Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. leaves: network pharmacology and molecular docking analysis of active ingredients and their mechanisms of action in treating atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is the pathological basis of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. leaves are edible, an effective traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of atherosclerosis, but its mechanisms of action remain unclear. In this study, we employed network pharmacology and molecular docking approaches to explore it, and preliminarily verify it through animal experiments. Firstly, we obtained the active ingredients of N. nucifera leaves and their potential targets in several databases. Comparing with the atherosclerosis drug targets, we acquired their common targets by Venny 2.1.0 software, with which, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was then constructed. Then, we performed enrichment analysis of GO functions and KEGG pathways by Metascape. Molecular docking was also carried out between the active ingredients and their core targets to test their binding activity. Lastly, animal experiments with Apoe(-/-) mice were performed to initially verify the efficacy of N. nucifera leaves in treating atherosclerosis. As a result, a total of 16 major active ingredients of N. nucifera leaves and 219 potential targets were identified, and 11 core targets were obtained from the PPI network. The molecular docking results showed stronger binding activity of these core targets with the major active ingredients. The animal experiments indicated that N. nucifera leaves could effectively improve atherosclerosis by lowering the levels of lipids and inflammatory factors. Accordingly, our present study provided experimental foundation for the underlying mechanisms and clinical application in treating atherosclerosis via N. nucifera leaves. Further work still needs to be performed to verify them in future experiments.