Exploring the Pharmacological Mechanisms of Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook F against Cardiovascular Disease Using Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

Background Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF) has been used in traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) for treating cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the underlying pharmacological mechanisms of the effects of TwHF against CVD remain elusive. This study revealed the pharmacological mechanisms of TwHF acting on CVD based on a pharmacology approach. Materials and Methods The active compounds were selected by Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database (TCMSP) according to the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). The potential targets of TwHF were obtained by SwissTargetPrediction database. The CVD-related therapeutic targets were collected by the DrugBank, the GeneCards database and the OMIM database. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was generated by STITCH database. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed by R package. The network of drug-targets-diseases-pathways was constructed by Cytoscape software. Results The 51 effective ingredients of TwHF and the 178 common targets of TwHF and CVD-related were collected. Furthermore, AKT1, amyloid precursor protein (APP), Mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) and cellular tumor antigen p53 (TP53) was identified the core targets involved in the mechanism of TwHF on CVD. Top ten GO (biological processes, cellular components and molecular functions) and KEGG pathways were screened with a P value ≤ 0.01. Finally, we constructed the network of TwHF-targets-CVD-GO-KEGG. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that the main active compound of TwHF, the core targets and pathways maybe provide new insights into the development of a natural therapy for the prevention and treatment of CVD.