Exploring the intervention mechanism of Ginkgo biloba for steroid-induced necrosis of the femoral head based on network pharmacology / 中国临床药理学与治疗学

ABSTRACT

AIM: To explore the mechanism of Ginkgo biloba in the treatment of steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head based on network pharmacology. METHODS: The active ingredients and targets of Ginkgo biloba were predicted by the TCMSP, ADME, and PharmMapper databases. The disease targets related to steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head were searched by the GeneCards and OMIM databases. Cytoscape 3.6.1 was used to construct a protein-protein interaction network. The core target analysis, modular analysis, GO enrichment analysis, and KEGG pathway analysis of the targets of Ginkgo biloba in the intervention of steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head were performed by the STRING database. RESULTS: In this study, a total of 16 active ingredients of Ginkgo biloba and 547 targets were screened, of which 133 targets were related to steroid-induced femoral head necrosis. By PPI network topology analysis, TP53, AKT1, IL6, VEGFA, MAPK1, JUN, MAPK8, EGFR, EGF, and MYC were identified as the core targets. GO modularization analysis showed that these core targets were mainly related to apoptosis and angiogenesis. GO enrichment analysis was used to analyze the biological processes, cellular localization, and molecular functions of the core targets. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the targets were mainly involved in molecular signaling pathways, among which the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was the most relevant. CONCLUSION: Ginkgo biloba can inhibit steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head through multiple components, targets, and pathways, which provides the theoretical basis and reference for subsequent cell and animal experiments.