Mechanism of “Szechwan Chinaberry Fruit-Rhizoma Corydalis” drug combination in treatment of liver cancer based on network pharmacology

ObjectiveTo investigate the pharmacological components of “Szechwan Chinaberry Fruit-Rhizoma Corydalis” drug combination and its potential molecular mechanism in the treatment of liver cancer based on network pharmacology. MethodsRelated databases, such as TCMSP, Uniprot, and GeneCard, were used to obtain the effective components of Szechwan Chinaberry Fruit and Rhizoma Corydalis, their corresponding action targets, and the disease targets of liver cancer, and the intersecting targets of drugs and diseases were selected. In addition, STRING and Metascape databases were used to screen out the core targets of drug action and perform GO function and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses. ResultsThere were 9 active components in Szechwan Chinaberry Fruit and 49 active components in Rhizoma Corydalis, with 1 common component between the two drugs; there were 181 action targets of Szechwan Chinaberry Fruit and 1097 action targets of Rhizoma Corydalis, with 143 common targets between the two drugs. There were 162 intersecting targets between the drug combination and liver cancer, and the main genes involved were IL6, TP53, VEGFA, TNF, and CASP3. KEGG analysis showed that the main pathways involved included cancer pathway, AGE-RAGE signaling pathway of diabetes complications, TNF signaling pathway, NF-κB signaling pathway, and thyroid hormone signaling pathway. ConclusionThere are many different components in the drug combination of “Szechwan Chinaberry Fruit-Rhizoma Corydalis”, which can exert a therapeutic effect on liver cancer by acting on related genes and signaling pathways