Decoding the Mechanism of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction in Treating Pneumonia Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking.

Hua Tang,Xianhai Li,Wei Chen,Qiang Tang

doi:10.3389/fcell.2021.638366

Abstract

Huang-Lian-Jie-Du decoction (HLJDD) has been used to treat pneumonia for thousands of years in China. However, our understanding of its mechanisms on treating pneumonia is still unclear. In the present work, network pharmacology was used to analyze the potential active ingredients and molecular mechanisms of HLJDD on treating pneumonia. A total of 102 active ingredients were identified from HLJDD, among which 54 were hit by the 69 targets associated with pneumonia. By performing Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis, we obtained the main pathways associated with pneumonia and those associated with the mechanism of HLJDD in the treatment of pneumonia. By constructing the protein–protein interaction network of common targets, 10 hub genes were identified, which were mainly involved in the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway, interleukin 17 (IL-17) signaling pathway, and nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor signaling pathway. Moreover, the results of molecular docking showed that the active ingredients of HLJDD had a good affinity with the hub genes. The final results indicate that HLJDD has a greater effect on bacterial pneumonia than on viral pneumonia. The therapeutic effect is mainly achieved by regulating the host immune inflammatory response and oxidative stress reaction, antibacterial microorganisms, alleviating the clinical symptoms of pneumonia, repairing damaged cells, and inhibiting cell migration.

Highlights

MATERIALS AND METHODSPneumonia refers to infectious inflammation of the alveoli, distal airways, and lung interstitium, which can be caused by bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens
With the criteria of Oral bioavailability (OB) ≥ 30% and drug likeness (DL) ≥ 0.18, a total of 102 active ingredients were identified in Huang-Lian-Jie-Du decoction (HLJDD) based on TCMSP, of which 14 were from HL, 37 from HB, 36 from HQ, and 15 were from ZZ
By comparing the targets of HLJDD and pneumonia, we found that pneumonia shares 69 targets with those of the active ingredients (Figure 2A), and the 69 targets were correlated with 54 active ingredients (Supplementary Table 4)

Summary

Introduction

MATERIALS AND METHODSPneumonia refers to infectious inflammation of the alveoli, distal airways, and lung interstitium, which can be caused by bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. Respiratory infections, reported by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), are the second leading cause of death (Roth et al, 2017), and the incidence of pneumonia per 1,000 people per year is approximately 1.5– 14.0 (Millett et al, 2013). A new type of coronavirus is breaking out all over the world and causes severe pneumonia and even death (Yang et al, 2020). Because of fewer side effects and a significant therapeutic effect, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used in enhancing human immunity and in preventing and treating infectious and chronic diseases (Chao et al, 2017; Ma et al, 2019). Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, TCM has been actively applied in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, and remarkable effects have been achieved (Luo et al, 2020; Ren et al, 2020)

Results

Discussion

Conclusion