AUTHOR=He Dan , Li Qiang , Du Guangli , Meng Guofeng , Sun Jijia , Chen Shaoli 

TITLE=An Integration of Network Pharmacology and Experimental Verification to Investigate the Mechanism of Guizhi to Treat Nephrotic Syndrome

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.755421

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2021.755421

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Guizhi has the pharmacological activity of anti-inflammatory. However, the effect mechanism of Guizhi against nephrotic syndrome (NS) remains unclear. A network pharmacological approach with experimental verification <italic>in vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic> was performed to investigate the potential mechanisms of Guizhi to treat NS.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Active compounds and potential targets of Guizhi, as well as the related targets of NS were obtained from the public databases. The intersecting targets of Guizhi and NS were obtained through Venny 2.1.0. The key targets and signaling pathways were determined by protein-protein interaction (PPI), genes ontology (GO) and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analysis. And the overall network was constructed with Cytoscape. Molecular docking verification was carried out by AutoDock Vina. Finally, <italic>in vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic> experiments were performed to verify the mechanism of Guizhi to treat NS.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> 63 intersecting targets were obtained, and the top five key targets mainly involed in NF- Kappa B and MAPK signaling pathway. In the overall network, cinnamaldehyde (CA) was the top one active compound with the highest degree value. The molecular docking showed that the top five key targets were of good binding activity with the active components of Guizhi. To <italic>in vitro</italic> experiment, CA, the main active component of Guizhi, inhibited the secretion of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α in LPS challenged RAW264.7 cells, and down regulated the protein expression of p-NF-κB p65 and p-p38 MAPK in LPS challenged RAW264.7 cells. <italic>In vitro</italic> experiment showed that, 24 urinary protein and renal function were increased in ADR group. To western blot, CA down regulated the protein expression of p-p38 MAPK in rats of adriamycin-induced nephropathy.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> CA might be the main active component of Guizhi to treat NS, and the underlying mechanism might mainly be achieved by inhibiting MAPK signaling pathway.</p>