Anti-ovarian cancer mechanism of processed products of Aconitum soongaricum Stapf. based on network pharmacology

  Objective  To explore the anti-ovarian cancer mechanism of processed products of Aconitum soongaricum Stapf. based on network pharmacology.

  Methods  According to the characteristics of chemical phylogeny in Aconitum soongaricum Stapf. and Aconitum, the databases such as Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and the Bioinformatics Analysis Tool for Molecular Mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine (BATMAN-TCM) in combination with literatures were used to collect and screen effective active ingredients of Aconitum soongaricum Stapf. and its processed products as well as Aconitum plants. Databases such as Swiss, GeneCards and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were used to predict the targets of drugs and diseases. Draw Venn Diagram software was used to identify the key targets of processed products of Aconitum soongaricum Stapf. against ovarian cancer, and a "disease-drug-component-target" network was built in the Cytoscape 3.6.1 software. String database and Cytoscape 3.6.1software were used to construct the key target protein interaction network diagram. DAVID and R software were used to perform enrichment analysis of key targets.

  Results  A total of 27 effective active ingredients and 152 key targets of processed products of Aconitum soongaricum Stapf. against ovarian cancer were obtained. Songorine, deoxyaconitine and hypoaconitine might be the main active ingredients, which acted on PIK3CA, PIK3CB, PIK3CD, PIK3CG, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and other targets, and participated in cancer pathway signaling pathways, PI3K-Akt signaling pathways, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signal pathways, hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) signaling pathways and other signaling pathways to play an anti-ovarian cancer effect.

  Conclusion  Processed products of Aconitum soongaricum Stapf. against ovarian cancer have the characteristics of multiple components, multiple targets and multiple pathways, which can provide ideas for the development of new anti-ovarian cancer drugs with national characteristics.