Introduction: This study employed network pharmacology and molecular docking to investigate the mechanism of Inula helenium in treating liver cancer. Methods: Active compounds and their targets were identified from Inula helenium using HERB and Swiss Target Prediction. After standardizing target names via UniProt, liver cancer-related genes were collected from GeneCards and OMIM. Venny 2.1 analysis yielded 57 overlapping targets. A PPI network was constructed with STRING 11.5, and functional enrichment analyses were conducted using DAVID. GO analysis revealed multiple biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions, while KEGG analysis highlighted key pathways including chemical carcinogenesis, IL-17, and NF-κB signaling. Thirteen core targets (e.g., TNF, IL1B, PTGS2, GSK3B, and MAPK14) were identified, and molecular docking confirmed their strong binding with active compounds. Results: Inula helenium may treat liver cancer by modulating targets such as TNF, PTGS2, GSK3B, and MAPK14, as well as pathways like IL-17, NF-κB, and hepatitis B, thereby suppressing tumor growth and apoptosis. Discussion: The findings support the anti-hepatocellular carcinoma effect of Inula helenium and suggest potential mechanisms, though further clinical validation is needed due to inherent limitations of network pharmacology. Conclusion: This study offers a theoretical basis for the clinical use of Inula helenium in liver cancer treatment and encourages further investigation.
Chen et al. (Mon,) studied this question.