Study on the mechanism of SND in the treatment of anxiety disorders based on network pharmacology, molecular docking and experiment validation

Background:Sini decoction(SND)is a classic traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)formulation that can be used to treat anxiety-related disorders,but the active substance and underlying molecular mechanism of its anxiolytic effects are unknown.In this study,network pharmacology,molecular docking research and experimental verification methods were used to preliminarily explore the bioactive compounds and potential target mechanisms of SND anxiolytic.Methods:The active components and corresponding targets of SND were collected by TCMSP.GeneCards,OMIM,PharmGkb,TTD and Drugbank were used to search for the targets of anxiety disorders.The core target of SND in the treatment of anxiety was screened by PPI.R language was used to analyze the intersection targets of SND in the treatment of anxiety disorders by GO and KEGG enrichment analysis.AutoDock Vina was used for molecular docking,and Discovery Studio was used for visual conformation analysis after docking.The anti-anxiety effect and molecular mechanism of SND were studied by in vivo experiment.Results:Based on network pharmacological analysis,we obtained 112 active ingredients and 350 effective targets related to anxiety from SND.In PPI analysis,26 targets such as STAT3,MAPK3,MAPK1,MAPK14,SRC,HSP90AA1,TP53 and PIK3CA were identified as core targets.GO and KEGG analysis showed that the anxiolytic mechanism of SND may be related to the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway and inflammatory pathway.Molecular docking showed that quercetin,naringenin,licochalcone A had high affinity with JAK2,MAPK14 and MAPK3.Animal experiments have shown that SND reverses the upregulation of GluN2B(NMDAR)and GluA1(AMPAR)proteins,and SND improves anxiety disorders by regulating glutamate transmitter levels,which may be related to neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathways,particularly glutamate receptors.Conclusion:This study shows that SND can improve FS-induced behavioral changes in mice and can modulate hippocampal synapse-associated protein defects,partially reversing glutamate receptor expression through the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway,and further improved anxiety disorders.At the same time,combined with network pharmacology and molecular docking,the key components,core targets and related pathways of SND are discussed,which shows that the active components of SND play an effective role in anxiety through multi-targets and multi-pathways,which provides a reference for the material basis and mechanism of SND.