ABSTRACT

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease characterized by chronic inflammation that most frequently affects the spine and sacroiliac joints. Up to 10% of patients develop IBD. Tripterygium wilfordii Hook is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb whose crude extract exhibited strong anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. However, mechanisms underlying the therapy of AS complicated with IBD are not well clarified. Based on these ideas, this study intends to find out the molecular mechanism by which TWH has its anti-inflammatory effect on AS-IBD through network pharmacology, PPI analysis, and molecular docking techniques. Methods: Active components of TWH obtained from pharmacology databases, the AS-IBD-related targets were extracted from GeneCards and DisGeNET databases. Protein interaction analyses were carried out using the STRING platform, and a molecular docking study was performed to assess binding affinities of TWH compounds to relevant proteins. Gene Ontology and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were also applied to examine relevant biological processes and signaling pathways. Result: Interestingly, nineteen bioactive compounds found in TWH have been reported to interact with core targets such as VEGFA, ESR1, CASP3, and MAPK8. The core pathways found include the signaling pathways of TNF and IL-17. Through molecular docking, strong binding affinities were confirmed mainly with VEGFA and ESR1. Conclusion: Therefore, the evidence presented here supports the therapeutic efficacy of TWH for AS-IBD through regulation of inflammatory and immune factors and thus warrants further exploration in the future.