Abstract
Objective This study aimed to determine the active ingredients of Huangqi Sijunzi Decoction (HQSJZD) and the targets in treating cancer-related fatigue (CRF) so as to investigate the treatment mechanism of HQSJZD for CRF. Methods This study adopted the method of network pharmacology. The active ingredients and targets of HQSJZD were retrieved, and the targets of HQSJZD in treating CRF were obtained using a Venn diagram. Next, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using the String database. The core targets of HQSJZD in treating CRF were identified through topological analysis, and functional annotation analysis and pathway enrichment analysis were carried out. Subsequently, a compound-disease-target regulatory network was constructed using Cystoscape 3.8.0 software. Results A total of 250 targets of HQSJZD ingredients, 1447 CRF-related genes, and 144 common targets were obtained. Through topological analysis, 61 core targets were screened. Bioinformatics annotation of these genes identified 2366 gene ontology (GO) terms and 172 enriched Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. Conclusion The active ingredients in HQSJZD, that is, quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol, and naringenin, may act on AKT1, IL-6, VEGFA, MAPK3, CASP3, JUN, and EGFR to regulate the PI3K-Akt, TNF, and IL-17 signaling pathways, thereby suppressing inflammatory response, tumor gene expression, and tumor angiogenesis to treat CRF. This study investigated the pharmacological basis and mechanism of HQSJZD in the treatment of CRF using systematic pharmacology, which provides an important reference for further elucidation of the anti-CRF mechanism and clinical applications of HQSJZD, and also provides a method protocol for similar studies in the future.
Highlights
Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) refers to the painful, continuous, and subjective feeling of fatigue or exhaustion resulting from malignant tumor or tumor-related treatments, which is accompanied by symptoms such as limb heaviness, insomnia or somnolence, difficulty in activities, and abnormal emotional responses, but is not related to the amount of exercise [1]
A number of researchers have applied network pharmacology to study the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in various diseases [11,12,13,14]. is study screened the active ingredients of Huangqi Sijunzi Decoction (HQSJZD) and the human targets of these ingredients as well as CRF-related genes
Screening of the Potential Targets of HQSJZD in Treating CRF. e active ingredients of HQSJZD were retrieved from the TCMSP database, including Astragalus ingredients, Codonopsis pilosula ingredients, 7 Atractylodes ingredients, 15 Poria cocis ingredients, and 93 radix glycyrrhizae ingredients
Summary
Yixin Cui ,1 Haiming Wang, Decai Wang, Jiwei Mi, Gege Chen, Fagen Li, Yujia Wang, and Yin Zhang 1. Is study aimed to determine the active ingredients of Huangqi Sijunzi Decoction (HQSJZD) and the targets in treating cancer-related fatigue (CRF) so as to investigate the treatment mechanism of HQSJZD for CRF. E core targets of HQSJZD in treating CRF were identified through topological analysis, and functional annotation analysis and pathway enrichment analysis were carried out. Rough topological analysis, 61 core targets were screened Bioinformatics annotation of these genes identified 2366 gene ontology (GO) terms and 172 enriched Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. E active ingredients in HQSJZD, that is, quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol, and naringenin, may act on AKT1, IL-6, VEGFA, MAPK3, CASP3, JUN, and EGFR to regulate the PI3K-Akt, TNF, and IL-17 signaling pathways, thereby suppressing inflammatory response, tumor gene expression, and tumor angiogenesis to treat CRF. Conclusion. e active ingredients in HQSJZD, that is, quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol, and naringenin, may act on AKT1, IL-6, VEGFA, MAPK3, CASP3, JUN, and EGFR to regulate the PI3K-Akt, TNF, and IL-17 signaling pathways, thereby suppressing inflammatory response, tumor gene expression, and tumor angiogenesis to treat CRF. is study investigated the pharmacological basis and mechanism of HQSJZD in the treatment of CRF using systematic pharmacology, which provides an important reference for further elucidation of the anti-CRF mechanism and clinical applications of HQSJZD, and provides a method protocol for similar studies in the future
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