Network Pharmacology-Based Prediction of Active Ingredients and Mechanisms of Zanthoxyli Bungeanum Against Lung Carcinoma

Background: Zanthoxyli Bungeanum (ZB) has been reported to have an effect on lung carcinoma (LC). However, the defined pharmacological mechanism of ZB on LC has not been expounded completely because of the complicated ingredients. Objective: The aim of this work was to explore the active ingredients and mechanisms of ZB against LC by network pharmacology. Methods: In this study, systemic network pharmacology was used to explore the underlying mechanism of ZB, including pivotal components collection, target prediction, networks construction, Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. At last, molecular docking was carried out to elucidate the involved pharmacological mechanisms. Results: Twenty-eight potential active compounds with 317 related targets and 598 LC-related targets were collected. Finally, 79 intersection targets were obtained use GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses. Based on component-target-pathway network, quercetin, β-sitosterol, and β- amyrin, and 6 targets were selected, including RAC-alpha serine/thre-onine-protein kinase (AKT1), mitogen-active protein kinase1 (MAPK1), Transcription factor p65 (RELA), Caspase-9 (CASP9), G1/S-specifi cyclin-D1 (CCND1), and PI3-kinase subunit gamma (PIK3CG); these six predicted targets were highly involved in the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. Conclusion: The active ingredients and mechanisms of ZB against LC were firstly investigated using network pharmacology. This work provides scientific evidence to support the clinical effect of ZB on LC, new insights into the anti-LC mechanism of ZB, and guidance for further study.