Network-based pharmacology to predict the mechanism of qianghuo erhuang decoction in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Abstract

Background: To investigate the mechanisms of Qianghuo Erhuang Decoction (QED) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we performed compounds, targets prediction and network analysis using a network pharmacology method.

Methodology: We collected active ingredients and targets of QED according to the database of Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and selected therapeutic targets on RA. "drug-ingredient-target" network was made for the intersecting genes. The STRING database was used for constructing a protein-protein interaction network (PPI) for the intersection genes, and R version 4.1.2 software was used for Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis.

Results: We found that there were 141 main active ingredients in QED, of which the main core active ingredients were: β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, baicalein, wogonin, kaempferol, etc., involving 166 RA genes. GO enrichment analysis results showed that QED involved 2229 biological processes, 78 cell components and 212 molecular functions. QED might interfere and treat RA through lipid and atherosclerosis, cancer pathways, PI3K-Akt, AGE-RAGE, IL-17, TNF, as well as HIF-1 signaling pathways.

Conclusions: QED may treat RA by regulating inflammation-related signaling pathways, angiogenesis signaling pathways, and reducing the expression of inflammatory factors.