An ensemble of Gleditsia sinensis Lam. and gut microbiota against alcoholic liver disease

Abstract

Gleditsia sinensis Lam. (GSL) is a medicinal herb and a noticeable resource of possessing hepatic protective agents such as alcoholic liver disease (ALD). At present, it has been documented that gut microbiota (GM) is related directly to etiology of ALD. Nevertheless, the bioactive molecules in GSL, favorable GM, targets, and key mechanism(s) against ALD are yet to be revealed. Hence, we integrated the significant four components to clarify the nuanced pathogenesis with help of network pharmacology (NP) concept. We retrieved significant metabolites via gutMGene and constructed GSL or GM-Signaling pathways-Targets-Metabolites (GGSTM) networks. Finally, molecular docking test (MDT) was performed to verify the key findings. The gutMGene suggested that 16 GM and 6 metabolites were related to the two signaling pathways through GGSTM networks. Both MDT and frontier molecular orbitals (FMO) theory revealed the most stable conformers: equol from Lactobacillus paracasei JS1 on IL6, Bauer-7-en-3-one, and Urs-12-en-3-one from GSL on PPARA, PPARD, and PPARG, respectively. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the combinatorial effects of GM, and GSL in treating ALD via systems biology concept.