Network Pharmacology Reveals the Molecular Mechanism of Cuyuxunxi Prescription in Promoting Wound Healing in Patients with Anal Fistula

BACKGROUND: The healing process of the surgical wound of anal fistulotomy is much slower because of the presence of stool within the wound. Cuyuxunxi (CYXX) prescription is a Chinese herbal fumigant that is being used to wash surgical wound after anal fistulotomy. This study aimed at investigating the molecular mechanism of CYXX prescription using a network pharmacology-based strategy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The active compounds in each herbal medicine were retrieved from the traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology (TCMSP) database and in Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Database (TCMID) analysis platform based on the criteria of oral bioavailability ≥40% and drug-likeness ≥0.2. The disease-related target genes were extracted from the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database. Protein-protein interaction network was built for the overlapped genes as well as functional enrichment analysis. Finally, an ingredient-target genes-pathway network was built by integrating all information. RESULTS: A total of 375 chemical ingredients of the 5 main herbal medicines in CYXX prescription were retrieved from TCMSP database and TCMID. Among the 375 chemical ingredients, 59 were active compounds. Besides, 325 target genes for 16 active compounds in 3 herbal medicines were obtained. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that these overlapped genes were significantly related with immune response, biosynthesis of antibiotics, and complement and coagulation cascades. A comprehensive network which contains 133 nodes (8 disease nodes, 3 drug nodes, 8 ingredients, 103 target gene nodes, 7 GO nodes, and 4 pathway nodes) was built. CONCLUSION: The network built in this study might aid in understanding the action mechanism of CYXX prescription at molecular level to pathway level.