Anti-inflammatory Mechanism of Epimedii Folium in Treatment of Depression Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To predict the anti-inflammatory targets and relevant signaling pathways of Epimedii Folium in the treatment of depression by network pharmacology，in order to explore the potential mechanism of its anti-depression effect. Method:The active constituents of Epimedii Folium were collected and screened out through the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform（TCMSP） database. PharmMapper server and TCMSP database were used to predict and screen out protein targets. OMIM database，CTD database and GeneCards database were used to screen out relevant targets and anti-inflammatory targets of depression. Enrichment analysis of the gene ontology （GO） function and Kyoto Encyclopedia of genes and genomes（KEGG） signaling pathway for the key anti-inflammatory targets of Epimedii Folium were carried out by DAVID database. Cytoscape 3.6.0 was used to construct the network diagram of "active component-action target-signal pathway" of Epimedii Folium and analyze the topological structure of the network. GOLD molecular docking software was used to verify the results of active components and key anti-inflammatory targets. Result:A total of 12 active components，30 targets and 5 key anti-inflammatory targets of Epimedii Folium were screened out， 65 biological processes，4 cell components and 1 molecular function were enriched with GO function， and 41 KEGG pathways were enriched and analyzed，including 9 inflammation-related signaling pathways. Molecular docking verified that icariin and key anti-inflammatory targets could form the optimal binding structure. Conclusion:The study preliminarily reveals the molecular mechanism of Epimedii Folium on depression through its anti-inflammatory target and its relevant signaling pathway network，so as to provide a basis for further study on the antidepressant effect of Epimedii Folium.