Dissecting and Evaluating the Therapeutic Targets of Coptis Chinensis Franch in the Treatment of Urinary Tract Infections Induced by Escherichia coli

• Published in: Frontiers in pharmacology Vol. 12; p. 794869
• Main Authors: Chang, Zhenglin, Zhang, Jinhu, Lei, Min, Jiang, Zheng, Wu, Xiangkun, Huang, Yapeng, He, Zhican, Zhang, Yuyan, Li, Shujue, Duan, Xiaolu, Wu, Wenqi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 12.01.2022
• Subjects: anti-inflammatory; coptis chinensis Franch; molecular docking; network pharmacology; Pharmacology; UTIs; anti-inflammatory; coptis chinensis Franch; molecular docking; network pharmacology; UTIs
• ISSN: 1663-9812; 1663-9812
• DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.794869

Coptis chinensis Franch (CCF) is extensively used in the treatment of inflammatory-related diseases. Accumulating studies have previously demonstrated the anti-inflammatory properties of CCF, yet data on its exact targets against urinary tract infections (UTIs) remain largely unknown. Therefore, the present study decodes the potential targets of action of CCF against UTIs by network pharmacology combined with experiment evaluations. Based on the pharmacology network analysis, the current study yielded six core ingredients: quercetin, palmatine (R)-canadine, berlambine, berberine, and berberrubine. The protein-protein interaction network (PPI) was generated by the string database, and then, four targets (IL6, FOS, MYC, and EGFR) were perceived as the major CCF targets using the CytoNCA plug-in. The results of molecular docking showed that the six core constituents of CCF had strong binding affinities toward the four key targets of UTIs after docking into the crystal structure. The enrichment analysis indicated that the possible regulatory mechanisms of CCF against UTIs were based on the modules of inflammation, immune responses, and apoptosis among others. Experimentally, the ( ) strain CFT073 was applied to establish and models. results revealed that the key targets, IL6 and FOS, are significantly upregulated in rat bladder tissues of UTIs, whereas the expression of MYC and EGFR remained steady. Last, results further confirmed the therapeutic potential of CCF by reducing the expression of IL6 and FOS. In conclusion, IL6 and FOS were generally upregulated in the progression of UTIs, whereas the CCF intervention exerted a preventive role in host cells stimulated by , partially due to inhibiting the expression of IL6 and FOS.