Mechanisms of Guomin Decoction in the treatment of atopic dermatitis:Based on network pharmacology and molecular docking

WANG Shengxin; XIE Bixiang; YANG Yang; XIE Kai

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-8468.2026.02.003

Abstract：Objective To investigate the potential mechanisms of Guomin Decoction(GMD)in the treatment of atopic dermatitis(AD)using network pharmacology,and to verify the regulato-ry effects of its core components in cell cultures.Methods The active components and corre-sponding targets of GMD were retrieved from TCMSP and relevant literature.Targets related to AD were obtained from OMIM and Genecards databases.Common targets were identified and imported into the String database for protein-protein interaction(PPI)analysis to screen core targets,which were then visualized using Cytoscape software.A cell model of AD was established by treating HaCaT cells with histamine.Intervention groups were treated with quercetin and kaempferol at dif-ferent concentrations(1 μmol/L,5 μmol/L).The levels of TNF-α and IL-1 β in cell superna-tants were detected by ELISA,and the mRNA expression levels of STAT3 and MAPK1 were meas-ured by RT-PCR to verify the effects of the core components.Results A total of 36 active compo-nents of GMD were identified,corresponding to 1 161 drug targets.A total of 1 780 AD-related disease targets were obtained,and 383 drug-disease common targets were finally determined.PPI network analysis combined with the Cytohubba plugin screened out core targets,including STAT3,MAPK1,RELA,JUN,MAPK8,and TNF-α.GO enrichment analysis showed that the core tar-gets were mainly involved in biological processes such as"inflammatory response"and"regulation of MAPK cascade reaction".KEGG enrichment analysis confirmed that these targets were signifi-cantly enriched in 10 key pathways,including the TNF signaling pathway,JAK-STAT signaling pathway,MAPK signaling pathway,and IL-17 signaling pathway.The results of cell cultures showed that,compared with the AD model group,the quercetin and kaempferol(at 5 μmol/L)significantly reduced the levels of TNF-α and IL-1 β in the supernatants(P＜0.01)and downreg-ulated the mRNA expression levels of the core targets' STAT3 and MAPK1(P＜0.05),effective-ly inhibiting the inflammatory response in the cell model of AD.Conclusions GMD acts on 383 common disease targets through 36 active components to regulate 10 key pathways,such as those involving TNF and JAK-STAT.Its core components,quercetin and kaempferol,can significantly reduce the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β and downregulate the mRNA expression of STAT3 and MAPK1 in the cell model of AD,thereby effectively inhibiting the inflammatory response.