Network-Based Pharmacological Study on the Mechanism of Action of Buxue Liqi Huatan Decoction in the Treatment of Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of action of Buxue Liqi Huatan decoction against lung cancer through network pharmacology. METHODS: The chemical composition and targets of all the drugs in the Buxue Liqi Huatan decoction were obtained through the Database and Systematic Analysis Platform of Traditional Chinese Medicine Pharmacology, the Integrated Database of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and by screening lung cancer targets with the gene map and OMIM database. The targets were then imported into Cytoscape 3.7.2 to build a target network of active ingredients and imported into the STRING database to build a protein-protein interaction network. The BisoGenet plug-in in Cytoscape 3.7.2 was used for network topology analysis. Genetic ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis were performed on potential targets of the Buxue Liqi Huatan decoction for lung cancer using the R-language Bioconductor platform, and results were imported from Cytoscape 3.7.2 to obtain the KEGG network connection diagram via the Autodock molecular docking software. RESULTS: A total of 238 chemical components and 694 disease targets were obtained, including 133 intersecting targets. The key targets included TP53, AKT1, and MYC, and the GO functional analysis was mainly related to oxidative and cellular oxidative stress, apoptotic signaling, and antibiotic response. The results showed that the key target with the best binding performance was TP53. CONCLUSION: The treatment of lung cancer with blood-supplementing, qi-transforming, and phlegm-transforming soups works through multiple components and targets. The active ingredients include quercetin, luteolin, naringenin, and baicalein. Among them, the core proteins of PPI protein interaction mainly include TP53, AKT1, MYC, EGRF, CCNB1, and ESR1. The enrichment analysis results show that the TNF signal pathway, PI3K-Akt signal pathway, AGE-RAGE, IL-17, etc., are the main signal pathways of Buxue Liqi Huatan decoction in treating lung cancer. This lays the foundation for further study of its mechanism.