Based on network pharmacology and molecular docking to explore the mechanism that Papaverine alleviates Alzheimer disease

Papaverine is a benzyl isoquinoline alkaloid extracted from poppy plant species. Unlike other poppy seed extracts, Papaverine is mainly used for smooth muscle relaxation and vascular dilation. The underlying mechanism of Papaverine in Alzheimer disease (AD) is unknown. Through the intersection of the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), GeneCards, and SwissTargetPrediction databases, 22 core related genes of Papaverine targeting AD were obtained. The DAVID database was applied to conduct Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses, and the Cytoscape 3.7.2 software and the String website were used for protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction. The results showed that the main biological processes included chromatin remodeling, synaptic transmission, GABAergic, and inhibitory synapse assembly. The signaling pathways mainly included type II diabetes mellitus, nicotine addiction, and osteoclast differentiation. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations exhibited that Papaverine had strong interactions with the core targets albumin (ALB), peroxisome proliferative activated receptor gamma (PPARG), and pyruvate kinase M1/2 (PKM). This study predicts the potential targets and pathways of Papaverine in the treatment of AD, providing a new research direction for elucidating its molecular mechanism and laying a theoretical foundation for clinical application.