Molecular Mechanism of Qiju Decoction for Acute Lung Injury Based on Network Pharmacology

Background: To analyze the pharmacological effects and molecular mechanisms of Qiju Decoction to treat acute lung injury (ALI) based on network pharmacology.Methods: The main chemical components of Qiju Decoction were collected from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Phar-macology Database. Analysis of the Platform, literature collection and screening of the active components and their targets were performed according to pharmacokinetics. Targets related to acute lung injury (ALI) were collected from Genecards, OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man), DrugBank and TTD (Therapeutic Target Database). Network of protein-protein inter-actions were established using STRING database, the picture of the interconnection of Chinese medicine ingredients, targets and pathways was constructed using Cytoscape software. Metaspace database was used for Gene ontology (GO) analysis, and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analysis.Results: The core active ingredients of Qiju Decoction to treat acute lung injury were quercetin, kaempferol, Luteolin, Arachi-donic acid, etc. The core targets of Qiju Decoction to treat ALI were ALB (Albumin), AKT1 (RAC-alpha serine/Threonine-protein kinase), TP53 (Cellular tumor antigen p53), TNF (Tumor necrosis factor), IL-6 (Interleukin-6), VEGFA (Vascular en-dothelial growth factor A), CASP3 (Caspase-3), EGFR (Epidermal growth factor receptor), IL-1 beta (Interleukin-1 beta), JUN (Transcription factor Jun), STAT3 (Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3), MAPK (Mitogen-activated protein ki-nase), etc. The biological pathways of Qiju Decoction to treat ALI are mainly PI3K-Akt (Phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase/Protein kinase B) signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway and TNF signaling pathway, which functions are mainly to regulate in-tracellular inflammatory response and oxidative stress response, etc. Conclusions: This study revealed the multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway mechanism of Qiju Decoction to treat acute lung injury. It provides the basis for the clinical development and utilization of Qiju Decoction.