Exploring the mechanism of Danggui Buxue Decoction in regulating atherosclerotic disease network based on integrated pharmacological methods

Objective: To explore the mechanism of Danggui Buxue Decoction (DGBXD) in regulating Atherosclerosis (AS) network based on integrated pharmacological methods. Methods: The active ingredients and targets of DGBXD are obtained from TCMSP database and ETCM. AS-related targets were collected from the Genecards and OMIM databases. The drug–disease protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed by Cytoscape. Meanwhile, it was used to screen out densely interacting regions, namely clusters. Finally, Gene Ontology (GO) annotations are performed on the targets and genes in the cluster to obtain biological processes, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotations are performed on the targets of the PPI network to obtain signaling pathways. Results: A total of 212 known targets, 265 potential targets and 229 AS genes were obtained. The ‘DGBXD known-AS PPI network’ and ‘DGBXD-AS PPI Network’ were constructed and analyzed. DGBXD can regulate inflammation, platelet activation, endothelial cell apoptosis, oxidative stress, lipid metabolism, vascular smooth muscle proliferation, angiogenesis, TNF, HIF-1, FoxO signaling pathway, etc. The experimental data showed that compared with the model group, the expressions of ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and interleukin (IL)-1β protein and mRNA in the DGBXD group decreased (P<0.05). However, plasma IL-1β, TNF-α, and MCP-1 in the DGBXD group were not significantly different from the model group (P>0.05). Conclusion: The mechanism of DGBXD in the treatment of AS may be related to the improvement of extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition in the blood vessel wall and the anti-vascular local inflammatory response, which may provide a reference for the study of the mechanism of DGBXD.