Open AccessNetwork Pharmacology and Molecular Docking-Based Prediction of the Mechanism of Qianghuo Shengshi Decoction against Rheumatoid Arthritis
Author(s) -
Zhihao Zeng,
Jiaoting Hu,
Jin Jiang,
Guanlin Xiao,
Ruipei Yang,
Sumei Li,
Yangxue Li,
Huajing Huang,
Huixian Zhong,
Xiaoli Bi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
biomed research international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 2314-6141
pISSN - 2314-6133
DOI - 10.1155/2021/6623912
Subject(s) - rheumatoid arthritis , decoction , mechanism of action , pharmacology , mechanism (biology) , angiogenesis , docking (animal) , kegg , medicine , traditional chinese medicine , computational biology , traditional medicine , chemistry , cancer research , biology , immunology , biochemistry , gene , pathology , philosophy , gene expression , nursing , transcriptome , alternative medicine , epistemology , in vitro
Qianghuo Shengshi decoction (QHSSD) is a classical Chinese medicine formula, which is used in clinical practice for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in China. However, the pharmacological mechanism of QHSSD on RA has remained unclear by now. We collected and screened active compounds and its potential targets by the pharmacology platform of Chinese herbal medicines. In addition, the therapeutic targets of RA were obtained and selected from databases. Network construction analyzed that 128 active compounds may act on 87 candidate targets and identified a total of 18 hub targets. GO annotation and KEGG enrichment investigated that the action mechanism underlying the treatment of RA by QHSSD might be involved in cell proliferation, angiogenesis, anti-inflammation, and antioxidation. Finally, molecular docking verification showed that TP53, VEGFA, TNF, EGFR, and NOS3 may be related to the RA treatment and molecular dynamics simulation showed the stability of protein-ligand interactions. In this work, QHSSD might exert therapeutic effect through a multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway in RA from a holistic aspect, which provides basis for its mechanism of action and subsequent experiments.