Mechanism of Clinacanthus nutans against hepatic fibrosis based on network pharmacology and molecular docking

Objective: To explore the mechanism of Clinacanthus nutans against hepatic fibrosis (HF) by network pharmacology and molecular docking. Methods: : Using the traditional Chinese herbal medicine database and the compound information database,combining HIT、TCMSP、BATMAN-TCM、NPASS、TCMID and with literature, the search for the active ingredients of the herb was conducted,the eligible ingredients were obtained after screening through the SwissADME.The component targets after removing duplicates were predicted by SwissTargetPrediction;The Genecards and OMIM were queried and mined for genes related to HF and the intersecting targets for HF treatment with Clinacanthus nutans .Than,using the String and Cytoscape to construct a protein-protein interaction network and hub targets for network screened by CytoHubba plugin. Meanwhile,We futher performed GO functional and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses.AutoDock Vina was used to perform molecular docking between the core active components of Clinacanthus nutans and the key targets of HF. Results: : 27 active ingredients, 437 drug targets, 3479 disease targets and 260 intersecting targets of Clinacanthus nutans .The compounds with a higher degree value are 3-Hydroxy-9-methoxypterocarpan、isolariciresinol、α-tocospirone、Maackiain、Beta-Sitosterol.10 anti-hepatiticfibrosis core targets were predicted :HRAS、SRC、PIK3CA、PIK3CB、PIK3CD、PTPN11、MAPK1、MAPK3、PDGFRB and RAF1A.A total of 3354 GO items and 173 pathways were obtained by gene enrichment analysis (P < 0.05).Molecular docking verified the main active components and core targets has good combining ability. Conclusion: The treatment of HF can be achieved through multi-molecules, mutalti-targets, multi-channel and multi-action mechanisms.