Mechanism of Tongguan Pills in treatment for tubal factor infertility based on bioinformatics combined with network pharmacology and molecular docking

Abstract

Objective To investigate the mechanism of Tongguan Pills in the treatment for tubal factor infertility based on bioinformatics combined with network pharmacology. Methods The active components and corresponding targets of Tongguan Pills were collected through TCMSP and HERB databases. The gene expression profiles of tubal factor infertility were searched from GEO, OMIM, RefSeqGene and Genecards databases. Then R software was used to predict the potential action targets of the herb on tubal factor infertility, and Cytoscape software and String database were adopted to build the network diagram and obtain the core targets. The results were subsequently analyzed with GO biological process and KEGG pathway. Finally, molecular docking of the core targets to the active components was carried out. Results A total of 243 active components were found in the Tongguan Pill, and 33 targets were identified for the treatment of tubal factor infertility, with TP53, EGF, VEGFA, IL1B, JUN, EGFR, and ERBB2 as the core targets; 1 581 biological processes were obtained by GO analysis, and 39 pathways were screened out by KEGG analysis, such as local adhesion, estrogen pathway, and HIF-1 signaling pathway. Molecular docking suggested that the core targets were well bound to the active components of the herbs. Conclusion Tongguan Pills can treat tubal factor infertility through a multi-target and multi-channel way.

Keywords

• network pharmacology
• tongguan pills
• tubal factor infertility
• molecular docking