Abstract
Background Depression is a common mental disease that lacks effective therapeutic drugs with good curative effects and few adverse reactions. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has the advantages of multiple components, multiple channels, and fewer adverse reactions in the treatment of depression. Although Xingpi Jieyu Decoction (XPJYD) demonstrates a good therapeutic effect on depression, the pharmacological mechanism underlying its antidepressant effect is still unclear. Methods We used a network pharmacology strategy, including the construction and analysis of a complex drug-disease network, to explore the complex mechanism of XPJYD treatment of depression. In addition, molecular docking technology was used to preliminarily study the binding ability of the potential active components and core therapeutic targets of XPJYD. Results The network pharmacology results showed 42 targets of XPJYD that are involved in depression. PPI network analysis demonstrated that the top 10 core targets were AKT1, VEGFA, MAPK8, FOS, ESR1, NR3C1, IL6, HIF1A, NOS3, and AR. The molecular docking results showed that the binding energies of beta sitosterol with AR, FOS, AKT1, VEGFA, NR3C1, and NOS3 were less than −7.0 kcal·mol−1, indicating a good docking effect. The GO enrichment analysis results showed that the XPJYD antidepression mechanism mainly involves the following biological processes such as apoptotic signaling pathway, cellular response to lipid, inflammatory response, and others. The KEGG analysis results indicated that XPJYD may regulate 13 pathways such as PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and estrogen signaling pathway in the treatment of depression. Conclusions This study reflects the characteristics of the mechanism of action by which XPJYD treats depression, which includes multiple components, multiple targets, and multiple pathways, and provides a biological basis for further verification and a novel perspective for drug discovery in depression.
Highlights
Depression (F32.900) is a kind of mental disease with obvious and lasting symptoms, such as low mood, decreased interest, and impaired cognitive function, which can affect a person’s thoughts, behavior, feelings, and sense of well-being [1]
All the components of Xingpi Jieyu Decoction (XPJYD) (American ginseng, Hypericum perforatum, Acorus gramineus, and Curcuma aromatica) were obtained by searching the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database [30] (TCMSP) and Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Database [31] (TCMID). e potential active ingredients of XPJYD were screened by the following characteristics: standard oral bioavailability (OB) ≥30% and drug-like property (DL) ≥0.18 [32, 33]
After screening with the set standards of OB ≥30% and DL ≥0.18, 33 potentially active ingredients were retrieved from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database [30] (TCMSP) and Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Database [31] (TCMID), among which 7 were potential active ingredients of Hyacinth chrysoides, 11 were potential active ingredients of Panax quinquefolium, 4 were potential active ingredients of Acorus tatarinowii, and 15 were potential active ingredients of turmeric
Summary
Depression (F32.900) is a kind of mental disease with obvious and lasting symptoms, such as low mood, decreased interest, and impaired cognitive function, which can affect a person’s thoughts, behavior, feelings, and sense of well-being [1]. It has the characteristics of a high prevalence rate, high recurrence rate, high disability rate, and high suicide rate, which cause substantial burdens to patients, their families, and society [2,3,4]. We used a network pharmacology strategy, including the construction and analysis of a complex drug-disease network, to explore the complex mechanism of XPJYD treatment of depression. E network pharmacology results showed 42 targets of XPJYD that are involved in depression. Conclusions. is study reflects the characteristics of the mechanism of action by which XPJYD treats depression, which includes multiple components, multiple targets, and multiple pathways, and provides a biological basis for further verification and a novel perspective for drug discovery in depression
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