Abstract
Background Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is the most significant cause of low back pain, the sixth-largest disease burden globally, and the leading cause of disability. This study is aimed at investigating the molecular biological mechanism of Danggui-Sini formula (DSF) mediated IVDD treatment. Methods A potential gene set for DSF treatment of IVDD was identified through TCMSP, UniProt, and five disease gene databases. A protein interaction network of common targets between DSF and IVDD was established by using the STRING database. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed using the R platform to discover the potential mechanism. Moreover, AutoDock Vina was used to verify molecular docking and calculate the binding energy. Results A total of 119 active ingredients and 136 common genes were identified, including 10 core genes (AKT1, IL6, ALB, TNF, VEGFA, TP53, MAPK3, CASP3, JUN, and EGF). Enrichment analysis results showed that the therapeutic targets of DSF for diseases mainly focused on the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway involved in diabetic complications, IL-17 signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, apoptosis, cellular senescence, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and FoxO signaling pathway. These biological processes are induced mainly in response to oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species and the regulation of apoptotic signaling pathways. Molecular docking showed that there was a stable affinity between the core genes and the key components. Conclusions The combination of network pharmacology and molecular docking provides a practical way to analyze the molecular biological mechanism of DSF-mediated IVDD treatment, which confirms the “multicomponent, multitarget and multipathway” characteristics of DSF and provides an essential theoretical basis for clinical practice.
Highlights
Low back pain is the sixth largest disease burden globally and is the leading cause of disability, which has become a global health concern [1]
Seven herbal medicines of the Danggui-Sini formula (DSF) were successively inputted into the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database, and a total of 155 active ingredients were obtained, among which 2 were from Dang Gui (DG), 7 were from
We found that the top 10 core genes obtained by the two methods of maximum neighborhood component (MNC) and degree were the same, namely, AKT1, IL6, ALB, TNF, VEGFA, TP53, MAPK3, CASP3, JUN, and EGF (Figure 4(b))
Summary
Low back pain is the sixth largest disease burden globally and is the leading cause of disability, which has become a global health concern [1]. Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is the most significant cause of low back pain, the sixth-largest disease burden globally, and the leading cause of disability. Enrichment analysis results showed that the therapeutic targets of DSF for diseases mainly focused on the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway involved in diabetic complications, IL-17 signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, apoptosis, cellular senescence, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and FoxO signaling pathway. These biological processes are induced mainly in response to oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species and the regulation of apoptotic signaling pathways. The combination of network pharmacology and molecular docking provides a practical way to analyze the molecular biological mechanism of DSFmediated IVDD treatment, which confirms the “multicomponent, multitarget and multipathway” characteristics of DSF and provides an essential theoretical basis for clinical practice
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