Network Pharmacology-Based Strategy to Reveal the Mechanism of Action of Cistanche Against Cataracts

Cistanche is known to relieve cataracts; however, the active ingredients and mechanism of action of cistanche to relieve cataracts are unclear. At present, the active ingredients of cistanche were screened through the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology website, and a total of six active ingredients were identified. Drug and disease targets were obtained through Swiss target prediction and the Genecard website, and a total of 172 common targets were identified. The biological functions and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment of the targets were found to be concentrated in the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B, forkhead family of transcription factors, and mitogen-activated protein kinases pathways. The protein–protein interaction network was established, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and protein kinase B-related genes were found to be the key genes. Molecular docking was carried out between the active ingredient and the key target, and it was found that the combination of the active ingredient and the key target was stable. In summary, cistanche can reduce cataracts by regulating the key targets of the active ingredients and thus alleviating cataracts.