Investigating the molecular mechanism of Compound Danshen Dropping Pills for the treatment of epilepsy by utilizing network pharmacology and molecular docking technology

BACKGROUND: Compound Danshen Dropping Pills (CDDP) is widely used in clinical treatment of epilepsy. But the underlying active ingredients and molecular mechanisms are unclear. Our study aims to investigate the active components and functional mechanisms of CDDP in treating epilepsy using a network pharmacology approach. METHODS: Candidate constituents and targets of CDDP were searched on the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database. NCBI and Genecards were used to establish a database of epilepsy targets. Next, used Cytoscape software, the interactive network diagram of “drug-active component-target” was drawn. Based on the STRING database we constructed protein-protein interaction network and analyzed protein-protein interaction relationships. Gene ontology analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis were performed for the common targets. Molecular docking provided an evaluation tool for verifying the combination of components and targets, which was performed using Auto-dock. RESULTS: Sixty bioactive components, corresponding to 79 therapeutic targets for epilepsy, were successfully identified. Functional enrichment analysis showed that CDDP plays a pharmacological role in the treatment of epilepsy by regulating serotonergic synapses, morphine addiction, nicotine addiction and other pathways, as well as the NF-κB signaling pathway. Molecular docking analysis showed that representative components may be closely bound to key targets. CONCLUSIONS: This network pharmacology study revealed the synergistic effects of multiple components, targets, and pathways of CDDP in the treatment of epilepsy, which will deepen our understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of CDDP in the treatment of epilepsy and lay the foundation for further experimental studies.