Molecular Biological Mechanism ofBletilla striata on Neuropsychiatric System by Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation

Abstract

Bletilla striata is a rare traditional Chinese medicine with protective effect for neuropsychiatric system. Nevertheless, the material basis and molecular mechanism of this effect remain unclear. By means of network pharmacology, five common neuropsychiatric targets for B. striata ingredients that can pass through the blood-brain barrier were conducted to probe the material basis and molecular mechanism of its neuropsychiatric protecting effects. Besides, the in vitro model of neurons injury was built to verify the effect of these ingredients on neurons. Results indicated that 8 active ingredients and 21 core targets were screened, and 9 groups of gene functional groups were screened by GO analysis. The KEGG pathway enrichment revealed that, 14 signal pathways were mapped and 6 REACTOME Pathways and 33 Wiki Pathways were also detected. Preliminary experimental verification demonstrated that, B. striata protected, maintained and enhanced neuronal cell activity and up-regulated the expression of DRD2 and GRM2 genes through dihydrophenanthrene compounds. From the above results, we speculated that B. striata may act on multi-target gene functional groups through multiple ingredients, resulting in various effects, thus achieving the purpose of protecting the neuropsychiatric system, as well as its functions. Our research findings also suggested that the experimental research method combining network pharmacology with experimental cell research is effective for quickly analyzing the material basis and molecular mechanism of B. striata in protecting the neuropsychiatric system and treating neuropsychiatric diseases.