Network Pharmacology-based Analysis to Investigate Bioactive from the Root of Astragalus membranaceus against Immunomodulatory Protein and their Role in Autoimmune Thyroiditis (AIT)

Abstract

Background The thyroid is the prime organ of infection during the onset of autoimmune disease. The disease is known as Autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT). In recent times, AIT has been alarming worldwide, with growing attention towards pharmaceutical companies for finding new drugs for therapy. The present investigation aims to use a multi-targeting approach to identify the best compound from the root of Astragalus membranaceus for synergistic therapy of AIT. Materials and Methods To explore the mechanism of action of the compounds, the present study uses network pharmacology-based methods. Totally, 48 genes involved in AIT were collected from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway (KEGG). Gene ontology (GO) annotation, disease ontology, and pathway enrichment analysis were conducted. The chemical structure of the compounds from A. membranaceus was retrieved from the PubChem database. To study the toxic and pharmacological efficiency of the chemical structure, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) screening was performed. Results The ononin and astroside were identified as suitable with all the pharmacokinetic properties can be employed to identify the disease targets. The intersection between the compound target (C-T-N) and the AIT-related genes was identified. Totally 16 genes among the C-T networks of ononin and astroside have shown interaction with thyroid disease-related pathways and signaling pathways. Consequently, the overlapping genes between the C-T network and AIT-related genes were determined as IL2. However, from the pathway enrichment, AIT-related genes have been involved in several viral infection pathways. The genes involved in infection pathways are also targeted by ononin and astroside. Conclusion The underlying mechanism of action of the compounds on AIT-related pathways was also determined. Therefore, a network pharmacology-based strategy will provide new insight into AIT therapy. However, further studies are required to validate the investigation that can prove bioactive as a promising candidate for the treatment of AIT.