A network pharmacology-based investigation of the mechanism involved in the anti-gastric cancer effect of Oldenlandia diffusan, a traditional Chinese medicine

Purpose: To investigate the potential mechanism underlying the anti-gastric cancer (GC) effect of Oldenlandia diffusa using network pharmacology, and to provide scientific guidance for subsequent pharmacological and clinical translational studies. Methods: The potential bioactive compounds in Oldenlandia diffusa and their related targets were obtained through TCMSP online platform. The GeneCards and MalaCards databases were used to search for GC-related disease targets. The targets shared by the two databases were entered into STRING protein interactions online database to obtain the interaction network of potential therapeutic targets. These were further screened for potential core targets through MCODE plugin. Cytoscape 3.2.1 software was used to construct the "component-target-disease" and PPI network, while GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed using DAVID v6.8 online software. Results: Seven bioactive components and 180 drug targets were screened in Oldenlandia diffusa, out of which 167 targets were co-activated with GC, and 28 potential core targets were identified. The results of GO function enrichment analysis of the hub targets showed that they were related to gene transcription and expression, cytokine-mediated signaling pathway and inflammation response. The results of KEGG signaling pathway enrichment analysis showed that they were mainly associated with cancer signaling, IL-17-related signaling and TNF signaling pathways. Conclusion: Oldenlandia diffusa exerts its therapeutic effect on GC through multi-component, multi-target and multi-signaling pathways. This finding provides novel evidence for the application of Oldenlandia diffusa in GC treatment.