Abstract
Asthma, characterized by the continuous inflammatory response caused by a variety of immune cells, is one of the most common chronic respiratory diseases worldwide. Relevant clinical trials proved that the traditional Chinese medicine formula Guizhi Decoction (GZD) had multitarget and multichannel functions, which might be an effective drug for asthma. However, the effective ingredients and mechanisms of GZD against asthma are still unclear. Therefore, network pharmacology, molecular docking, and cell experiments were performed to explore the antiasthma effects and potential mechanisms of GZD. First, we applied the TCMSP database and literature to obtain the bioactivated ingredients in GZD. SwissTargetPrediction, TCMSP, GeneCards, OMIM, PharmGkb, TTD, DrugBank, and STRING database were used to get core genes. In addition, the key pathways were analyzed by the DAVID database. Molecular docking was used to predict whether the important components could act on the core target proteins directly. Finally, qPCR was carried out to verify the network pharmacology results and the possible mechanisms of GZD in the treatment of asthma. We collected 134 active ingredients in GZD, 959 drug targets, and 3223 disease targets. 431 intersection genes were screened for subsequent analysis. Through GO and KEGG analyses, enriched pathways related to inflammation and immune regulation were presented. Through the qPCR method to verify the role of essential genes, we found that GZD had an excellent anti-inflammatory effect. Direct or indirect inhibition of MAPK and NF-κB pathways might be one of the crucial mechanisms of GZD against asthma. GZD might be a promising potential drug for the treatment of asthma. This article provided a reference for the clinical application of GZD.
Highlights
Asthma, a common chronic inflammatory respiratory disease globally, is characterized by wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and cough in clinical [1]. ere are nearly 300 million asthmatics worldwide
134 compounds including quercetin and paeoniflorin were obtained from TCMSP or literature research
After removing the duplicate values, a total of 959 drug targets were obtained from SwissTargetPrediction, TCMSP, and GeneCards
Summary
A common chronic inflammatory respiratory disease globally, is characterized by wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and cough in clinical [1]. ere are nearly 300 million asthmatics worldwide. A common chronic inflammatory respiratory disease globally, is characterized by wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and cough in clinical [1]. Asthma might be induced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors [3]. Main pathological manifestations include bronchoconstriction, airway inflammation, and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) [1, 4]. E pathological mechanism of asthma has not been fully elucidated, but it is known that inflammation and immune regulation play a vital role in the occurrence and development of asthma [4]. Anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator treatment strategies are used frequently in clinical, problems such as treatment tolerance and side effects are still prominent. New effective therapeutic drugs with less side effects are in urgent need of development [5]
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