Abstract
Background Ulcerative colitis (UC), a chronic and nonspecific inflammatory bowel disease, seriously affects the quality of patients' life. Han Re Bing Yong Fa (treating diseases with both cool- and warm-natured herbs) is a classical therapeutic principle of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which is often used to treat chronic diseases, including UC. The Gan Jiang-Huang Qin-Huang Lian-Ren Shen decoction (GJHQHLRSD), a representative of Han Re Bing Yong Fa, is effective in alleviating inflammatory symptoms in UC. However, the pharmacological mechanism underlying its anti-inflammatory effect remains unclear. Methods A network pharmacology strategy, including the construction and analysis of the drug–disease network, was used to explore the complex mechanism of GJHQHLRSD treatment of UC. In addition, molecular docking technology was used to preliminarily examine the binding ability of the potential active components and core therapeutic targets of GJHQHLRSD. Results The network pharmacology results revealed 140 targets of GJHQHLRSD which are involved in UC. The PPI network analysis identified seven target genes: BCL2L1, NR3C1, ALOX5, S1PR5, NR1I2, CYP2D6, and LPAR6. The molecular docking results revealed that the following displayed strongest combined effects: EGFR with kaempferol, ERK1 with worenine, STAT3 with Palmidin A, BCL2L1 with diop and VEGFA with ginsenoside Rg3. The KEGG and gene ontology enrichment analyses results indicated that GJHQHLRSD functions by regulating the EGFR signaling pathway in UC treatment. Other effective biological processes involved in UC treatment included cancer-related as well as inflammation and viral infection signaling pathways, such as the “MicroRNAs in cancer,” “TNF signaling pathway,” and “JAK-STAT signaling pathway.” Conclusions This study reflects the multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway characteristics of the action mechanism of GJHQHLRSD in treating UC. Furthermore, it helps better understand the TCM therapeutic principle of Han Re Bing Yong Fa and explore novel candidate drug targets for UC treatment.
Highlights
Ulcerative colitis (UC), a chronic, relapsing, and nonspecific inflammatory disease, affects several million individuals worldwide
Data on the active compounds and protein targets of four herbs were retrieved from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP, https://lsp.nwu.edu.cn/tcmsp. php). e drug feasibility was evaluated by oral bioavailability (OB) and drug likeness (DL) indices
Molecules with OB of ≥30% and DL of ≥0.18 were considered active compounds. e structures of GJHQHLRSD components were obtained from the PubChem database and were imported into the Swiss target prediction database (STP, https://www. swisstargetprediction.ch/); targets with a prediction score of >0 were considered the drug targets. e databases and tools were last accessed on 13 February, 2021
Summary
Ulcerative colitis (UC), a chronic, relapsing, and nonspecific inflammatory disease, affects several million individuals worldwide. Ulcerative colitis (UC), a chronic and nonspecific inflammatory bowel disease, seriously affects the quality of patients’ life. A network pharmacology strategy, including the construction and analysis of the drug–disease network, was used to explore the complex mechanism of GJHQHLRSD treatment of UC. E network pharmacology results revealed 140 targets of GJHQHLRSD which are involved in UC. Is study reflects the multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway characteristics of the action mechanism of GJHQHLRSD in treating UC. It helps better understand the TCM therapeutic principle of Han Re Bing Yong Fa and explore novel candidate drug targets for UC treatment
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