ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of Compound Danshen Dripping Pills for the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) based on network pharmacology. Methods(1) The active components of 3 categories of drugs (Salvia miltiorrhiza, Panax notoginseng, and Dryobalanops aromatica) from Compound Danshen Dripping Pills were retrieved from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform, and then reverse target prediction was performed on active components by the SwissTargetPrediction platform. The GeneCards database and OMIM database were used to predict targets related to DPN. After the intersection of the two targets as above was obtained, the drug-disease common targets were acquired. (2) For the drug-disease common targets and their corresponding active components and drugs, the Cytoscape software was used to establish the drugs-active components-targets network for screening the key active components. For the drug-disease common targets, the protein-protein interaction network was established by using the STRING database, and then the topology analysis was performed for obtaining the key targets by using Cytoscape again. (3) For the drug-disease common targets, the functional enrichment analysis and pathway enrichment analysis were performed in the microbial informatics platform. (4) The AutoDock Vina software was used to perform molecular docking on the key active components and key targets. Results(1) A total of 99 drug-disease common targets were eventually obtained. (2) The key active components contained liquiritigenin, asiatic acid, luteolin, and danshenol B, and the key targets included heat shock protein 90 alpha family class A member 1 (HSP90AA1), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), and interleukin 6 (IL-6). (3) The results of functional enrichment analysis revealed that the biological processes involved in the drug-disease common targets were steroid metabolic process, etc., cellular compositions in the drug-disease common targets were membrane raft, etc., and molecular functions in the drug-disease common targets were nuclear receptor activity and ligand-activated transcription factor activity, etc. The results of pathway enrichment analysis indicated that signaling pathways enriched in the drug-disease common targets included the advanced glycation end-products-receptor for advanced glycation end-products signaling pathway in diabetic complications. (4) The molecular docking results depicted that binding energy of the four key active components with three core targets were all≤-5.0 kcal/mol, indicating a favorable binding activity. ConclusionCompound Danshen Dripping Pills may act on HSP90AA1, STAT3, IL-6, and other key targets, so as to exert effects concerning anti-oxidative stress, anti-inflammation, and metabolic regulation of the body, and further to treat DPN through multiple active components including liquiritigenin, asiatic acid, luteolin, and danshenol B, etc.

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