Published online Jul 6, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i19.4553
Peer-review started: April 24, 2023
First decision: May 8, 2023
Revised: May 27, 2023
Accepted: June 13, 2023
Article in press: June 13, 2023
Published online: July 6, 2023
Processing time: 67 Days and 4.8 Hours
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer death in recent years. CRC is a danger to human health.
The side effects caused by radiotherapy severely hinder the treatment progress of CRC patients. Huangqin decoction (HQD) can improve the immunity of CRC patients and enhance their quality of life.
This study exploited network pharmacology and molecular docking to uncover the potential targets and mechanisms of HQD for CRC treatment. It also provided a molecular biological basis for CRC treatment with HQD in a clinical setting.
This study involved preliminary exploration of the potential targets and mechanisms of HQD for CRC treatment by using network pharmacology and molecular docking.
The active ingredients betulin, tetrahydropalmatine, and quercetin in HQD may act on targets such as Jun proto-oncogene, AP-1 transcription factor subunit, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, tumor protein p53, vascular endothelial growth factor, and AKT serine/threonine kinase 1, which in turn regulate HIF-1 and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways in CRC treatment.
HQD could treat CRC by regulating HIF-1 and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways.
At present, many shortcomings still exist in studying the action mechanisms of herbal medicine for various diseases on the basis of network pharmacology. Future research should be focused on in vivo and in vitro experiments to verify the key targets and type pathways and then combined proteomics and metabolomics to more systematically elucidate the action mechanism of HQD in CRC treatment.