Application and development trends of network toxicology in the safety assessment of traditional Chinese medicine

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Integrating network toxicology into traditional Chinese medicine toxicology boosts the efficiency and comprehensiveness of safety evaluations for these medicines.

Aim of the study

This paper aims to deepen the comprehension of network toxicology and facilitate its application in the safety evaluation of traditional Chinese medicines.

Materials and methods

Using “network pharmacology,” “network toxicology,” and “traditional Chinese medicine” as keywords, relevant literature was searched in databases such as Web of Science, PubMed, and CNKI. The cited literature spans from 1999 to 2024.

Results

Network toxicology constructs a “toxicity-gene-target-drug” network model to characterize the toxicological features of the research subject. This paper reviews existing toxicity prediction tools and databases, explores methodologies for toxicity prediction, and comprehensively summarizes the applications of network toxicology in the prediction of harmful components, analysis of toxicity mechanisms, integration of interdisciplinary approaches, and combination with omics technologies. Additionally, it analyzes the current challenges and limitations of network toxicology.

Conclusions

Network toxicology has been extensively utilized in the safety research of traditional Chinese medicine, particularly in identifying toxic components and elucidating their mechanisms. However, there remains significant space for advancement. Future research could investigate integrating network toxicology with cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and multi-omics approaches, thereby offering robust theoretical foundations for developing a comprehensive traditional Chinese medicine safety evaluation system.