Mechanism prediction of Wenjing Tongluo Powder for post-laparoscopic shoulder pain: A network pharmacology study

This study aimed to predict the pharmacological mechanisms of Wenjing Tongluo Powder (WTP) in relieving post-laparoscopic shoulder pain (PLSP) using network pharmacology, and to provide prioritized candidate targets and pathways for future experimental validation. Active ingredients of WTP were screened from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform database using ADME criteria (oral bioavailability ≥ 30%, drug-likeness ≥ 0.18). Their potential targets were predicted via the SwissTargetPrediction database. PLSP-related targets were retrieved from disease databases (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, therapeutic target database, etc). The intersecting targets were analyzed through protein–protein interaction network construction (using STRING and Cytoscape) to identify hub genes, followed by Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses. A total of 72 active ingredients and 546 potential targets of WTP were identified. 136 common targets intersected with PLSP-related targets. Protein–protein interaction network analysis highlighted COX-2, TNF-α, ESR1, EGFR, CASP3, BCL2, MAOA, MAOB, and PPARG as core targets. Gene Ontology analysis suggested involvement in processes like vascular regulation and G protein-coupled receptor activity. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis predicted that key pathways, including the calcium signaling pathway, cAMP signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and cGMP-PKG signaling pathway, may be crucial for the therapeutic effect. This network pharmacology study predicts that WTP may alleviate PLSP by modulating core targets (e.g., COX-2, TNF-α) and signaling pathways (e.g., PI3K-Akt). These findings provide a systemic mechanistic hypothesis and a focused direction for subsequent experimental studies to confirm the bioactivity and therapeutic relevance of these predictions.