Shanshan Cui,1 Xiaobo Feng,2 Zhongyuan Xia1 

1Department of Anesthesiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Zhongyuan Xia, Department of Anesthesiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Ziyang Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China, Email xiazhongyuan2005@aliyun.com

Background: In traditional Chinese medicine, Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. (LCH) is used to treat neuropathic pain (NP). This study was performed to investigate the underlying pharmacological mechanisms.
Methods: The main components of the LCH were obtained from the TCMSP database. The targets of the active components were obtained using the Swiss Target Prediction database and HERB database. The NP-related genes were obtained from the CTD database and GeneCard database. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using the STRING platform and Cytoscape 3.9.0 software. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed using the DAVID database. Interactions between the key components and hub target proteins were verified using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation. In addition, microglial cell line HMC3 was induced to polarize to the M1 phenotype using 100 ng/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to detect the expression levels of M1 markers and inflammatory factors, respectively.
Results: Seven LCH active components of LCH were identified, corresponding to 387 target genes. 2019 NP-related genes were obtained, and a total of 174 NP-related genes were identified as target genes that could be modulated by LCH. Beta-sitosterol, senkyunone, wallichilide, myricanone, and mandenol were considered as the key components of LCH in the treatment of NP. SRC, BCL2, AKT1, HIF1A and HSP90AA1 were identified as the hub target proteins. GO analysis showed that 328 biological processes, 61 cell components, and 85 molecular functions were likely modulated by the components of LCH, and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that 132 signaling pathways were likely modulated by the components of LCH. Beta-sitosterol, senkyunone, wallichilide, myricanone, and mandenol showed good binding activity with hub target proteins including SRC, BCL2, AKT1, and HSP90AA1. In addition, beta-sitosterol inhibited LPS-induced M1 polarization in HMC3 in vitro.
Conclusion: This study provides a theoretical basis for the application of LCH in the treatment of NP through multicomponent, multitarget, and multiple pathways.

Keywords: neuropathic pain, Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort., network pharmacology, molecular docking, microglia, inflammation