Mechanism of Kunxian capsule in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis based on network pharmacology
10.12206/j.issn.2097-2024.202104112
- VernacularTitle:基于网络药理学探讨昆仙胶囊治疗类风湿关节炎的作用机制
- Author:
Zike YUAN
1
;
Minglin LIU
2
;
Juan DU
2
;
Rubing YAO
2
Author Information
1. Basic Medicine School.
2. School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
- Keywords:
Kunxian capsule;
rheumatoid arthritis;
network pharmacology
- From:
Journal of Pharmaceutical Practice and Service
2022;40(6):519-525
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To explore the molecular targets and associated potential pathways of Kunxian capsule in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) based on network pharmacology. Methods The constituents of Kunxian capsule were searched by Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database, Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and a high-throughput experiment- and reference-guided database of traditional Chinese medicine（HERB）.The potential active ingredients and targets were retrieved based on TCMSP database. RA related gene targets were retrieved through GeneCards database and OMIM database. Venn online software was used to obtain the common target of drugs and diseases. The “compound-target” network diagram was constructed with Cytoscape software. String database was used to draw the protein interaction (PPI) network. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis of the intersection network were conducted by Bioconductor Database. Results 81 active ingredients and 913 targets were identified. 228 targets were obtained after removing the duplicates. 4494 target genes directly related to RA were obtained from the GeneCards databases and OMIM databases. 162 genes were obtained from the intersection of component-target and disease-target. It was revealed that five ingredients including quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol, β-sitosterol and triptolide are the main active ingredients in Kunxian capsule. AKT1, IL-10, STAT3, CASP8 and CDKN1A may be the main therapeutical targets. The results of GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the mechanism of Kunxian capsule is mainly related to the regulation of reactive oxygen metabolism, the regulation of kinase activity, and IL-17 signaling pathway. The important biological processes and signaling pathways include infection, inflammation and immunity. Conclusion This research preliminarily explored the mechanism of Kunxian capsule in the treatment of RA by network pharmacology and suggested that the overall regulation is characterized by multi-components, multi-targets, and multi-channels. It provided some ideas for further molecular biology experiments.
