Mechanism of Bushen Guchi Pill in the Treatment of Periodontitis Based on Network Pharmacology

Abstract

Abstract Periodontitis is an oral disease caused by chronic inflammation, which not only damages the periodontal tissue structure but also is associated with some systemic diseases. Clinical treatment is only through symptomatic treatment and cannot fundamentally treat the disease. Bushen Guchi Pill (BGP), as a compound arrangement of conventional Chinese medication, incorporates a positive therapeutic effect on periodontitis, however, the helpful component is unclear. The purpose of this study was to explore the mechanism of BGP in periodontitis treatment based on the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, network pharmacology, and molecular docking technology. The beneficial components and drug targets of BGP were screened out from the Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology (TCMSP) database. Search for disease targets of periodontitis from the DisGeNET database, Gene Cards database, and GEO database. The disease target and drug action target overlap as candidate targets. The "Drug-Active composition-Candidate target" network and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network were constructed by Cytoscape software, and the candidate targets were subjected to Gene Ontology (GO)and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. Finally, molecular docking was performed by AutoDockVina and PyMOL.189 active compounds of BGP, 283 presumed drug targets of active ingredients, and 1056 periodontitis-related disease targets were identified and 89 candidate targets between BGP and periodontitis were found. IL-1β, IL-6, TNF, PTGS2, DPP4, ACHE, PPARG, CCL2, IL-1α, and PTGS1 were identified as core targets. Quercetin, Kaempferol, Luteolin, Naringenin, Wogonin and Formononetin are the core composition of the drug. The main pathways in BGP treating periodontitis include the IL-17 signaling pathway and TNF signaling pathway. This experiment clarified for the first time the active compositions, therapeutic targets, and action pathways of BGP in treating periodontitis, which provided a theoretical basis for the clinical treatment of BGP in the treatment of periodontitis.