A Network Pharmacology Analysis to Reveal the Molecular Mechanism of Zhizi-Danshen on Coronary Heart Disease

Objective: Our study aimed to investigate the potential mechanisms of the herb pair Zhizi-Danshen (ZD) for coronary heart disease (CHD) using network pharmacological data mining technology.MethodsThe Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology (TCMSP) database was used to collect the active ingredients of ZD and predict ZD-related target proteins. Afterwards, we identified CHD-related targets from DisGeNET database, NCBI gene database, and TTD database. The common targets both from ZD and CHD were screened by Venny2.1, which were then imported into the String database for protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis. Finally, the GO and KEGG enrichment analysis were performed by R software, and the network construction was established using Cytoscape3.7.2.ResultsWe obtained 199 possible targets from 62 candidate ingredients of ZD and 1033 CHD-ralated targets, with 83 overlapping common target genes. Then, 11 core targets were acquired from PPI network analysis. Further, GO analysis showed that these common targets mainly influenced receptor ligand activity，cytokine activity，cytokine receptor binding，steroid hormone receptor activity, and peptide binding. KEGG pathway analysis indicated that ZD affected CHD through seven important pathways linked to vascular endothelial function regulation (fluid shear stress and atherosclerosis，AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, HIF-1 signaling pathway), imflammatory effects (IL-17 signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway，Toll-like receptor signaling pathway)，and hormone regulation (relaxin signaling pathway). ConclusionsThis study revealed the potential pharmacological mechanisms of ZD against CHD, which were mainly associated with regulation of vascular endothelial function and inflammatory effects, promotion of vasodilatation, and prevention of cardiac fibrosis. Moreover, it provided a novel conception for the development of alternative therapies on CHD.