Exploring the Active Components of Ziziphus jujuba Mill. in Treatment of Depression by Network Pharmacology Combined with Neuroprotective Effects in SH-SY5Y Cells

Depression is a common mental health disease, with the characteristics of significant and persistent low mood. Traditionally, Ziziphus jujuba Mill . was used to treat depression. However, its chemical pharmacologic profiles remain to be elucidated. The present study was aimed to explore the potential targets and mechanisms of Z. jujuba in the treatment of depression using network pharmacology and in vitro neuroprotective experiment. In this study, 11 compounds of Z. jujuba were obtained by multiple column chromatography. Based on the network pharmacology, the C-T network was established by the results of molecular docking. The information on target proteins was enriched via DAVID database, followed by the analysis of GO and KEGG. The results indicated that 10 compounds, 5 target proteins and 3 signaling pathways played important roles in treating depression. Based on the predicted result of network pharmacology, compounds 1 , 9 and 10 were identified with significant neuroprotective effects by in vitro cell experiments with human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y. This study was the first to investigate the mechanisms of Z. jujuba action in the treatment of depression from the system level, and could provide the basis of the mechanism with action of compounds for the in-depth utilization of Z. jujuba.