ACTA NEUROPHARMACOLOGICA ›› 2026, Vol. 16 ›› Issue (2): 20-.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-1396.2026.02.003

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To Investigate the Mechanism of Action of Huaier Granule in Treating Lung Cancer Based on Network Pharmacology

QIAO Ting-ting, ZHANG Ben-chang, WANG Ze-yu, LIU Dai-wei, WANG Yu, ZHAO Hong-xiu, YAN Juan   

  1. 1. GCP Office, the First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou, 075000, China 

    2. College of Pharmacy, Hebei North University; Hebei Key Laboratory of Neuropharmacology, Zhangjiakou, 075000, China 

    3. Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine,the First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou, 075000, China

  • Online:2026-04-30 Published:2026-06-16

Abstract:

Objective: To study the effective components and possible mechanisms of action of Huaier in the treatment of lung cancer by applying network pharmacology. Methods: The effective components and drug targets of Huaier were screened by using the SwissADME and Swiss Target Prediction databases, and the targets of lung cancer were screened by using the GeneCards, OMIM, TTD, PharmGkb and DrugBank databases. The drug targets and disease targets of the effective components of Huaier were taken as intersections. The obtained intersection targets were imported into the String database to construct the PPI network, and GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were conducted using the Metascape database. The Cytoscape software was used to construct the network of Huaier - components - targets - pathways. Finally, the AutoDock software was used to verify the molecular docking of the active ingredients and the core targets. Results: The results showed that there were 18 potential active ingredients, 1 632 targets of lung cancer, 151 intersection targets of Sophora L. and lung cancer, and 10 key targets of Huaier. for the treatment of lung cancer were selected through analysis. The results of GO and KEGG analyses indicated that the intersection targets were mainly enriched in hormone responses, positive regulation of phosphorus metabolism processes, protein kinase activity, kinase binding and cancer pathways, and transcriptional dysregulation in cancer, etc. The molecular docking results showed that the important components of Huaier had the best binding energy with the core target MMP9. Conclusion: From the aspect of network pharmacology, the mechanism of action of Huaier in the treatment of lung cancer is mainly reflected in the regulation of cell proliferation, protein kinase activity and hormone regulation.

Key words: huaier, lung cancer, network pharmacology, target, signaling pathway

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