The Mechanism of Bushen Huoxue Decoction in Treating Intervertebral Disc Degeneration Based on Network Pharmacology

Background: This study aimed to explore the mechanism of Bushen Huoxue decoction (BHD) in treating intervertebral disc degeneration using the network pharmacology method.

Methods: Using of oral bioavailability >30% and drug-likeness >0.18 as the screening standards, the effective components and targets of BHD were retrieved from the TCMSP database and the BATMAN-TCM database. The disease targets of intervertebral disc degeneration were retrieved from the GeneCards database. The Wayne map of the interaction targets of the effective components of BHD and intervertebral disc degeneration were drawn using R software. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of common targets was constructed using STRING software. The network map of the interaction targets of the effective components of BHD-intervertebral disc degeneration was drawn using Cytoscape3.7.2 software. The GO and KEGG enrichment analysis of the common targets of BHD and intervertebral disc degeneration was performed using R software and the related plug-ins to screen the potential pathways and analyze its mechanism.

Results: This study screened 164 effective components of BHD, 131 interaction targets, 626 targets for degenerative disc disease, and 31 common interaction targets. IL6, VEGFA, CASP3, EGFR, ESR1, and MAPK8 appeared more frequently. These were mainly enriched in the AGE-RAGE, TNF, PI3K Akt, and MAPK signaling pathways.

Conclusions: BHD mainly intervenes in intervertebral disc degeneration through IL6, VEGFA, CASP3, EGFR, ESR1, and MAPK8. The mechanism of the intervention of BHD on intervertebral disc degeneration may be related to AGE-RAGE, TNF, PI3K Akt, MAPK, and other signal pathways.