Exploration on Molecular Mechanism of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos-Forsythiae Fructus Herbal Pair in Traeting Acne Vulgaris Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Technology

Abstract

Objective: this study aim to explore main active components and possible molecular mechanism of "Lonicerae Japonicae Flos-Forsythiae Fructus" (JYH-LQ) herbal pair in treating acne vulgaris disease by network pharmacology and molecular docking technology. Method: The active components and related targets of "Lonicerae Japonicae Flos-Forsythiae Fructus" herbal pair were obtained from TCMSP Database platform, correcting the official gene symbol names of the targets of the herbal pair from UniProt database. The GeenCards, OMIM and DisGeNET databases were used to find the targets related to acne vulgaris disease. Taking the intersection targets of active components and disease and inputting them into the String database for protein-protein interaction (PPI) network prediction. Then using Cytoscape sofeware to render "effective active components - intersection targets" network prediction. GO annotation and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis for the intersection targets of “Lonicerae Japonicae Flos-Forsythiae Fructus “herbal pair- acne vulgaris disease were performed with DAVID database. Molecular docking between the active components and the key targets was carried out by Autodock. Result: The effective active components of lonicerae japonicae flos-forsythiae fructus herbal Pair in traeting acne vulgaris are quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol. the core targets including TNF, IL-6, TP53. The GO enrichment analysis indicated that the main functions JYH-LQ herbal pair included the response to drug, positive regulation of gene expressionand, positive regulation of nitric oxide biosynthetic process and so on. The main pathways involved in the KEGG pathway analysis were FoxO, Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, T cell receptor signaling pathway and so on. Molecular docking showed that the main active components of the herbal pair had stable binding activity with the core targets of the disease. Finally, "Lonicerae Japonicae Flos-Forsythiae Fructus" herbal pair can be through multi-components, multi-targets and multi-pathways applie to acne vulgaris, providing ideas for clinical diagnosis and treatment of traditional Chinese medicine.