Network Pharmacology Integrated Docking Studies on Molecular Targets of Achyranthes aspera in the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: Achyranthes aspera is a traditional plant used in the treatment of rheumatoid diseases, asthma, cold, and gall bladder stones. The current study aims at identifying the mechanism of action of phytochemicals in A. aspera in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using Systems Biology approach. Methods: Active compounds of A. aspera were selected and target genes were predicted. Target genes responsible for RA were retrieved. Common hub genes were grouped. The common hub genes were subjected to Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis. Component/target/pathway network was constructed to know the mechanism of interaction between the target proteins and ligands selected. The target proteins with higher degree of interaction were chosen for molecular docking studies. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and mitogen-activated protein kinase- 1 (MAPK1) were chosen from the hub genes and molecular docking was performed to find their interaction and affinity toward the ligands. Results: Phytochemicals such as oleanolic acid, inokosterone, and ecdysone were listed as active phytochemicals with respect to the drug likeness score ≥0.18. Out of the active compounds selected, oleanolic acid was found to have higher binding affinity when docked with all the proteins. Conclusion: These network pharmacology analyses proves that A. aspera possesses promising antirheumatic effect by blocking IL-17 signaling pathway which could be inferred from Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis and blocking the matrix metalloproteinases expression by inhibiting the function of multiple target proteins-IL-6, TNF-α, and MAPK1. This proves that oleanolic acid from A. aspera can serve as a potential treatment option for RA.