AUTHOR=Liu Hongyu , Shi Jie , Liu Fei , Zhang Litao 

TITLE=Integrating network pharmacology and experimental verification to reveal the anti-inflammatory ingredients and molecular mechanism of pycnogenol

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2024.1408304

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2024.1408304

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Introduction:</bold> Pycnogenol (PYC), a standardized extract from French maritime pine, has traditionally been used to treat inflammation. However, its primary active components and their mechanisms of action have not yet been determined.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> This study employed UPLC-MS/MS (Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry) and network pharmacology to identify the potential active components of PYC and elucidate their anti-inflammatory mechanisms by cell experiments.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> 768 PYC compounds were identified and 19 anti-inflammatory compounds were screened with 85 target proteins directly involved in the inflammation. PPI (protein-protein interaction) analysis identified IL6, TNF, MMP9, IL1B, AKT1, IFNG, CXCL8, NFKB1, CCL2, IL10, and PTGS2 as core targets. KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) enrichment analysis suggested that the compound in PYC might exert anti-inflammatory effects through the IL17 and TNF signal pathways. Cell experiments determined that PYC treatment can reduce the expression of IL6 and IL1β to relieve inflammation in LPS (lipopolysaccharide)-induced BV2 cells.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> PYC could affect inflammation via multi-components, -targets, and -mechanisms.</p>