Mechanism of Peitu Shengjin Formula Shenlingbaizhu Powder in Treating Bronchial Asthma and Allergic Colitis through Different Diseases with Simultaneous Treatment Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking.

Abstract

Background Shenlingbaizhu powder (SLBZP), one of the classic Earth-cultivating and gold-generating prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine, is widely used to treat various diseases. However, the pharmacological mechanisms of SLBZP on bronchial asthma (BA) and allergic colitis (AC) remain to be elucidated. Methods Network pharmacology and molecular docking technology were used to explore the potential mechanism of SLBZP in treating BA and AC with the simultaneous treatment of different diseases. The potential active compounds of SLBZP and their corresponding targets were obtained from BATMAN-TCM, ETCM, SymMap TCM@TAIWAN, and TCMSP databases. BA and AC disease targets were collected through DisGeNET, TTD, GeneCards, PharmGKB, OMIM, NCBI, The Human Phenotype Ontology, and DrugBank databases. Common targets for drugs and diseases were screened by using the bioinformatics and evolutionary genomics platform. The analyses and visualizations of Gene Ontology (GO) function and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment of common targets were carried out by R software. The key targets were screened by using the plug-in “cytoHubba” of Cytoscape software, and the “active compound-key target” network was constructed. Molecular docking analysis was performed using AutoDock software. The miRTarBase database was used to predict microRNAs (miRNAs) targeting key targets, and the key target-miRNA network was constructed. Result Through screening, 246 active compounds and 281 corresponding targets were obtained. Common targets were mainly enriched in 2933 biological processes and 182 signal pathways to play the role of treating BA and AC. There were 131 active compounds related to key targets. The results of molecular docking showed that the important active compounds in SLBZP had good binding ability with the key targets. The key target-miRNA network showed that 94 miRNAs were predicted. Conclusion SLBZP has played the role of treating different diseases with the same treatment on BA and AC through the characteristics of multicompound, multitarget, and multipathway of traditional Chinese medicine, which provides a theoretical basis for explaining the mechanism and clinical application of SLBZP treating different diseases with the same treatment in BA and AC.