CC BY 4.0 · Chinese medicine and natural products 2024; 04(01): e24-e34
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1782606
Original Article

Research on the Mechanism of Si Xian Decoction in Treating Acute Leukemia Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Technology

Zihan Jiang
1   The Second Clinical Medical School, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
,
Man Zhang
1   The Second Clinical Medical School, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
,
Jiayuan Guo
1   The Second Clinical Medical School, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
,
Mingxin Liu
1   The Second Clinical Medical School, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
,
Wenqing Liu
1   The Second Clinical Medical School, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
,
Jue Guo
1   The Second Clinical Medical School, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
,
Qiuling Ma
1   The Second Clinical Medical School, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
2   Institute of Hematology, Henan Province Hospital of TCM (The Second Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine), Zhengzhou, Henan, China
› Author Affiliations
Funding This work was supported by the Key Research Project of Henan Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Science (2021ZY1050, 2024ZY1010).

Abstract

Objective Our objective was to investigate the mechanism of action of the Si Xian Decoction (SXD) in treating acute leukemia (AL) using network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques.

Methods The chemical components of the four medicinal herbs of Shengdi (Rehmanniae Radix), Baimaogen (Imperatae Rhizoma), Xiaoji (Cirsii Herba), and Pugongying (Taraxaci Herba) in the SXD were obtained from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), Bioinformatics Analysis Tool for Molecular mechANism of Traditional Chinese Medicine (BATMAN-TCM), and Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ETCM). A natural active chemical component dataset for the SXD was established. Human Gene Database (Gencards), Database of Gene-Disease Associations (DisGeNET), Database for Drug and Drug Target Information (DrugBank), and Human Disease Database (MalaCards) were searched to obtain AL-related targets and to establish a disease target database. After obtaining the intersection targets of drugs and diseases, a Venn diagram of the common targets was drawn online. A drug-disease protein interaction network was constructed using the String 11.5 platform, and a “drug-disease-target-signal pathway” network was built using Cytoscape 3.8.2 software to obtain relevant target network topology parameters.

Results By searching the TCMSP, BATMAN-TCM, and ETCM databases, 30 active components of the SXD and 677 related targets were obtained. From Gencards, DrugBank, MalaCards, and DisGeNET databases, 12,110 potential AL disease targets were obtained. Using the ClusterProfiler package of the R4.2.2 platform, 1,011 entries of gene ontology information were enriched, including 467 biological process entries, 236 molecular function entries, and 308 cellular component entries. Additionally, 220 enriched Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) signaling pathways were obtained, mainly involving chemical carcinogen receptor activation, lipid and atherosclerosis, fluid shear stress and atherosclerosis, prostate cancer, and the role of the advanced glycation end products-receptor for advanced glycation end products (AGE-RAGE) signaling pathway in diabetic complications. Network topology analysis revealed that the main active components of SXD treating AL include γ-aminobutyric acid, adenosine, quercetin, scopolamine, and taraxasterol.

Conclusion The treatment of AL with the SXD is a process of multicomponent, multitarget, and multisignal pathway coordination. Network pharmacology provides a solid research basis for elucidating the mechanism of action of SXD in the treatment of AL.

CRediT Authorship Contribution Statement

Zihan Jiang: Date curation and formal analysis. Man Zhang: Methodology and validation. Jiayuan Guo: project administration and visualization. Jiayuan Guo: Resources. Wenqing Liu: Software. Jue Guo: Supervision. Qiuling Ma: Conceptualization, funding acquisition, writing—original draft, and writing—review & editing.




Publication History

Received: 06 December 2023

Accepted: 20 January 2024

Article published online:
30 March 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 
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