A Network Pharmacology Study of the Active Components of Fufang Huangbai Ye for the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis

Computational study of the chemical constituents of the traditional Chinese medicinal plant HuangBai against therapeutic targets of ulcerative colitis by using network pharmacology with intent to identify potential candidates to develop novel therapy. Biomolecular proteins like IL1, IL6, JAK2, TNF alpha, TNFR1, etc. are found to be actively involved in the pathophysiological progression of ulcerative colitis. One of the most popular traditional Chinese medicinal plants, HuangBai, has been used since traditional times for the treatment of colon-related issues, including inflammatory bowel disease. Thus, in the current research, an attempt has been made to identify the most potent chemical constituent of the concerned plant having therapeutic potential for the treatment of ulcerative colitis. Docking based screening of the prepared ligand library from the chemical constituent of the HuangBai plant against the therapeutic targets involved in the inflammatory reactions associated with ulcerative colitis. Docking results were further confirmed by performing in-vitro cell line studies. Amurensin and melianone are found to be potent leads targeting inflammatory targets involved in the progression of ulcerative colitis and other inflammatory bowel diseases. Thus, it has been concluded that amurensin and melianone can be used for the development of novel therapeutics to benefit patients with ulcerative colitis.