Combining metabolomics with network pharmacology to reveal the therapeutic mechanism of Dingchuan Decoction in rats with OVA-induced allergic asthma

Dingchuan Decoction (DCD) is a traditional Chinese medicine prescription commonly used in the treatment of asthma, but the mechanism of DCD in treating asthma has not yet been determined. In this study, we employed a combination of metabolomics and network pharmacology to investigate the mechanism of DCD in treating asthma. An allergic asthma rat model was induced by ovalbumin (OVA). Metabolomics based on 1HNMR and UHPLC-MS was used to identify differential metabolites and obtain the major metabolic pathways and potential targets. Network pharmacology was utilized to explore potential targets of DCD for asthma treatment. Finally, the results of metabolomics and network pharmacology were integrated to obtain the key targets and metabolic pathways of DCD for the therapy of asthma, and molecular docking was utilized to validate the key targets. A total of 76 important metabolites and 231 potential targets were identified through metabolomics. Using network pharmacology, 184 potential therapeutic targets were obtained. These 184 targets were overlaid with the 231 potential targets obtained through metabolomics and were analyzed in conjunction with metabolic pathways. Ultimately, the key targets were identified as aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) and amine oxidase copper-containing 3 (AOC3), and the relevant metabolic pathways affected were glycolysis and gluconeogenesis as well as arginine and proline metabolism. Molecular docking showed that the key targets had high affinity with the relevant active ingredients in DCD, which further demonstrated that DCD may exert therapeutic effects by acting on the key targets. The present study demonstrated that DCD can alleviate OVA-induced allergic asthma and that DCD may have a therapeutic effect by regulating intestinal flora and polyamine metabolism through its effects on ALDH2 and AOC3.