Mechanism of Tibetan medicine Terminalia Chebula Retz in rheumatoid arthritis: a study based on network pharmacology

Abstract

Objective To investigate the mechanism of Tibetan herb Terminalia chebula Retz in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by using network pharmacology. Methods The active components and relative targets of Terminalia chebula Retz were searched by using TCMSP database; the potential targets were predicted by using DRAR-CPI platform; the relevant target genes for RA were obtained from NCBI database and Genecards database. Then the protein-protein interaction network was conducted by STRING platform, the enriched gene ontology (GO) and metabolic pathways of the Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) were analyzed through the DAVID database. The active components-targets-pathway network was created by Cytoscape 3.6.1 software. Results According to the searching results of TCMSP database as well as literature supplement, 10 active compounds were screen out as the main compounds of Terminalia chebula Retz. They are mainly phenolic acids and alkaloids. A total of 47 key targets including TP53, PTGS2, TNF, IL-6 and HSP90B had been predicted as Terminalia chebula Retz related RA targets; GO and KEGG analyses showed that active compounds of Terminalia chebula Retz may be involved in the processes of inflammation suppression, immune-modification and apoptosis, and regulate 54 relative KEGG pathways, such as apoptosis, NOD like receptor (NLR) signal pathway, Toll-like receptor (TRL) signal pathway, JAK-STAT signal pathway and MAPK signal pathway in the treatment of RA. Conclusion Phenolic acids (such as ellagic acid) and alkaloids (such as ellipticine) isolated from Terminalia chebula Retz can treat RA by being involued in the processes of apoptosis, inflammation, and immune-modification, and through regulating apoptosis pathway, NLR signal pathway, TLR signal pathway, JAK-STAT signal pathway and MAPK signal pathway.

Keywords

• tibetan drugs
• terminalia chebula retz
• network pharmacology
• rheumatoid arthritis
• active components
• targets