Network pharmacology analysis of the mechanism of our hospital's experiential prescription in the treatment of Guillain Barré syndrome.

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to explore the active ingredients and potential mechanism of our hospital's Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) experiential prescription in the treatment of GBS based on network pharmacology.

METHODS

The traditional Chinese medicine system pharmacology (TCMSP) database was used to screen the active ingredients of the eight traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) of the GBS-experiential prescription, and the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), GeneCards, and MalaCards databases were used to obtain GBS-related gene targets. The common targets of the experiential prescriptions and GBS-related gene targets were acquired and imported into the STRING database to obtain the protein interaction relationship. Gene oncology (GO) function and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed to predict the major mechanism of this prescription.

RESULTS

The formula contained at least 154 potential active ingredients and a total of 4,270 unique targets, among which a total of 158 GBS-related disease targets and 70 common targets were found. The key targets included EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor), TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor), ITGAL (Integrin Subunit Alpha L), and CEBPA (CCAAT/Enhancer-Binding Protein Alpha), CPT2 (Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase 2), CRP (C-reactive protein), ICAM1 (Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1), IL6 (interleukin 6), and PECAM1 (Platelet and Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule 1), CREBBP (CREB Binding Protein), etc. The GO enrichment analysis results revealed 116 terms, and the KEGG signaling pathway enrichment analysis results yielded 61 pathways, including influenza A, hepatitis B, malaria, etc.

CONCLUSIONS

The development of GBS and the mechanism underlying the effects of the GBS-experiential prescription have common and complex targets, which are worthy of in-depth exploration.