Mechanism of Lycopi Herba for ischemic stroke based on integrated pharmacology
TAO Xingru
GUO Chao
ZHANG Wei
ZHAO Meina
JIN Fuxing
GAO Kai
XU Dong
MU Fei
LIN Rui
WANG Jingwen
Abstract：Objective To explore the therapeutic targets and molecular mechanisms of Lycopi Herba(LH)in the treatment of ischemic stroke(IS)by applying integrated pharmacology.Methods The active constituents of LH were screened by integrating data from Herb databases and published literature.Potential targets of these active compounds were predicted using the SwissTargetPrediction database.Therapeutic targets associated with IS were retrieved from the GeneCards and OMIM databases.A Venn diagram illustrating the intersection targets between LH and IS was generated using the online Venny tool.The protein-protein interaction network diagram was constructed and key targets were screened using the STRING database and Cytoscape software.GO functional enrichment and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were conducted on the intersection targets via Metascape.In addition,animal experiments were carried out to provide preliminary validation of the therapeutic efficacy of LH.Results A total of 71 chemical components of LH were collected,584 drug targets were obtained,and 211 targets for the treatment of IS by LH were predicted.LH might exert its preventive and therapeutic effects on IS by modulating key signaling pathways such as PI3K-Akt,MAPK,FOXO,and VEGF through interactions with core targets including AKT1,IL6,SRC,TNF,and EGFR,thereby coordinately influencing biological processes like inflammatory responses,cell apoptosis,and angiogenesis.Meanwhile,animal experiments demonstrated that LH significantly reduced cerebral infarct volume and brain swelling in mice(P＜0.05),improved neurological function(P＜0.05),alleviated histopathological damage in brain tissue(P＜0.05),and decreased serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase and neuron-specific enolase(P＜0.05).Conclusion The chemical compounds of LH in the treatment of IS display a multi-component,multi-target,and multi-pathway synergistic profile,indicating that its therapeutic effects may be related to anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic actions,as well as the promotion of angiogenesis.It also suggests that the effective application of network pharmacology can provide a basis for clarifying the action targets and molecular mechanisms underlying traditional Chinese medicine in disease treatment.
Keywords：network pharmacologyischemic strokeLycopi Herbainflammationcell apoptosisangiogenesisPI3K-AKT pathwayMAPK pathway
Publication Date：2025-11-30
Online Publishing Date：2026-08-26(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：9( 1510-1518 )