Fig. 3

The “representative compound” concept to reduce the redundancy of active compounds in network pharmacology. The CM formula could be breakdown in a hierarchy manner, first into herbs, then the component groups (A, B, C, D, etc.), finally into the representative compounds. In one of component group, compound are similar to each other in chemical structure, and most of them are from a single herb. Considering that structurally similar compounds usually have similar bioactivity, a representative compound of this component group can be used to study the pharmacological action of that component group