Objective To explore the therapeutic mechanisms of Zhishangfeng Granules for common cold based on network pharmacology.
Methods The chemical compositions and targets of Zhishangfeng Granules were searched by Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and DrugBank Database. Related targets of the cold were obtained through GeneCards database, and the drug targets and disease targets were intersected. The "active ingredients-targets-disease" network was constructed by Cytoscape software. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was established by STRING database. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were performed with R software.
Results A total of 146 kinds of active ingredients, 280 drug targets and 1 418 disease targets were obtained after screening. There were 117 targets at the intersection of drugs and diseases. Drug and targets were imported into Cytoscape software, and the results showed that quercetin, kaempferol and luteolin were the active ingredients with high degree value in traditional Chinese drugs, and anhydrous caffeine was the active ingredient with the highest degree value in western medicine. STRING database analysis showed that IL-6, AKT1, INS, VEGFA and MAPK8 were the key targets of the common cold. Biological process (BP), cellular component (CC) and molecular function (MF) were obtained through GO enrichment analysis. Twenty signaling pathways such as TNF signaling pathway and IL-17 pathway were obtained through KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, and the "pathways-targets" relationship diagram was drawn.
Conclusion The active ingredients, targets and pathways of Zhishangfeng Granules for common cold are screened out and the potential mechanism is preliminarily obtained based on network pharmacology, which can provide certain evidences for the further study of this drug in the future.
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