Systematic elucidation of the pharmacological mechanisms of Hedysarum Multijugum Maxim for treating rhinitis via network

Rhinitis is a disorder of the nasal mucosa with inflammatory responses, which negatively impairs work performance and life quality. Hedysarum Multijugum Maxim (HMM) has been widely used for preventing and treating rhinitis. However, the pharmacologic effects of HMM and its mechanisms against rhinitis have not been fully studied. The bioactive compounds of HMM were screened using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database (TCMSP). The targets genes of HMM for treating rhinitis were identified using PharmMapper and GeneCards database integration. Protein-protein interaction analysis (PPI) was carried out using the GeneMANIA database. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were carried out using clusterProfiler. The drug-target-disease-GO-KEGG networks were built via Cytoscape. A total of 14 bioactive ingredients were screened and 25 target genes of HMM acting on rhinitis were discovered. PPI analysis demonstrated that these genes and their related genes had physical interactions or displayed co-expression characteristics. GO, KEGG and network analyses demonstrated that these targets were closely related to epithelial cell proliferation, regulation of inflammatory response, endocrine resistance, MAPK, VEGF, and TNF signaling pathways. In short, HMM displays multi-compounds, multi-targets to exert systematic pharmacologic actions on rhinitis.