A Network Pharmacology Study to Uncover the Multiple Molecular Mechanism of the Chinese Patent Medicine Toujiequwen Granules in the Treatment of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

• Published in: Current medical science Vol. 41; no. 2; pp. 297 - 305
• Main Authors: Yang, Bao-yu, Wang, Hao-zhen, Ma, Zhen-zhong, Lu, Chen, Li, Yang, Lu, Zi-yin, Lu, Xiu-li, Gao, Bing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wuhan Huazhong University of Science and Technology 01-04-2021; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Life Science School, Liaoning University, Shenyang 110036, China%Department of Cell biology and Genetics, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang 110034, China
• Subjects: Antiviral Agents - chemistry; Antiviral Agents - pharmacology; COVID-19 - drug therapy; COVID-19 - genetics; COVID-19 - virology; Cyclooxygenase 1 - genetics; Cyclooxygenase 2 - genetics; Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 - genetics; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - chemistry; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - classification; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Gene Expression Regulation, Viral - drug effects; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Medicine, Chinese Traditional; Quercetin - genetics; SARS-CoV-2 - drug effects; SARS-CoV-2 - genetics; SARS-CoV-2 - pathogenicity; Signal Transduction - drug effects; COVID-19; molecular mechanism; network pharmacology; granules; target; Toujiequwen granules
• ISSN: 2096-5230; 1672-0733; 2523-899X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11596-021-2346-x

Summary
Since the outbreak of the novel corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at the end of 2019, specific antiviral drugs have been lacking. A Chinese patent medicine
Toujiequwen
granules has been promoted in the treatment of COVID-19. The present study was designed to reveal the molecular mechanism of
Toujiequwen
granules against COVID-19. A network pharmacological method was applied to screen the main active ingredients of
Toujiequwen
granules. Network analysis of 149 active ingredients and 330 drug targets showed the most active ingredient interacting with many drug targets is quercetin. Drug targets most affected by the active ingredients were PTGS2, PTGS1, and DPP4. Drug target disease enrichment analysis showed drug targets were significantly enriched in cardiovascular diseases and digestive tract diseases. An “active ingredient-target-disease” network showed that 57 active ingredients from
Toujiequwen
granules interacted with 15 key targets of COVID-19. There were 53 ingredients that could act on DPP4, suggesting that DPP4 may become a potential new key target for the treatment of COVID-19. GO analysis results showed that key targets were mainly enriched in the cellular response to lipopolysaccharide, cytokine activity and other functions. KEGG analysis showed they were mainly concentrated in viral protein interaction with cytokine and cytokine receptors and endocrine resistance pathway. The evidence suggests that
Toujiequwen
granules might play an effective role by improving the symptoms of underlying diseases in patients with COVID-19 and multi-target interventions against multiple signaling pathways related to the pathogenesis of COVID-19.