The mechanism of hepatotoxicity of Nux Vomica:a network-pharmacology-based study

Objective:To explore the potential mechanism of hepatotoxicity induced by Nux Vomica through network toxicology.Methods:The active components and targets of Nux Vomica were identified and screened by Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform Database(TCMSP),literature research,PubChem Database,Swiss Target Prediction database,etc.Genecards,pharmGKB and OMIM databases were used to collect hepatotoxicity related targets,then,cross them with active component targets to obtain potential targets of hepatotoxicity caused by Nux Vomica.A"Nux Vomica-Potential active components-Potential targets-Hepatotoxicity"network was constructed with Cytoscape 3.8.0 software.The String 11.0 database was used to construct the protein-protein interaction(PPI)network of the targets and to screen out the core targets.In addition,Gene Ontology(GO)function enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathway enrichment analysis were conducted by R software,and then the obtained pathways directly related to hepatotoxicity were integrated.Results:In this study,37 active components were screened via TCMSP and literature research,468 targets for the active components of Nux Vomica were obtained.There were 533 hepatotoxicity-related targets,73 potential targets for hepatotoxicity caused by Nux Vomica,and 26 potential active components,among which Ferulic acid,Novacine,Icajine,Simiarenol were the key active components for hepatotoxicity caused by Nux Vomica,and JUN,RELA,and STAT3 were the core target proteins of hepatotoxicity caused by Nux Vomica.There were 1859 GO entries(P-value<0.05),including 1709 entries of Biological Process(BP),39 entries of Cellular Component(CC),and 111 entries of Molecular Function(MF).KEGG enrichment analysis revealed 145 pathways(value<0.05),of which PI3K/AKT signaling pathway,HIF-1 signaling pathway,EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance were strongly correlated with the hepatotoxicity caused by Nux Vomica.Conclusion:Through network toxicology analysis,it was found that lots of potential components in Nux Vomica may be involved in the activation of the excessive inflammatory response,oxidative stress,and the LPS response through multiple targets and multiple pathways,resulting in the generation of hepatotoxicity.

Network Pharmacology for Traditional Chinese Medicine Research: Methodologies and Applications

The inception of network pharmacology comes from the advance in ＂multi-target, multi-drug＂ paradigm and opens up a new field for pharmaceutical science. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） is well-known for its use of medicinal herb combinations to treat the functional disorders induced by diseases through a holistic view, which naturally followed the principal of network pharmacology. In this review, the methodologies of network pharmacology in TCM studies were summarized. Specifically, the methodologies for network construction and network analysis were discussed in detail by following several TCM study cases. The perspectives for TCM network pharmacology were also provided.