The Mechanisms of Yinchensini Decoction in Treating Hepatitis B were Explored by Network Pharmacology and Existing Literatures

Abstract As one of the classic traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions for treating hepatitis B and its related diseases, Yinchensini Decoction has been widely accepted after the thousands of years of spread. However, until now, the underlying molecular mechanisms are remained unclear. Therefore, this study adopts the method of network pharmacology to explore the mechanisms of Yinchensini Decoction in the treatment of hepatitis B. Due to the limitation of experimental conditions, we finally decided to verify the explored mechanisms in the way of existing literatures. The components and related targets of Yinchensini Decoction were screened by the TCMSP database, the targets were converted into gene symols through uniform ID conversion in the Uniprot database. The gene targets of hepatitis B were screened out through the GeneCards database, the gene targets of Yinchensini Decoction for the treatment of hepatitis B were obtained by intersecting the gene targets of Yinchensini Decoction with those of hepatitis B. The STRING database was used to analyze the protein-protein interaction of the intersecting genes, and the metascape database was used to analyze the Gene Ontology and the KEGG pathway of the intersecting genes. Cytoscape3.8.2 was used for mapping various networks and for the specific analysis of various networks. The results show that: quercetin, kaempferol, beta-sitosterol, naringenin, Licochalcone a are the main active ingredients of the Yinchensini Decoction in the treatment of hepatitis B. The main gene targets of these components are TP53, TNF, IFNG, IL6, IL10, MYC, IKBKB, BCL2, STAT1, CHUK. The main mechanisms of these components are MAPK signaling, PI3K signaling, TGFB signaling, JAK-STAT signaling, TLR signaling, RLR signaling, IFN Signaling, chemokine signaling, cell cycle, apoptosis, transcription. In addition, through the analysis of relevant data in the network, about the specific disease of hepatitis B, the herbs in Yinchensini Decoction are ranked according to their importance: yinchen > gancao > ganjiang, fuzi, which are very consistent with the concept of the traditional Chinese medicine theory. Finally, the mechanisms of Yinchensini Decoction through network pharmacology in the treatment of hepatitis B were verified by the relevant literatures. To sum up, the combined application of network pharmacology and relevant literatures validation provides a new practical research strategy for the study of the mechanisms of complex traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions or extremely dangerous substances.