AUTHOR=Guo Yu-Xin , Zhang Yuan , Gao Yu-Han , Deng Si-Ying , Wang Li-Mei , Li Cui-Qin , Li Xing 

TITLE=Role of Plant-Derived Natural Compounds in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis: A Review of the Treatment Potential and Development Strategy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.639651

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2021.639651

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, mainly mediated by pathological T-cells. Natural compounds and their derivatives play a crucial role in the medical treatment of MS. This paper summarizes the mechanisms of flavonoids, glycosides, triterpenoids and other monomer compounds derived from natural products in the treatment of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). They could reduce the severity of EAE from three aspects: anti-inflammatory, protecting BBB integrity, and neuroprotective. However, due to the multi-component and multi-target characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）, it is hard to elucidate the mechanism of TCM treatment from the molecular and cellular levels, which limits the development of TCM. In recent years, the application of new technologies such as network pharmacology, molecular docking, and high-throughput screening has become the focus. Network pharmacology can get the related genes of a specific disease, drugs-related disease, and active ingredients through big data, and predict the targets. Molecular docking predicts active monomers and implements experimental verification. High throughput is applied in screening for effective monomer compounds. The application of these three methods in the research of TCM treatment of disease has improved the targeting and timeliness and laid a foundation for the specific mechanisms of TCM treatment.