Mechanism of action of the Wuzi Yanzong prescription to treat asthenozoospermia based on network pharmacology and molecular docking

The current study attempted to identify the action target and related signal pathways of the Wuzi Yanzong prescription for the treatment of asthenozoospermia (AZS) by using network pharmacology and molecular docking. We identified 72 active components in five traditional Chinese medications and screened their 216 corresponding targets. We identified 147 target AZS-related genes after intersecting the results from both screenings. Our results suggest that AKT1, interleukin 6 (IL6), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), caspase 3 (CASP3), JUN, MYC, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), epidermal growth factor (EGF), oestrogen receptor 1 (ESR1), and mitogen-activated protein kinase 8 (MAPK8) may be the core targets of the Wuzi Yanzong prescription for AZS. We found 1023 gene ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis core targets, including 965 biological processes (BP), 15 cell composition (CC), and 43 molecular function (MF) targets. After screening the Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) screening, we obtained 103 AZS-related pathways. The Wuzi Yanzong prescription acts mainly on AKT1, IL6, VEGFA, CASP3 and other targets to regulate mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), focal adhesion, Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and other signal pathways to improve AZS.