Network pharmacology-based and molecular docking prediction of the active ingredients and mechanism of the herb pair of Huangqi and Taoren for application in ischemic brain injury

The traditional Chinese herb pair of Huangqi (HQ) and Taoren (TR) for the treatment of ischemic brain injury (IBI). However, the mechanism of action of HQ and TR for treating IBI still remains unclear. Network pharmacology was adopted to detect the active components of DL and TR. The key targets and signaling pathways in the treatment of IBI were predicted, and the key ingredients and targets were screened for molecular docking. In this study, we identified 27 active components from the herb pair of DL and TR, predicted to act on IBI-associated targets by network pharmacology. PPI network demonstrated that 36 proteins might serve as the key targets of DL and HQ for the treatment of IBI. GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyzes indicated that the effects of DL and HQ are mediated by genes related to inflammation and apoptosis as well as the HIF-1 α , lipid and atherosclerosis pathways. We also had transcription factors and miRNAs analysis of hub genes. Molecular docking revealed good binding ability between the active compounds and screened targets. We comprehensively illustrated the active ingredients, potential targets, and molecular mechanism of the herb pair of HQ and TR treat IBI.