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. 2020 Oct 12:2020:2421916.
doi: 10.1155/2020/2421916. eCollection 2020.

Network Pharmacology Identifies the Mechanisms of Sang-Xing-Zhi-Ke-Fang against Pharyngitis

Yinhe Deng  1 , Quanjiang Li  1 , Menglin Li  1 , Tiantian Han  1 , Guixian Li  1 , Qiong Liu  2
Affiliations

Network Pharmacology Identifies the Mechanisms of Sang-Xing-Zhi-Ke-Fang against Pharyngitis

Yinhe Deng et al. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. .

Abstract

Background: Sang-Xing-Zhi-Ke-Fang (SXZKF) demonstrates good therapeutic effect against pharyngitis. Nevertheless, the pharmacological mechanism underlying its effectiveness is still unclear.

Objective: To investigate the underlying mechanisms of SXZKF against pharyngitis using network pharmacology method.

Methods: Bioactive ingredients of SXZKF were collected and screened using published literature and two public databases. Using four public databases, the overlapping genes between these bioactive compound-related and pharyngitis-related genes were identified by Venn diagram. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) was obtained using "Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING)" database. "Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery ver. 6.8 (DAVID 6.8)" was used to perform Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis to explore the molecular mechanisms of SXZKF against pharyngitis. Finally, Cytoscape 3.7.2 software was used to construct and visualize the networks.

Result: A total of 102 bioactive compounds were identified. Among them, 886 compounds-related and 6258 pharyngitis-related genes were identified, including 387 overlapping genes. Sixty-three core targets were obtained, including ALB, PPARγ, MAPK3, EGF, and PTGS2. Signaling pathways closely related to mechanisms of SXZKF for pharyngitis were identified, including serotonergic synapse, VEGF signaling pathway, Fc epsilon RI signaling pathway, Ras signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and influenza A.

Conclusion: This is the first identification of in-depth study of SXZKF against pharyngitis using network pharmacology. This new evidence could be informative in providing new support on the clinical effects of SXZKF on pharyngitis and for the development of personalized medicine for pharyngitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Workflow of this study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
387 overlapping genes between SXZKF compounds-related targets and pharyngitis-related targets from GeneCards and CTD.
Figure 3
Figure 3
H-C-T network. Yellow nodes represent the herbs of SXZKF, green nodes represent the bioactive compounds of SXZKF, and pink nodes represent the potential targets of SXZKF against pharyngitis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Screening of core targets by analyzing topological features of the PPI network. Red nodes represent the core targets.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Bubble chart of top 20 signaling pathways linked to SXZKF against pharyngitis. Bubble size represented the number of genes enriched in this pathway, color depth represented the P value, and rich factor represented the ratio of the enriched targets in the pathway to the total number of targets in the pathway.
Figure 6
Figure 6
C-T-P network. Yellow nodes represent the bioactive compounds, red nodes represent the key pathways, and purple nodes represent the target genes.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Chemical structures of key compounds. (a) Arachidonic acid. (b) Quercetin. (c) Kaempferol. (d) Eicosapentaenoic acid. (e) Luteolin.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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