Studying the efficacy of JBOL volatile components in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) using GC-MS and network pharmacology

Jin Bei oral liquid (JBOL) is a Chinese medicinal preparation for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), Clinical trials have shown that IPF patients using JBOL have improved their lung function indicators FVC% and DLCO% by approximately 2.10% and 7.74%, suggesting that the agent has a positive effect in slowing disease progression. In this study, the active volatile components of JBOL were systematically identified and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques. It was found that JBOL contains a variety of compounds with antifibrotic potential, which act through multi-target and multi-pathway mechanisms. Network pharmacological analyses revealed multiple targets of JBOL associated with key pathological processes in IPF, and key active ingredients were screened based on degree values (including Sedanolide, Ligustilide, Senkyunolide H, Senkyunolide I, α-Terpineol, and 4-Terpineol). Molecular docking results showed that these compounds have high affinity for target proteins. Finally, suitable quantitative methods were established and methodologically validated for these six compounds, and these methods were used to determine the content of 8 batches of JBOL and analyze the differences in content between batches.The present study provides a scientific basis for the quality control and standardization of its JBOL by identifying and analyzing its active volatile components.