Network Pharmacology Approach to Evaluate the Therapeutic Effects of Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Components for the Nephroprotective Activity

Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) (Family: Caesalpiniaceae) commonly known as Bonduc Nut and Fever Nut is the main ingredients in Hjam-hbras formulation, a single herb formulation documented in Buddha Shakamuni for treating renal diseases. C. bonduc seed extract is also scientifically validated for having renal protective effects but its exact mechanism by which it showed renal protective effect is still unknown. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the nephroprotective mechanism of action of C. bonduc seed by performing Network pharmacology analysis. ADMET property analysis reveals 21 out of 190 phytochemicals of C. bonduc seeds has passed the good ADMET criteria. Network pharmacology analysis identified 197 mutual common nephroprotective targets for these 21 phytochemicals. The PPI analysis discovered that AKT1, PIK3CA, SRC, PIK3R1, HSP90AA1, MAPK1, PTPN11, FYN, EGFR and STAT3 are the top 10 genes sorted by degree value. GO enrichment analysis showed various processes, functions, and cellular components involved in nephroprotection while the KEGG enrichment analysis showed the associated pathways HIF-1 signaling pathway, Thyroid hormone signaling pathway etc. involved in nephroprotection. This study provides bioinformatic insights via Network pharmacology analysis could pave the way for understanding the effectiveness of C. bonduc as nephropotective agent.