Study on the mechanism of Baihe Dihuang decoction in treating menopausal syndrome based on network pharmacology

Menopausal syndrome (MS) refers to a series of symptoms with autonomic nervous system dysfunction caused by decreased sex hormones before and after menopause. Baihe Dihuang (BHDH) decoction positively affects MS, but its mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to reveal the underlying mechanism through network pharmacology. The components of the BHDH Decoction were found through HERB, while corresponding targets were obtained from the HERB, Drug Bank, NPASS, Targetnet, and Swisstarget databases. The MS targets were obtained from GeneCards and OMIM. STRING was used to construct the protein-protein interaction networks. OmicShare tools were used for Gene Ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes analyses. Finally, Autodock Vina 1.1.2 software () was used for molecular alignment to verify whether the main active ingredients and key targets had good binding activity. We screened out 27 active ingredients and 251 effective targets of BHDH Decoction, 3405 MS-related targets, and 133 intersection targets between BHDH Decoction and MS. Protein-protein interaction network identified tumor protein P53, Serine/threonine-protein kinase AKT, epidermal growth factor receptor, Estrogen Receptor 1, and jun proto-oncogene as critical targets. Gene ontology analysis showed that these targets were mainly involved in the cellular response to chemical stimulus, response to oxygen-containing compound, cellular response to endogenous stimulus, response to an organic substance, and response to chemical, etc. Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes pathways were mainly enriched in endocrine resistance, pathways in cancer, and the ErbB signaling pathway, etc. Molecular docking results showed that emodin and stigmasterol are strongly associated with Serine/threonine-protein kinase AKT, Estrogen Receptor 1, epidermal growth factor receptor, sarcoma gene, and tumor protein P53. This study preliminarily revealed the multi-component, multi-target, and multi-channel mechanism of BHDH Decoction in treating MS. It provides a reference for in vitro and in vivo research and clinical application of BHDH Decoction in the treatment of MS.