A Network Pharmacology Approach to Explore the Potential Mechanisms of Yifei Sanjie Formula in Treating Pulmonary Fibrosis

Qiao, Bo; Wu, Yueying; Li, Xiaoya; Xu, Zhenyuan; Duan, Weigang; Hu, Yanan; Jia, Wenqing; Fan, Qiuyang; Xing, Haijing

OBJECTIVE: Yifei Sanjie Formula (YFSJF) is an effective formula on pulmonary fibrosis (PF), which has been used in clinic for more than 30 years. In order to investigate the molecular mechanism of YFSJF in treating PF, network pharmacology was used to predict the cooperative ingredients and associated pathways. METHODS: Firstly, we collected potential active ingredients of YFSJF by TCMSP databases. Secondly, we obtained PF-associated targets through OMIM and Genecards database. Finally, metascape was applied for the analysis of GO terms and KEGG pathways. RESULTS: We screened out 76 potential active ingredients and 98 associated proteins. A total of 5715 items were obtained by GO enrichment analysis (P < 0.05), including 4632 biological processes, 444 cellular components, and 639 molecular functions. A total of 143 related KEGG pathways were enriched (P < 0.05), including IL-17 signaling pathway, T cell receptor signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, calcium signaling pathway, TH17 cell differentiation, HIF-1 signaling pathway, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: YFSJF can interfere with immune and inflammatory response through multiple targets and pathways, which has a certain role in the treatment of PF. This study lays a foundation for future experimental research.