Molecular Mechanism of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction in Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease based on Network Pharmacology

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the pharmacological mechanism of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction (HLJDD) in treating Alzheimer’s disease through network pharmacology. HLJDD is a classic Chinese medicine prescription that is recommended in the Chinese Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and treatment guidelines. However, the mechanism of HLJDD treatment for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains unclear because of its complicated components. Methods The related ingredients and targets of HLJDD in treating AD were screened by Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis platform (TCMSP), TTD, OMIM, GeneCards, and DrugBank. The data of the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using STRING. The Metascape database was adopted for Gene Ontology (GO) functional annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. AutoDockTools was used for molecular docking verification. Results In the treatment of AD, HLJDD demonstrated strong efficacy with its core active components including were quercetin, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, targeting key proteins such as AKT1, TNF, and IL6. Molecular docking tests confirmed the significant binding affinity between these components and the aforementioned targets. The biological pathway of HLJDD in treating AD primarily involves the modulation of IL-17, TNF, and other inflammatory cytokines to regulate their impact on nerve functions. Conclusions HLJDD may treat AD by inhibiting neuroinflammation through a comprehensive, multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway method. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.