Exploring the potential mechanism of Yixiang capsule immune-enhancing function based on Network Pharmacology, Molecular docking, and Animal function experiment.

BACKGROUND
The Yixiang capsule with traditional Chinese herbs Cistanches Herba, Hedysarum multijugum Maxim,Fructus Ligustri Lucidi,and Fructus lycii are the main raw materials in a modern herbal medicine preparation containing corresponding bioactive ingredients after extraction and processing. This study aimed to investigate the immune-enhancing function of the Yixiang capsule and explore its potential mechanism.


METHODS
After oral administration of the Yixiang capsule to mice for 30 days, the spleen lymphocyte transformation activity, NK cell activity, DTH, macrophage phagocytosis, HC50 value, amounts of antibody-producing cells, carbon particle clearance rate, spleen, and thymus index were determined to evaluate the regulation effect of the Yixiang capsule on immune function. The potential mechanism underlying the immune-enhancing function of the Yixiang capsule was studied based on network pharmacology and molecular docking.


RESULTS
The results showed that the Yixiang capsules can obviously increase the HC50 values in all groups, significantly enhance the DTH reaction of mice, the carbon clearance function in medium and high dose groups,and the phagocytic function of macrophages in high dose groups, but had no significant effect on NK cell activity, T lymphocyte proliferation, body weight and immune organ weight of mice. A total of 78 compounds of the Yixiang capsule may affect 123 metabolic pathways and 1022 GO terms by regulating 232 targets, such as the cancer signaling pathway ad the signal pathways of response to lipopolysaccharide, and the key targets predicted could stably bind to the core active components of the Yixiang capsule.


CONCLUSION
These results suggested that the Yixiang capsule could enhance the immune function of mice and have the characteristics of a multi-component and multi-target synergistic effect on the enhanced immunity function, which provides the basis for the follow-up study.