Exploring the potential pharmacological mechanism of Coix seed on pneumonia based on network pharmacology and molecular docking

Abstract

Abstract To explore the potential target and mechanism of action of Coix seed in the treatment of pneumonia by means of network pharmacology and molecular docking. To construct the potential protein interaction network and “component-target” network diagram, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis were performed, then molecular docking was used for verification. In coix seed, 7 effective components and 144 corresponding potential targets were obtained by screening with OB ≥ 30% and DL ≥ 0.18% as thresholds. A total of 5014 pneumonia related targets were obtained, and 90 common targets were obtained.151 nodes and 251 edges were read in the “component-target” visual network diagram. A total of 19 signal pathways with significant differences were obtained by KEGG enrichment analysis. The molecular docking showed that the compounds in Coix seed had higher binding energy with the key proteins that caused pneumonia. This study preliminarily explored the potential action mechanism of coix seed in treating pneumonia by multiple channels and multiple targets, providing scientific basis for clinical application and in-depth study of this decoction piece.