ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE： To study the mechanism of couplet medicine of Tripterygium hypoglaucum-Spatholobus suberectus in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis （RA）. METHODS： The RA targets were retrieved and obtained by therapeutic target database （TTD）， DrugBank and DisGeNET databases， and the protein protein interaction （PPI） network was constructed to screen its key targets. Using oral bioavailability（OB）≥30％， drug like（DL）≥0.18 and drug half-life （HL） ≥4 h as index， active components were obtained from couplet medicine of T. hypoglaucum-S. suberectus by using TCM systematic pharmacological analysis platform （TCMSP） and TCM integrated database （TCMID）， and the targets were predicted. The active component-target network of couplet medicine of T. hypoglaucum-S. suberectus was constructed. Systems Dock Web Site online platform and Genomics platform were used to screen the active component and common targets of RA of couplet medicine of T. hypoglaucum-S. suberectus； KEGG signaling pathways of common targets were analyzed by using Cluego plug-in unit of Cytoscape 3.2.1 software. RESULTS： Totally 1 956 RA targets were retrieved， involving 11 key targets [such as IL-6， TNF， VEGFA]. The couplet medicine contained 30 active components （including luteolin， erythroxanthin， β-sitosterol and triptolide） and 229 targets. There were 37 common targets for couplet medicine of T. hypoglaucum-S. suberectus and RA （including MMP2， TNF， VEGFA）. KEGG signaling way involved cell apoptosis， IL-17 signaling pathway， Th17 cell differentiation pathway and TNF signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS： The couplet medicine of T. hypoglaucum-S. suberectus may play a role in the treatment of RA by acting on cell apoptosis， IL-17 signaling pathway and other signaling pathways through MMP2， TNF， and VEGFA target. The results of this study can provide a reference for further study on the mechanism of the effects of couplet medicine of T. hypoglaucum-S. suberectus on RA.