KIF11, which demonstrated high accuracy with an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.802. Molecular docking and dynamics simulations further validated the stability and reliability of the compound-target interactions. "This study provides a robust theoretical basis for the application of RC in tendinopathy management," Dr. Bian added.

The study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and highlights the potential of traditional Chinese medicine in modern therapeutics. Future work will focus on experimental validation in animal models and clinical trials to confirm these findings.