Exploring the mechanism of Crocus sativus and Rosa rugosa for the treatment of coronary heart disease based on network pharmacology and molecular docking

Abstract

Coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CHD) is the main type of cardiovascular disease. The efficacy of Uyghur drug compound Saffron formula in CHD has been clinically proven. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, researchers investigated the active ingredients and mechanism of action of Crocus sativus and Rosa rugosa in the treatment of CHD by network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques, collected target information with the help of TCMSP, GEO, GeneCards, and other databases, constructed protein-protein interaction (PPI) network diagrams by STRING database, performed GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis on common targets, and finally molecularly docked the active ingredients with core targets. C. sativus-R. rugosa have a variety of polyphenol compounds, a total of 12 active ingredients, including quercetin and kaempferol, were screened. The first three targets intersected with the core targets of CHD as AKT1, TNF, and IL-1B. Enrichment results of KEGG pathway showed that C. sativus-R. rugosa against CHD involved atherosclerosis pathways. The molecular docking results showed that quercetin and kaempferol were well bound to the core targets, and it was speculated that these components might be the main active ingredients for the treatment of CHD. The potential mechanism of action of C. sativus-R. rugosa for the treatment of coronary heart disease was initially revealed.

Keywords

coronary heart disease / Crocus sativus / molecular docking / network pharmacology / polyphenol / Rosa rugosa

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Young and Middle Aged Teachers’ Career Development Support Project of Shenyang Pharmaceutical University (ZQN2019005).

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