Ultra‐High‐Performance Liquid Chromatography‐Tandem Mass Spectrometry Combined With Network Pharmacology to Elucidate the Bioactive Ingredients and Potential Mechanism of Wu‐Teng Decoction for Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Wu-Teng Decoction (WTD) is a significant in-hospital preparation widely used in clinical practice to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in China, however, its active substances and underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, the chemical constituents of WTD were analyzed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, identifying a total of 120 compounds, including flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, phenolic acids, alkaloids, etc. Subsequently, network pharmacology analyses revealed that 29 compounds were potential active compounds in WTD for the treatment of RA, as well as 48 core anti-RA targets, including tumor necrosis factor-α, V-Akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog 1, and albumin. Further analysis suggested that WTD treats RA via the phosphoinositide 3-kinase-Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinase, and Ras signaling pathways. Molecular docking analysis of the top five pivotal targets with the core active ingredients demonstrated suitable binding interactions at the active site of target proteins. The significant reduction of nitric oxide levels in lipopolysaccharides-induced RAW264.7 cells validated the anti-inflammation activity of WTD.