Abstract
Purpose Bone trauma is a clinical condition that afflicts the majority of the world's population. For the management of bone trauma, the underlying mechanisms of the drugs effective for bone healing are deemed necessary. Achyranthis bidentatae Radix (ABR) is a popular alternative medicine recommended in the treatment of bone trauma and injury, yet its mechanism of action persists to be vague. This study was conducted for the evaluation of the mode of action of ABR through network pharmacology in treating bone trauma. Methods An extensive survey of published works led to the development of a drug-target database, after which multiple protein targets for bone trauma were discerned. The protein-protein interaction network was developed by utilizing the STITCH database and gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis using Cytoscape and ClueGO. Moreover, docking studies were performed for revealing the affinity of various ingredients with IL6. Results The extensive literature survey yielded the presence of 176 components in ABR, and 151 potential targets were acquired. Scrutinization of these targets revealed that 21 potential targets were found to be associated with bone trauma. Out of which, some remarkable targets such as IL6, MAPK14, MAPK8, SRC, PTGS2, and MMP2 were observed to be associated in the functional interaction of ABR. According to docking results, several ingredients of ABR such as Baicalien, Copistine, Epiberberine, Kaempferol, and Palmatine have the lowest docking scores (range between -6 and -7). Conclusions The results of the study elucidated that ABR can positively be utilized for the management of bone trauma, which can be mediated by multiple molecular mechanisms such as ERBB2 signaling pathway, positive regulation of oxidoreductase activity, JNK cascade pathway, multicellular organism metabolic process, T cell costimulation, and the positive regulation of MAPK activity. The findings also suggest that several ingredients of ABR such as Baicalien, Copistine, Epiberberine, Kaempferol, and Palmatine have good affinity with IL6, suggesting the promising potential of ABR in treating bone trauma, likely through IL6.
Highlights
Achyranthis bidentatae Radix (ABR) is a traditional herb that is often used to treat bone trauma and bone injury [1]
The gene ontology (GO) term analysis was conducted by using Cytoscape software and its plug-in ClueGO to elucidate the mechanism of action of ABR against bone trauma at a molecular level
The chemical components were examined and the protein targets were acquired from reported literature, including review and research articles, as well as TCMSP database, after which the genes associated with ABR and its biological functions were assessed from UniProtKB and KEGG, and the molecular targets were examined for the association to bone trauma
Summary
Achyranthis bidentatae Radix (ABR) is a traditional herb that is often used to treat bone trauma and bone injury [1]. The bone is reported to be a remarkable organ regulated by its dynamic remodelling through its entirety, governed by the action of various cells involved in these stages [4]. Osteoblasts are those cells which have been differentiated from MSCs through the action of transcription factors like Runtrelated transcription factor 2 (Runx2) and Osterix (Osx) and are secreted into the bone matrix which leads to the induction of bone mineralization [4]. In the eventual stage of the remodelling process, they either undergo programmed cell death or tend to be consolidated into the bone matrix during calcification [5]
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