Network pharmacology-based study to explore the mechanism of the Yiqi Gubiao pill in lung cancer treatment

Lung cancer (LC) has been one of the most prevalent and fatal malignancies in the past 5 years. Yiqi Gubiao pills have a good clinical effect against LC. However, their complex composition limits proper understanding of their pharmacological mechanism. Therefore, the present study aimed to systemically explore the underlying mechanisms of Yiqi Gubiao pills in treatment of LC. The network pharmacology approach was employed to identify the active ingredients and LC targets associated with Yiqi Gubiao pills. Prediction of potential active ingredients and action targets was then conducted through protein-protein interaction (PPI), Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses. In vitro experiments were then performed to further verify the mechanism of action of Yiqi Gubiao pills, revealing that the anti-LC effects were mediated by regulating the expression of IL6, TP53, albumin (ALB), MAPK3 and AKT1. In total, 102 active ingredients and 229 targets of Yiqi Gubiao pills were identified. The PPI network further revealed that AKT1, TP53, ALB, IL6 and MAPK3 were the top five hub genes associated with LC treatment. Targets of the Yiqi Gubiao pills were mainly enriched in the PI3K-Akt and Advanced glycation end products (AGE)-receptors for AGEs (RAGE) signaling pathways. Overall, network pharmacology deciphered the active ingredients and potential targets of the Yiqi Gubiao pills. Yiqi Gubiao pills partially inhibited the progression of LC by regulating the expression of hub genes (AKT1, TP53, ALB, IL6 and MAPK3) through the PI3K-Akt and AGE-RAGE signaling pathways. The findings of the present study may provide a theoretical basis for the clinical application of Yiqi Gubiao pills in LC treatment.