Abstract
Network pharmacology, a holistic approach based on the theory of biological network technology, integrates information from biological systems, drugs, and diseases. Here, this theory was used to predict the targets of Wu-Wei-Wen-Tong Chubi capsule (WWWT) to explore the mechanism in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The ingredients of each herbal medicine in WWWT were collected from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), and the active ingredients were screened through bioavailability (OB) ≥30% and drug-likeness (DL) ≥ 0.18. SwissTargetPrection and TCMSP were utilized to calculate and predict the targets of active ingredients. RA-related targets were obtained by searching the Genecards and OMIM databases. The common targets of RA and WWWT were used for gene ontology (GO), KEGG pathway enrichment, protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis, and molecular docking. And then, four key genes were screened for subsequent verification experiments. In total, 90 active compounds and 330 potential targets of WWWT, 1310 targets of RA, and 135 intersection targets were found. Additionally, GO and pathway analysis identified 4610 significant GO terms and 147 significant KEGG pathways. Based on the PPI network, 11 key genes including IL-6, MMP-9, and TNF-α were screened out for molecular docking. Molecular docking showed that these key genes have good binding activities to active compounds of WWWT such as oroxylin a, kaempferol, and luteolin. Simultaneously, Western blot experimental validation demonstrated that the protein expressions of IL-6, MMP-9, TNF-α, and VEGFA significantly decreased after WWWT treatment. The mechanism of WWWT in treating RA involves multiple active compounds acting on multiple targets, and multiple pathways, which provides an important reference for further elucidation the mechanism and clinical applications of WWWT in the treatment of RA.
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Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Funding
This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 81804043), the Key Research and Development Program of Anhui Province, China (No.201904a07020004), and the inheritance and innovative development of TCM project supported by the Red Cross Society of Anhui (No. 2021ZYYB13), Science and Technology Innovation Fund of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine (No. 2021YB08).
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Hui Jiang made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study. Xiaochuang Liu and Xiaoli Wang made contribution to the experiment design development. Xiaoya Cui contributed to drafting of the paper, data acquisition and data analysis. Jian Liu revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. Lili Zhang was responsible for assisting in conducting. All authors have agreed on the journal to which the article will be submitted. All authors agreed to take responsibility and be accountable for the contents of the article.
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All the animal experiments were carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the National Institutes of Health Guidelines for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. The protocol was approved by the Committee on the Ethics of Animal Experiments of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine (Animal Ethics Number: AHUCM-rats-2021035).
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Cui, X., Liu, J., Zhang, L. et al. Network pharmacology approach and molecular docking to explore the potential mechanism of Wu-Wei-Wen-Tong Chubi capsules in rheumatoid arthritis. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 395, 1061–1073 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-022-02260-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-022-02260-0