Network Pharmacology in the Treatment of Hepatitis B: Insights from Traditional Chinese Medicine-Based Studies

Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) has been identified to be a major health problem in the world with an estimated number of 250 million individuals being affected by the disease. Though traditional antiviral treatments were proved to be effective, complications like poor cure rates, resistance, and adverse effects are still the burning issues. Network pharmacology has gained great strength in recent years as a possible strategy of recognizing how natural products systematically affect numerous disease targets. Four studies relating to four major formulations of traditional Chinese medicine identified as Jiawei Yinchenhao decoction, Fructus Schisandrae, Ganweikang tablets, Bupleuri Radix, and Scutellariae Radix were based on network pharmacological analysis and synthesized in the review to determine their hepatoprotective effects on CHB. We investigate their bioactive compounds, in silico targets, enriched pathways, noteworthy molecular processes, including management of TNF, IL-6, MAPK, NF-KB and JAK-STAT signalling. This integrative analysis is meant to enhance our knowledge on the use of multi-target therapeutic in management of HBV and provides insights on future investigations regarding adopting network pharmacology as the cornerstone of bridging the traditional and precision medicine. Keywords: Network pharmacology, Hepatitis B, Traditional Chinese medicine, Molecular docking, Multi-target therapy, Hepatoprotection