China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2023, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (7): 2951-2965.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2023.07.035

• Basic Veterinary Medicine • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Network Pharmacology Analysis of Anti-inflammatory Mechanism of Sophora alopecuroides and Experimental Validation

FAN Qiuyu1,2, WU Jianwen1,2, LI Chunxiao1, WANG Jinquan1, LI Huanrong2, WANG Xiumin1   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Feed Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Feed, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China;
    2. National Animal Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, College of Animal Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, China
  • Received:2023-02-17 Published:2023-06-30

Abstract: 【Objective】 The aim of this study was to analyze the anti-inflammatory ingredients and mechanism of Sophora alopecuroides (S.alopecuroides) based on network pharmacology and experimental verification.【Method】 The effective ingredients of S.alopecuroides were screened from the HERB database and the corresponding targets were retrieved through SIB online tool.Cytoscape 3.6.1 software was used to construct an active ingredient-target network diagram.The anti-inflammatory related targets of S.alopecuroides were obtained from NCBI, GeneCards and OMIM databases, and the core target genes were uploaded to STRING platform to build a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network.Finally, DAVID database was used to analyze key targets by GO function and KEGG pathway enrichment.The target with the highest degree of PPI was selected for molecular docking with key pharmacodynamic components.The cytotoxicity of sophoridine and matrine of S.alopecuroides to RAW264.7 cells was detected, and the effects of sophoridine and matrine on the relative production of nitric oxide (NO) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells were verified.【Result】 The results showed that there were ten active ingredients in S.alopecuroides, including sophoridine, matrine, cytisine, sophoramine, sophocarpine, etc.They could act on 55 key anti-inflammatory targets, including inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B kinase subunit beta (IKBKB), NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), mitogen-activated protein kinase 14(MAPK14), matrix metallopeptidase 2 (MMP2), etc.GO function enrichment analysis yielded 121 items (P<0.01), involving 61 biological processes, such as signal transduction, protein phosphorylation, response to drug, inflammatory response, etc.;37 molecular functions, such as protein binding, protein kinase activity, enzyme binding, etc.;And 23 cellular components, such as plasma membrane, cell surface, macromolecular complex, etc.104 related signaling pathways mainly included PI3K-Akt, MAPK, NF-kappa B (NF-κB), TNF and chemokine, etc.Molecular docking showed that sophoridine could bind tightly to target HSP90AA1 and matrine to target HDAC11.The cytotoxicity results showed that 0.02-1.28 mg/mL of sophoridine and matrine had no toxicity to RAW264.7 cells.Moreover, different concentrations of sophoranine and matrine could inhibit relative NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells.【Conclusion】 Sophoridine, matrine and other active ingredients of S.alopecuroides might have anti-inflammatory activity by regulating multiple targets such as IKBKB, NLRP3, MAPK14, MMP2, etc., and pathways such as PI3K-Akt, MAPK, NF-κB, TNF and other signaling pathways, etc., which provided a reference for further elucidation the anti-inflammatory mechanism of S.alopecuroides.

Key words: Sophora alopecuroides; network pharmacology; anti-inflammatory activity; RAW264.7 cells; cytotoxicity

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