Study on the Multitarget Mechanism and Active Compounds of Essential Oil from Artemisia argyi Treating Pressure Injuries Based on Network Pharmacology

Abstract

In order to comprehensively explore multitarget mechanism and key active compounds of Artemisia argyi essential oil (AAEO) in the treatment of pressure injuries (PIs), we analyzed the biological functions and pathways involved in the intersection targets of AAEO and PIs based on network pharmacology, and the affinity of AAEO active compounds and core targets was verified by molecular docking finally. In our study, we first screened 54 effective components according to the relative content and biological activity. In total, 103 targets related to active compounds of AAEO and 2760 targets associated with PIs were obtained, respectively, and 50 key targets were overlapped by Venny 2.1.0. The construction of key targets-compounds network was achieved by the STRING database and Cytoscape 3.7.2 software. GO analysis from Matespace shows that GO results are mainly enriched in biological processes, including adrenergic receptor activity, neurotransmitter clearance, and neurotransmitter metabolic process. KEGG analysis by the David and Kobas website shows that the key targets can achieve the treatment on PIs through a pathway in cancer, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, human immunodeficiency virus 1 infection, MAPK signaling pathway, Wnt signaling pathway, etc. In addition, molecular docking results from the CB-Dock server indicated that active compounds of AAEO had good activity docking with the first 10 key targets. In conclusion, the potential targets and regulatory molecular mechanisms of AAEO in the treatment of PIs were analyzed by network pharmacology and molecular docking. AAEO can cure PIs through the synergistic effect of multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway, providing a theoretical basis and new direction for further study.

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“…These days, multicomponent drugs that hit multiple targets are attracting attention. Moreover, whole extract from a single natural product and compound prescription contain various ingredients, thus multi-target cancer treatment is possible ( Chang et al, 2020 ; Lu et al, 2022 ). Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to cancer treatment using natural products.…”

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“…95 The results revealed that the top seven active compounds of Artemisia argyi essential oil had good affinity for key targets, and that the root mean square deviation of each docking target and compound was <2 angstroms. 95 In summary, the application of network pharmacology and molecular docking technology can effectively clarify the pharmacodynamic material basis of complex chemical substance systems, and improve the efficiency in drug discovery and development via the EO screening process. 71,96…”