Network pharmacology study to interpret signaling pathways of ilex cornuta leaves against obesity

Abstract

Ilex cornuta Leaves (ICLs) are a representative and traditional prescription for controlling obesity. Nevertheless, the corresponding therapeutic compounds and related pharmacological mechanisms of such medication remain undocumented. The compounds from ICLs were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrum (GC-MS), and SwissADME confirmed their physicochemi-cal properties. Next, the target proteins related to compounds or obesity-associated proteins were retrieved from public databases. RPackage constructed the protein–protein interaction (PPI) net-work, a bubble chart, and signaling pathways–target proteins–compounds (STC) network. Lastly, a molecular docking test (MDT) was performed to evaluate the affinity between target proteins and ligands from ICLs. GC-MS detected a total of 51 compounds from ICLs. The public databases identified 219 target proteins associated with selective compounds, 3,028 obesity-related target proteins, and 118 overlapping target proteins. Moreover, the STC network revealed 42 target proteins, 22 signaling pathways, and 39 compounds, which were viewed to be remedially significant. The NOD-like receptor (NLR) signaling pathway was considered a key signaling pathway from the bubble chart. In parallel, the MDT identified three target proteins (IL6, MAPK1, and CASP1) on the NLR signaling pathway and four compounds against obesity. Overall, four compounds from ICLs might show anti-obesity synergistic efficacy by inactivating the NLR signaling pathway.