Mechanism of Houpu Wenzhong Decoction in the Treatment of Chronic Gastritis and Depression Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

Objective: The study aimed to discuss the possible mechanisms of Houpu Wenzhong Decoction in the treatment of chronic gastritis and depression based on network pharmacology and molecular docking. Methods: The chemical components and corresponding targets of seven crude drugs in Houpu Wenzhong Decoction were retrieved from the database TCMSP. The targets for treating chronic gastritis and depression were obtained from the database GeneCards. STRING 11.5 was used to establish the protein-protein interaction network of common targets among “chemical components- chronic gastritis-depression”, and then Cytoscape was employed for visual analysis. The targets with the top ten degrees were selected as key targets, which were then imported to BioGPS to obtain the distribution in organs and tissues. The common targets were analyzed via Go and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses using Metascape. The top ten degrees of active components were verified by molecular docking of key targets. Results: Under the conditions of OB ≥ 30% and DL ≥ 0.18, a total of 144 chemical components and related 251 targets of Houpu Wenzhong Decoction were retrieved. 1192 and 12902 targets were retrieved for chronic gastritis and depression from the GeneCards database, respectively. 104 common targets were obtained by intersection among the two diseases and drug targets. The key common targets have been found to be mainly distributed in organs and tissues, such as the adrenal cortex, amygdala, appendix, adrenal gland, colorectal, liver, and prostates, as observed through BioGPS analysis. 5141 biological processes, 354 cell components, and 615 molecular functions were obtained by GO functional enrichment analysis, and 302 signal pathways were obtained by KEGG enrichment analysis. Among these, IL-17, TNF, PI3K-Akt, and toll-like receptor signaling pathway have been found to be involved. Molecular docking results showed the key active components, naringenin and hesperidin, to have good binding activities with targets STAT3 and Jun. Conclusion: 104 common targets between chronic gastritis and depression have been obtained as the basis for Houpu Wenzhong Decoction to treat the two diseases. The ten key active ingredients have been found to act on 15 key signal pathways through 104 common key targets to treat the two diseases.