Introduction: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening genetic disease with high mortality rates. The most common cause of death in CF is progressive damage to the lungs, leading to respiratory failure. Currently, there are few treatments, and these are ineffective. 6- gingerol could be a natural agent that could benefit in the treatment of this disease due to its medicinal properties. Aim: In this study, a pharmacological network analysis between 6-gingerol and CF was performed to understand the therapeutic targets. Methodology: From MalaCard, DisGeNET, Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database, and Swiss Target Prediction, target genes were obtained for comparison. We obtained 14 genes and analyzed them in DAVID-Bioinformatics. Subsequently, a protein-protein interaction network was performed in STRING from which we obtained the hub genes AKT1, BCL2, TP53, IL1β, MMP9, MAPK3, PTGS2, and HSP90AA1. From the proteins related to the central genes, molecular docking studies were carried out with 6-gingerol using the SwissDock database. Results: Enrichment analysis showed that 6-gingerol is linked to apoptotic, inflammatory processes, and cell signaling. Furthermore, a molecular docking study demonstrated that 6- gingerol has high protein binding. Discussion: This study highlights the potential therapeutic role of 6-gingerol in CF based on pharmacological network and molecular docking analyses; however, the results are limited by their in silico nature and require experimental validation. Possible biases from databases and the unclear pharmacokinetic profile of 6-gingerol in CF warrant further investigation to confirm these findings. Conclusion: These findings represent computational predictions and lay the foundation for future experimental studies to validate the therapeutic power of 6-gingerol as a possible natural adjuvant therapy for CF.
Segura-Almendárez et al. (Wed,) studied this question.