A Network Pharmacology Study on the Mechanisms of the Herbal Extract, Christina Loosestrife, for the Treatment of Nephrolithiasis

Abstract

BACKGROUND This study aimed to undertake a network pharmacology analysis to identify the active compounds of the herbal extract Christina Loosestrife, or Lysimachia Christinae (Jin Qian Cao), in the treatment of nephrolithiasis. MATERIAL AND METHODS The active components of Christina Loosestrife were identified from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database and analysis platform and the online Taiwan TCM database. The potentially active compounds were screened based on their parenteral bioavailability identified from the TCMSP database. The PharmMapper integrated pharmacophore matching platform was used for target identification of active compounds in nephrolithiasis. The identified active compounds were validated by molecular docking using the systemsDock network pharmacology website. Biological functions and pathway outcomes of effective targets were analyzed using the Metascape gene annotation resource. The results were used to construct the pharmacological networks, which were visualized and integrated using Cytoscape software. RESULTS There were 16 active compounds of Christina Loosestrife and 11 nephrolithiasis-associated targets that were obtained. Functional enrichment analysis showed that Christina Loosestrife might exert its therapeutic effects by regulating pathways that included purine salvage, interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-13 signaling, and neutrophil degranulation. CONCLUSIONS Network pharmacology analysis of the herbal extract, Christina Loosestrife, identified multiple active compounds, targets, and pathways involved in the effects on nephrolithiasis.

Figure 1

The structure of the 16 active compounds in Christina Loosestrife.

Figure 2

Enrichment analysis of potential targets of the active compounds of Christina Loosestrife in nephrolithiasis. Analysis of the Gene Ontology (GO) terms for biological process (A), cellular component (B), and molecular function (C), or analysis of the Reactome pathways (D) are shown. LogP is the log-value of the P-value. P<0.05 is considered to be significant. To show the results more intuitively, the results of the enrichment analysis are shown by LogP. The count represents the number of genes.

Figure 3

The compound target network associated with Christina Loosestrife in nephrolithiasis. The square represents the component; the circle represents the target; the size of the node represents the size of the node degree.

Figure 4

The compound target network associated with Christina Loosestrife in nephrolithiasis. The circle represents the target; the octagon represents the tumor-related pathway; the size of the node represents the size of the node degree.

Figure 5

The compound target network associated with Christina Loosestrife in nephrolithiasis. The square represents the component; the circle represents the target; the octagon represents the tumor-related pathway; the size of the node represents the size of its node degree.