Construction and application of a precise evaluation method for the quality of traditional Chinese medicine based on “target-combined quality evaluation” using safflower as an example

The pharmacodynamic results showed that Safflower significantly improved Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and Prostaglandin F2 α (PGF2 α) levels, the PGF2 α/PGE2 ratio and the analgesic rate in PD rats. The results of network pharmacology combined with metabolomics analysis showed that Prostaglandin G/H synthase 2 (PTGS2) and arachidonic acid (AA)were important targets and pathways of Safflower in the treatment of PD. A biological evaluation method was established around PTGS2. The results of the methodological investigation showed that the method was stable and reliable. In vivo validation experiments showed that the results of this method were consistent with the pharmacodynamic results, which proved its accuracy. PTGS2 is an important target of safflower in the treatment of PD. The biological evaluation method established around PTGS2 can accurately evaluate the quality of Safflower in the treatment of PD, which also proves that the target discrimination theory proposed in this study is scientific.