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Network pharmacological analysis to reveal the mechanism governing the effect of Qin Xi Tong on osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

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Abstract

Introduction

Qin Xi Tong (QXT), produced by water extracts of Caulis Sinomenii, is clinically effective in the therapy of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It is also a complementary agent for osteoarthritis (OA). This study aimed to screen the candidate targets and identify the potential mechanisms of QXT against RA and OA.

Method

The active ingredients contained in QXT were queried from the TCMSP database. Their predicted targets were obtained through web-based databases, including TCMSP, BATMAN-TCM, CTD, and PharmMapper. The OA and RA targets were collected from the Genecards database and the GSE55235 dataset. Based on the DAVID database, GO and KEGG enrichment analyses of disease-drug common targets predicted potential signaling pathways for QXT. In addition, core targets were identified by mapping component-target-disease interaction networks with Cytoscape 3.9.1 and STRING. The Swissdock and Pymol tools further validate the predicted results.

Results

A total of 161 genes were put forward as potential targets for treating RA and OA. These genes might be involved in joint inflammation, including the IL-17 signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and TNF signaling pathway. They also regulated the progression of joint injuries, such as apoptosis, Th17 cell differentiation, and osteoclast differentiation. In addition, we identified 12 core targets of QXT. Molecular docking results showed that QXT has a high affinity with these core targets.

Conclusions

This study reveals the mechanism governing the effect of QXT on RA and OA, predicts the direct target, and provides new ideas for clinical treatment.

Key Points

• Our study reveals the underlying mechanism of QXT in the treatment of RA and OA.

• Further research into the effects of compounds in QXT alone would be of interest.

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Abbreviations

QXT:

Qing-Xi-Tong

OA:

osteoarthritis

RA:

rheumatoid arthritis

TCMSP:

traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database and analysis platform

OB:

oral availability

DL:

drug-like properties

GEO:

Gene Expression Omnibus

DEG:

differentially expressed genes

PPI:

protein-protein interaction

MCODE:

molecular complex detection

GO:

gene ontology

KEGG:

Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes

DAVID:

database for annotation, visualization, and integrated discovery

BC:

betweenness

CC:

closeness

DC:

degree

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Funding

This study was supported by grants from the Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi (No. 2023-JC-YB-765), Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Shaanxi (No. SZY-KJCYC-2023-060), Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Projects of Xi’an (No. SZJ202102), Scientific Research Project of Xi’an Municipal Health Commission (No. 2021yb39).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Xi’an No. 5 Hospital, No. 112 Xi Guan Zheng Jie, Xi’an, China

    Yanyan Lv, Jie Zhang, Chao Li & Li Wang

  2. School of Life Sciences and Medicine, Northwest University, No. 229 Taibai North Road, Xi’an, China

    Lei Lei

  3. Department of Orthopedics, Xi’an No.5 Hospital, No. 112 Xi Guan Zheng Jie, Xi’an, China

    Xiaoqiang Huang

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  1. Yanyan Lv
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  2. Jie Zhang
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  3. Chao Li
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  4. Li Wang
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Contributions

Yanyan Lv and Xiaoqiang Huang conceived and designed the research methods. Yanyan Lv, Jie Zhang, Chao Li, and Lei Lei collected and analyzed the data. Yanyan Lv wrote the original draft. Li Wang and Xiaoqiang Huang reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiaoqiang Huang.

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Lv, Y., Zhang, J., Li, C. et al. Network pharmacological analysis to reveal the mechanism governing the effect of Qin Xi Tong on osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Rheumatol 42, 2209–2222 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-023-06625-5

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