Haoyang Xin,1,* Man Wang,2,* Shuo Wang,3 Haiyan Han,3 Nan Jiang1 

1Department of Nephrology and Rheumatology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of TCM, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pharmacy, Tianjin Forth Central Hospital, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 3Graduate School, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Nan Jiang, Department of Nephrology and Rheumatology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of TCM, No. 69, Zengchan Street, Hebei District, Tianjin, 300250, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 18622997255, Email jingnan_jn@126.com

Objective: This study aimed to explore the potential active components and therapeutic targets of Shentong Zhuyu Decoction (SZD) in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) through network pharmacology and animal experiments.
Methods: Targets for AS and related pathways were obtained by network pharmacology, and the pathways with the best binding affinity in molecular docking were verified by animal experiments.
Results: The network pharmacology analysis found 248 chemical components, 1068 drug targets and 803 AS-related targets in SZD. After intersection targets analysis, 116 common drug–disease targets were obtained, and matrix metalloproteinase-9, nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 (NLRP3) and cytochrome P450 2D6 were identified as the key targets of SZD for the treatment of AS. A total of 2152 biological processes, 38 cellular component expressions and 150 molecular function terms were obtained in gene ontology enrichment analysis, and 153 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) signalling pathways were obtained in KEGG enrichment analysis. Molecular docking analysis showed that the absolute binding energies of glypallichalcone and NLRP3, quercetin and NLRP3 and kaempferol and NLRP3 were > 7. Animal experiments showed that the expressions of NLRP3, Caspase-1, interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 were significantly increased in the model group and the treatment group compared with those in the blank group, and the expression levels in the treatment group were significantly decreased compared with those in the model group (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: The active components in SZD, such as baicalin, quercetin, kaempferol and glypallichalcone, may reduce the expression of IL-1β and IL-18 via the NLRP3/Caspase-1 signalling pathway to inhibit the development and progression of inflammation and play a role in the treatment of AS.

Keywords: Shentong Zhuyu Decoction, ankylosing spondylitis, network pharmacology, mechanism of action