Abstract

The etiology and pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease are extremely complicated and there is no effective cure available currently. Previous studies have proved the effectiveness of Shenwu capsule in treatment of Alzheimer's disease. However, its mechanism of action has not been systematically elucidated. Here, network pharmacology approach was used to revealing the underlying mechanism of Shenwu capsule in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The compound database of Shenwu capsule was constructed, and their potential targets were obtained. Alzheimer's disease gene set was acquired from databases. Subsequently, the potential therapeutic targets of Shenwu capsule on Alzheimer's disease by overlapping analysis, which validated by disease ontology and tissue enrichment analysis. Biological process and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis were performed to find the core biological processes and signaling pathways regulated by Shenwu capsule in treating Alzheimer's disease. By constructing and analyzing the protein-protein interaction network and compound-target network, the core targets and key components were identified. A total of 798 compounds and 1105 potential Shenwu capsule targets, 2566 Alzheimer's disease-related genes and 453 Shenwu capsule therapeutic targets were identified. 3102 biological processes were significantly enriched, such as membrane potential, oxidative stress, synaptic transmission, and neuronal death. 194 pathways of significance were identified, including neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions, lipid-atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, cyclic adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate signaling and calcium signaling. 35 core therapeutic targets and 55 key components were screened out. Network pharmacology provides an effective way to elucidate the mechanism of action and identify the core targets and key compounds of traditional Chinese medicine. Further studies are needed to validate the validity of this pr ediction.