Systematic analysis of the material basis and potential mechanism of Banxia Houpo Decoction against chronic pharyngitis based on chemical and metabolite profile characterization combined with network pharmacology

Abstract

Banxia Houpo Decoction (BXHPD), a Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription, is commonly used to treat chronic pharyngitis. However, the material basis and potential mechanisms of BXHPD against chronic pharyngitis have not been clarified. UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap-MS, a quadrupole exactive orbitrap tandem mass spectrometer combined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography, was utilized in this work to investigate the chemical components of BXHPD and their prototypes or metabolites in vivo. Then, the protein–protein interaction and the “absorbed component–target–pathway-disease” networks were established to elucidate its potential mechanism. Employing this thorough investigation, 121 chemical compounds were identified in the BXHPD. Meanwhile, 50 exogenous components (23 prototype components and 27 metabolic components) were examined in rat plasma. Furthermore, network pharmacology and molecular docking revealed that magnoflorine, apigenin, honokiol, randainal, and magnolignan A with related targets AKT1, MAPK1, MAPK3, EGFR, PIK3R1, RELA, PIK3CA, NFKB1, and CCND1 were considered as the effective components and core targets. Besides, the results also indicated that PI3K-Akt, TNF, and MAPK signaling pathways might contribute significantly to the therapeutic effects of BXHPD on chronic pharyngitis. The outcomes of molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations show that the key targets have strong binding capacities with effective components. BXHPD may have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties as part of its several modes of action against chronic pharyngitis. A broader range of medicinal applications is made possible by our research, which offers a comprehensive method for examining the molecular basis and underlying mechanisms of BXHPD against chronic pharyngitis.