Study on the mechanisms of action of Daotan decoction in treatment of hypertension based on network pharmacology and molecular docking

LONG Yuanxiong; FANG Chi; LI Su; YONG Sunan

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-3806.2026.02.13

Abstract：Objective To study the mechanisms of action of Daotan decoction in treatment of hypertension based on network pharmacology and molecular docking.Methods The active ingredients of Daotan decoction,potential targets and hypertension targets were obtained through the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP)and GeneCards database.The intersection of the potential action targets of Daotan decoction and the hypertension targets were used for analysis.The active ingredients of Daotan decoction-hypertension target interaction network and protein-protein interaction(PPI)network were constructed.The main active ingredients and core targets of action were screened.The potential mechanisms of action of Daotan decoction in treatment of hypertension were explored via Gene Ontology(GO)functional analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathway enrichment analysis.The binding ability of the main active ingredients to the core targets was analyzed by molecular docking method.Results There were a total of 110 intersection targets between the action targets of Daotan decoction and the hypertension targets.A total of 15 active ingredients with degree values ≥20 were extracted from the active ingredients of Daotan decoction-hypertension target interaction network.Among the 110 intersection targets,109 targets were involved in the PPI network,and 26 action targets whose degree value,betweenness,and centrality all exceeded the average values were identified and presumed to be the core targets of Daotan decoction in treating hypertension.The results of GO functional analysis revealed that 146 enrichment results were obtained from the 110 intersecting targets(P＜0.05),including 89 biological processes(BP),42 molecular functions(MF),and 15 cellular components(CC).A total of 95 related signaling pathways were identified by using KEGG pathway enrichment analysis(P＜0.05).The molecular docking results showed that the binding energy values of β-sitosterol,cavidine,stigmasterol and luteolin to tumor necrosis factor(TNF),interleukin-6(IL-6),prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2(PTGS2),and estrogen receptor 1(ESR1)were all below 0 kcal/mol.Conclusion Daotan decoction has the characteristics of multi-component,multi-target and multi-pathway synergistic effects in treatment of hypertension.