Prediction of Quercetin's Therapeutic Potential Against Pathogen-Related Diseases Based on Network Pharmacology

To address the global challenge of increasing pathogen antibiotic resistance and the urgent need for novel antimicrobial agents, this study innovatively integrates network pharmacology with in vitro experiments to systematically investigate the antibacterial mechanisms of the natural product quercetin. Using databases including PharmMapper, 100 potential targets of quercetin were screened, with 77 antimicrobial-related targets identified through disease target mapping. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis revealed 10 core targets, including AKT1, TNF, and IL6. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment demonstrated that these targets are primarily involved in biological processes such as oxidative stress response and bacterial biofilm regulation. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis indicated synergistic antibacterial effects mediated by Toll-like receptor and NF-κB signaling pathways. In vitro antibacterial assays demonstrated a significant dose-dependent inhibitory effect of quercetin against Escherichia coli, while DPPH free radical scavenging experiments confirmed its concentration-dependent antioxidant activity (r = 0.98, p < 0.01). This study elucidates, for the first time, the multi-target and multi-pathway synergistic antibacterial mechanisms of quercetin, providing novel insights for developing anti-infective therapeutics.