Exploring the pharmacological mechanism of Shengjing capsule on male infertility by a network pharmacology approach

Background Shengjing capsule (SJC) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and has gained widespread clinical application for the treatment of male infertility (MI). However, the pharmacological mechanism of SJC against MI remains vague to date. Method The active ingredients of SJC and their targets were identified from the database, and MI-related genes were retrieved from several databases. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) data were obtained to construct the PPI networks. The candidate targets of SJC against MI were identified through topological analysis of the PPI network. Functional enrichment analysis of candidate targets was performed, and the key target genes were identified from the gene-pathway network. Results We identified 154 active ingredients and 314 human targets of SJC, as well as 564 MI-related genes. Eight pharmacological network diagrams illustrating the interactions among herbs, active ingredients, targets, and pathways, were constructed. The four dominating network maps included a compound-target network of SJC, a compound-anti-MI targets network, a candidate targets PPI network, a pathway-gene network, and a drug-key compounds-hub targets-pathways network. Systematic analysis indicated that the targets of SJC in the treatment of MI mainly involved RPS6, MAPK1, MAPK3, MDM2, and DDX5. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that SJC had the potential to impact multiple biological pathways, such as cancer-related pathways, viral/bacterial infection-related pathways, and signal transduction-related pathways. Conclusion Our results preliminarily revealed the pharmacological basis and molecular mechanism SJC in treating MI, but further experimental research is required to verify these findings. Keywords: Shengjing capsule, Male infertility, Network pharmacology, Pathway