Network pharmacology of Dracaena sp. in Guangxi and its related species leaf secondary metabolites possess antioxidant properties

In this study, metabolite maps were conducted on leaf samples accessions of Dracaena sp. in Guangxi (C6, C13, CZ4, JX2, RM1, and BM3) and six related species including D. angustifolia (CH), D. elliptica (XZ), D. cochinchinensis (CB), D. cambodiana (HN), D. marginata (HB), and Yucca schidigera (SL).We identified 2,971 compounds including carboxylic acids and their derivatives, organooxygen compounds, prenol lipids, benzenes and their substituted derivatives, and flavonoids. Of those, 73 characteristic secondary metabolites were screened out by weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA). Pterostilbene, 9-cis-retinal, and dracorubin were unique to the Dracaena sp. in Guangxi, and 3-hydroxytridecanoic acid and chrysin were highly abundant in them. An in vitro antioxidant activity assay disclosed that all 1,1 -diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging rates and all fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) rates were in the ranges of 75–87 % and 3.10–3.25 μmol/mL, respectively, for the Dracaena sp. in Guangxi. Hence, the latter have relatively high and stable foliar antioxidant activity. A network pharmacological analysis of the top 20 metabolites in Dracaena leaf and their 446 antioxidant-related disease targets revealed ten core action targets, including GAPDH, Akt1, MAPK3, VEGFA, CASP3, TNF, MAPK1, SRC, EGFR, and MAPK8. An antioxidant-related compound-target-pathway network was constructed and verified by molecular docking. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis for mining and exploiting the foliar secondary metabolites of Dracaena.