Exploring the Active Ingredients and Core Targets of Erxia Decoction inthe Treatment of Sleep Disorder by Integration of Network Pharmacologyand Proteomics

AIMS: For clarifying the "multi genes and multi targets" characteristic of the treatment of Erxia Decoction (EXD), the aim of this study was to employ network pharmacology technology to perform cluster analysis on selected EXD targets. BACKGROUND: EXD, a famous Chinese herbal prescription, consisting of Pinelliae Rhizoma (PR) and Prunellae Spica (PS), was mainly used to treat sleep disorder (SLD). OBJECTIVE: Using network pharmacology combined with proteomics to find out the main active components and core targets of EXD in the treatment of SLD. METHOD: By constructing the network of drug-component-target, the key protein targets of EXD for the treatment of SLD were screened. Then the interaction of the main active components of EXD and predicted candidate targets were verified. Then the proteomic analysis was used to screen the core targets in BV2 cells treated with EXD or the chemical ingredients, and the expression level was validated by Western blotting. Finally, molecular docking was used to further evaluate the mechanism of the action of the main ingredients and the core targets. RESULT: The 24 components of EXD mainly participate in the SLD treatment process by acting on 15 important key genes, and the core signal pathways were identified in the process of the action of EXD in treating SLD. Four key ingredients and five core targets were revealed from the results of network pharmacological analysis combination with proteomics, and then the AKT1 protein as a key target was validated by PCR and Western blotting. CONCLUSION: This study preliminarily revealed EXD, morin (MOR) and quercetin (QUE) mainly inhibited the AKT1 core targets for the treatment of SLD using the network pharmacological analysis, proteomics, Western blotting, and molecular docking. The results elucidated partly the molecular mechanism and provided clues and a basis for further research.