JOURNAL/rmrep/04.03/02273995-990000000-00018/figure1/v/2025-09-04T144309Z/r/image-tiff Currently, treatment options for alcohol-induced liver disease and drug-induced liver injury are limited, especially in terms of effectiveness in repairing acute liver injury and severe fibrosis stages. Despite the known anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective effects of traditional Chinese medicine Sanghuang , the exact mechanisms by which its active components facilitate liver injury repair and regeneration remain unclear. The study investigated the pharmacological effects of Sanghuang in mitigating liver injury and promoting liver regeneration using network pharmacology and molecular docking technology. Sanghuang promotes hepatocyte proliferation and differentiation, restores liver function and structure, and regulates relevant signaling pathways. Main ingredient screening, main ingredient-disease related gene acquisition, disease gene acquisition, intersection of drug main ingredient genes and disease gene fetching (Venn diagram), drug-main ingredient-intersecting gene network, construction of protein–protein interaction network diagrams, Gene Ontology functional enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis, and molecular docking were conducted. 127 compound action targets and 9856 targets related to liver injury were identified, with 120 intersecting target genes. ESR1, PTGS2, EGFR, MMP9, PGR, STAT3, BCL2L1, AR, NFE2L2, HIF1α, ERBB2, MAPK1, ALB, and TLR4 were identified as core targets for ameliorating liver injury. Molecular docking experiments revealed strong binding affinity of specific components within Sanghuang for these core targets, demonstrating favorable activity. The study predicts that components in Sanghuang may have regulatory roles in improving liver injury and promoting liver regeneration. The research utilizes network pharmacology and molecular docking technology to uncover the pharmacological effects of Sanghuang . This study offers valuable insights into the pharmacological effects of Sanghuang and introduces novel concepts and methodologies for the development of future pharmaceutical products.
Zhang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.