OBJECTIVETo study the polypharmacological mechanism of herbal pair Chuanxiong Rhizome-Paeonia Albifora Pall (HP CXR-PAP) on the treatment for osteoarthritis (OA).

METHODSChemical space was used to discuss the similarities and differences between the molecule sets of HP CXR-PAP and drugs. Docking protocol was used to study the interaction between HP CXR-PAP and OA target enzymes. The similarities and differences of HP CXR-PAP and drugs in target spaces were elucidated by network features.

RESULTSThe plots between the molecule sets of HP CXR-PAP and drugs in chemical space had the majority in the same region, and compounds from HP CXR-PAP covered a much larger additional region of space than drug molecules, which denoted the diverse structural properties in the molecule set of HP CXR-PAP. The molecules in HP CXR-PAP had the properties of promiscuous drugs and combination drug, and both HP CXR-PAP ligand-target interaction network and drug ligand-target interaction network were similar in the interaction profiles and network features, which revealed the effects of multicomponent and multitarget.

CONCLUSIONThe clue of potential synergism was obtained in curing OA disease by Chinese medicine, which revealed the advantages of Chinese medicine for targeting osteoarthritis disease.