Use Chou's 5-steps Rule to Study the Mechanism of Uncaria Rhynchophylla for Treating Alzheimer's Disease Based on Network Pharmacology.

Objective: To tentatively investigate the mechanism of uncaria rhynchophylla (UR) in treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: The targets and pathways of UR against AD were obtained from network pharmacology analysis. Results: We analyzed and obtained 7 active ingredients of UR, 29 targets of UR for treatment of AD, of which 26.9% targets were protein-modifying enzymes. The core active ingredients of UR were C3, C6, C7 and C5. The core targets of UR in the treatment of AD are AKT1, CASP3 and MTOR. The enrichment analysis of GO biological process suggests that the biological function of UR in the treatment of AD mainly involves regulation of neurotransmitter levels, rhythmic process, cellular response to nitrogen compound, calcium ion transport, response to toxic substance, response to oxygen levels, maintenance of location, positive regulation of cell death, and apoptotic signaling pathway, etc. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the most significant enrichment signaling pathways were neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, calcium signaling pathway, cAMP signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and so on. Conclusion: UR against AD may be related to its multiple components, multiple targets and biological functions. This study can provide a theoretical basis for further experimental and clinical research.