Exploring biological basis of Syndrome differentiation in coronary heart disease patients with two distinct Syndromes by integrated multi-omics and network pharmacology strategy

BACKGROUND: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is distinguished by Syndrome differentiation, which prescribes various formulae for different Syndromes of same disease. This study aims to investigate the underlying mechanism. METHODS: Using a strategy which integrated proteomics, metabolomics study for clinic samples and network pharmacology for six classic TCM formulae, we systemically explored the biological basis of TCM Syndrome differentiation for two typical Syndromes of CHD: Cold Congealing and Qi Stagnation (CCQS), and Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis (QSBS). RESULTS: Our study revealed that CHD patients with CCQS Syndrome were characterized with alteration in pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, while more extensively altered pathways including D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism; alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, and glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, were present in QSBS patients. Furthermore, our results suggested that the down-expressed PON1 and ADIPOQ might be potential biomarkers for CCQS Syndrome, while the down-expressed APOE and APOA1 for QSBS Syndrome in CHD patients. In addition, network pharmacology and integrated analysis indicated possible comorbidity differences between the two Syndromes, that is, CCQS or QSBS Syndrome was strongly linked to diabetes or ischemic stroke, respectively, which is consistent with the complication disparity between the enrolled patients with two different Syndromes. These results confirmed our assumption that the molecules and biological processes regulated by the Syndrome-specific formulae could be associated with dysfunctional objects caused by the Syndrome of the disease. CONCLUSION: This study provided evidence-based strategy for exploring the biological basis of Syndrome differentiation in TCM, which sheds light on the translation of TCM theory in the practice of precision medicine. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13020-021-00521-3.