Mechanism of mingjing granules in treating wet age-related macular degeneration based on network pharmacology and experimental verification

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the potential mechanism of Mingjing granules in the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) based on the research methods of network pharmacology and molecular docking approach and to provide a new reference for the currently limited treatment of wAMD. Materials and Methods: We searched TCMSP, GeneCards, OMIM, PharmGkb, TTD, and DrugBank database to screen the main active ingredients of Mingjing granules and their therapeutic targets of wAMD. The network of active components and targets was constructed using Cytoscape3.6.1 software, which was also used for the topological analysis of target genes. The network of Protein-Protein Interactions (PPI) was mapped using the String platform. We also used R language to do the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway for additional analysis. Molecular docking studies were finished by Chemoffice, Autodock, and Pymol. Finally, the efficacy of the Mingjing granules was examined in animal experiments, in which we used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to the contents of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) levels in peripheral blood. Results: Active compounds, including quercetin, lignocaine, and kaempferol, were found. PPI network analysis showed that tumor necrosis factor (TNF), MMP-9, epidermal growth factor (EGF), prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2), and caspase-3 (CASP3) were related to both Mingjing granules and wAMD. GO and KEGG pathway analysis showed that these targets were mainly involving lipids and atherosclerosis, TNF, and interleukin-17 (IL-17) signaling pathways. Docking studies suggested that quercetin and luteolin can fit in the binding pocket of four target proteins (CASP3, EGF, PTGS2, and TNF). In the vivo experiment, the Mingjing granules were found to be effective on the expression of VEGF and MMP-9 in peripheral blood. Conclusions: This study initially reveals the multi-constituent, multi-target, and multi-pathway mechanism of action of Mingjing granules in the treatment of wAMD and implies the inhibition of choroidal neovascularization may be related to the expression of VEGF and MMP-9.

Keywords

• experimental verification
• mingjing granules
• molecular docking
• network pharmacology
• wet age-related macular degeneration