A bioinformatics-based approach to study the mechanism of acupuncture for primary dysmenorrhea

Abstract

Objective: To explore the mechanism of acupuncture in guanyuan, sanyinjiao and zusanli for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea based on bioinformatics and network topology methods. Methods: The targets of acupuncture at guanyuan (CV4), sanyinjiao (SP6) and zusanli (ST36) were retrieved using the PubMed database. The targets related to primary dysmenorrhea were collected using GeneCards database. The common targets of acupuncture and primary dysmenorrhea were obtained by using VENN diagram and used to establish a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network in the STRING database. Cytoscape software (version 3.9.1) was used to screen the key targets in PPI networks. Gene Ontology (GO) functional enrichment and Kyoto Genome Encyclopedia (KEGG) were used to obtain correspongding pathway analysis and visualization. Results: 24 intersection targets of acupuncture CV4, SP6, ST36 and primary dysmenorrhea were screened, and 10 key targets were screened, which were IL6, IL1B, STAT3, TP53, CXCL8, POMC, AKT1, PTGS2, VEGFA and IL17A. Go function enrichment analysis yielded 169 biological processes (BP), 17 molecular functions (MF) and 9 cellular component (CC). KEGG pathway enrichment screening yielded 93 signal pathways. Conclusion: Acupuncture treatment of primary dysmenorrhea involves multiple targets and pathways. Acupuncture may exert therapeutic effects on primary dysmenorrhea through TNF signaling pathway, cAMP signaling pathway, IL-17 signaling pathway, HIF-1 signaling pathway, Pi3k-akt signaling pathway and MAPK Signaling pathway via affecting inflammatory response, platelet aggregation and improving hypoxia.