Potential Mechanisms of Shu Gan Jie Yu Capsule in the Treatment of Mild to Moderate Depression Based on Systemic Pharmacology and Current Evidence.

BACKGROUND

Shu Gan Jie Yu (SGJY) capsule has a good effect on relieving depressive symptoms in China. However, the mechanism of action is still unclear. Therefore, systemic pharmacology and molecular docking approaches were used to clarify its corresponding antidepressant mechanisms.

METHODS

Traditional Chinese Medicine Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), the Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ETCM), and Swiss Target Prediction servers were used to screen and predict the bioactive components of the capsule and their antidepressive targets. Mild to moderate depression (MMD) related genes were obtained from GeneCards and DisGeNET databases. A network of bioactive components-therapeutic targets of the capsule was established by STRING 11.5 and Cytoscape 3.9.0 software. Gene function and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed by utilizing Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) platform. Active components were taken to dock with the hypothetical proteins by iGEMDOCK and SwissDock, and the docking details were visually displayed by UCSF Chimera software. Then, the related research literature of the capsule was reviewed, summarized, sorted, and analyzed, including experimental evidence and clinical experience.

RESULTS

Seven active components and 45 intersection targets were included in the study. PPI network had genuinely uncovered the potential therapeutic targets, such as and . KEGG pathway analysis showed that the mechanism of the capsule on MMD was mainly involved in the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, we have successfully predicted the biochemically active constituents, potential therapeutic targets, and comprehensively predicted the related drug-gene interaction of the capsule for treating MMD and provided a basis for subsequent experiments.