Exploring the mechanism of Tengli Kangliu Decoction in the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer precancerous based on network pharmacology

This study aimed to predict the targets and signaling pathways affected by Tengli Kangliu Decoction (TKD) in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) precursor lesions and to determine TKDs mechanism of action based on previous experimental results using network pharmacology techniques and methods. METHODS: Using the traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database (TCMSP) and UniProt database, the active ingredients and potential targets of TKD were identified. Human colorectal adenoma (CRA) targets were analyzed using the GeneCards database, the Online mendelian inheritance in man (OMIM) database, and the NCBI database. The common targets of drug-disease interactions were input into the String database to construct a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network. These data were then used to construct the network diagram. Gene ontology (GO) function analysis and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were performed on the target genes. Finally, the component-disease-pathway-target network file was imported into Cytoscape 3.8.0 and used to construct the pathway network diagram. RESULTS: Compounds with a drug-likeness (DL) score ≥ 0.18 and an oral bioavailability (OB) ≥ 30% were selected as the active constituents of TKD. Two hundred eighty eight chemical constituents were screened and 305 chemical drug targets were predicted. After further screening, 1942 disease-related targets, which are hypothesized to be the main chemical components of TKD, were obtained. When comparing the targets of action and CRA treatment targets, 172 common targets were identified. Using GO enrichment analysis of common targets of drug diseases, 2550 biological processes (BP) were predicted, 164 items of which were related to molecular functioning (MF), and 67 items related to cell composition. KEGG pathway analysis was performed on the common targets of drug diseases, and a total of 178 signaling pathways were enriched. CONCLUSION: Using network pharmacology research, this study reports on the synergistic effect of the multiple components of TKD on the multi-target, and multiple pathways of colorectal precancerous lesions. These findings lay a theoretical foundation for further colorectal precancerous lesions research.