Identify potential treatments of COVID-19 from Tibetan medicine Hippophae Fructus using a network pharmacological approach / 中国药理学与毒理学杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in December 2019, the search for a potential treatment for COVID-19 has been a constant focus. Therefore, we identified potential treatments for COVID-19 from Hippophae Fructus, a Tibetan medicine that may act on COVID-19, using a network pharmacology approach. METHODS We collected the chemical constituents and corresponding targets of Hippophae Fructus from traditional Chinese medicine system pharmacology (TCMSP). COVID-19 related genes were predicted in pubmed-Gene, OMIM and GeneCards databases. Then, protein-protein interactions (PPIs) of key genes were analyzed by STRING database. Compound-target-diseases network was constructed using Cytoscape software. The potential pathways were deter?mined by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses. Additionally, molecular docking was used to verify the binding effect between the active component and the target. RESULTS A total of 33 components and 192 corresponding targets in Hippophae Fructus were found. 50 genes were obtained from the intersection of component targets and disease targets. These genes include IL-6, TNF, MAPK8 and PTGS2, which regu?late several pathways associated with COVID-19, involving Hepatitis B, Influenza A, TNF signaling pathway and Tuber?culosis. More importantly, high-node compounds such as quercetin and beta-sitosterol can well bind to key targets. CONCLUSION Some components in Hippophae Fructus can act on COVID-19 related genes and regulate multiple pathways. Perhaps Hippophae Fructus has the effect in treating COVID-19.