Network Pharmacology-Based Analysis of Gegenqinlian Decoction Regulating Intestinal Microbial Activity for the Treatment of Diarrhea

Gegenqinlian decoction (GD) has been extensively used for the treatment of diarrhea with intestinal dampness-heat syndrome (IDHS) with a satisfying therapeutic effect. The purpose of this study is to clarify the active ingredients and mechanism of GD in the treatment of diarrhea with IDHS. The TCMSP database was used to screen out the active ingredients of the four Chinese herbal medicines in GD, and the targets of the active ingredients were predicted. We selected the targets related to diarrhea through the DisGeNET database, then used the NCBI database to screen out related targets of lactase and sucrase, and constructed the visual network to search for the active ingredients of GD in the treatment of diarrhea and related mechanisms of the targets. Combined with network pharmacology, we screened out 146 active ingredients in GD corresponding to 252 ingredient targets, combined with 328 disease targets in diarrhea, and obtained 12 lactase targets and 11 sucrase targets. The key active ingredients involved quercetin, formononetin, β-sitosterol kaempferol, and wogonin. Furthermore, molecular docking showed that these five potential active ingredients had good affinities with the core targets PTGS2. The active ingredients in GD (such as quercetin, formononetin, and β-sitosterol) may increase the microbial activity of the intestinal mucosa of mice and reduce the microbial activity of the intestinal contents through multiple targets, thereby achieving the effect of treating diarrhea.