To examine the potential mechanisms of Yishenqingzhuo oral liquid (YSQZ) as a treatment for chronic kidney disease (CKD). The Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology and HERB databases were used to identify active ingredients and targets of YSQZ, and the GEO database was employed to screen CKD-related targets. Protein–protein interaction networks and enrichment analysis was conducted. Core targets and ingredients were identified from the protein–protein interaction network. Immune infiltration analysis was performed, and core targets and ingredients were validated via molecular docking. There were 97 active ingredients, 479 drug-predicted targets, 185 potential targets that were the same among the 479 drug-predicted targets and the 7193 CKD-related targets, 98 potential targets with interactions, and enrichment of 165 drug-related pathways. The topological analysis identified 29 core targets and 62 core ingredients. tumor protein 53, estrogen receptor 1, cyclin-dependent kinase 1, phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit delta, mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 , and mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 were the key targets, and quercetin, caffeic acid, aloe-emodin, kaempferol, and palmatine were the core ingredients. Immune infiltration analysis showed that memory B cells, naive B cells, and activated NK cells differed markedly between the CKD and normal groups. YSQZ is hypothesized to act on CKD through multiple ingredients targeting multiple genes and signaling pathways. However, these findings are based on 1 GEO dataset with a relatively small sample size. Further experimental and clinical validation is needed to confirm the proposed mechanisms.
Zhao et al. (Fri,) studied this question.