Exploring the Mechanism of Huoxiang Zhengqi Oral Liquid Against Mosquito Bite Dermatitis Through Network Pharmacology and in Vitro Validation

Abstract

Objective: Traditional Chinese patent medicine Huoxiang Zhengqi Oral Liquid (HXZQOL) can be used topical to treat mosquito bite dermatitis (MBD). The study aimed to explore the potential mechanism of HXZQOL in treatment of MBD based on network pharmacology and experimental validation. Methods: TCMSP, SwissTargetPrediction and PubChem database were used to predict the active compounds and targets of HXZQOL and GeneCards database was utilized to predict the potential targets of MBD. Target interaction analysis was performed using Venn database, PPI and core targets were assessed using String database, and Cytoscape. Enrichment analysis on Gene Ontology(GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways were performed using David online tool. “HXZQOL-compound-target-pathway-MBD” networks were constructed using Cytoscape. Molecular docking was carried out with Autodock vina. The inflammation model of HaCaT cells induced by TNF-a/IFN-γ was established .to validate the mechanism of HXZQOL against MBD, with the levels of inflammatory factors and protein related to IL-7 signaling pathway assessed using Elisa and Western Blot. Results: HXZQOL contained 154 active compounds and shared 88 common targets with MBD. Quercetin, apigenin, ursolic acid and luteolin were identified as potential candidate compounds, while JUN, IL-6, TNF and VEGFA were suggested as main potential targets. HXZQOL was found to act on MBD through multiple pathways including IL-17, AGE-RAGE and TNF signaling pathways. The candidate compounds demonstrated effectively binding to JUN and IL-6 targets, with binding energies below −5 kcal/mol. Western blot experiments confirmed that these compounds could down-regulate the expression of JUN protein in IL-17 signaling pathway, and significantly reduce levels of inflammatory factors TNF-α, IL-6 and NO in HaCaT cells. Conclusion: HXZQOL mainly exerts its anti MAD effect by reducing inflammation. The relevant results have laid the foundation for improving the local anti MBD effect of HXZQOL and the secondary development of HXZQOL formulations.