Abstract
Background and Purpose: Pudilan (PDL), a four-herb prescription with the
traditional function of heat-clearing and detoxifying, has been used for
anti-SARS-CoV-2 infection, anti-inflammation effect, and clear
infection. PDL is one of the therapeutic potentials for COVID-19 while
the underlying mechanisms remain to be clarified. Experimental Approach:
We used network pharmacology analysis, and selected 68 co-targeted
genes/proteins as targets of both PDL and COVID-19. These co-targeted
genes/proteins were predicted by SwissDock Server for their
high-precision docking simulation, and analyzed by STRING for proteins
to protein interaction (PPI), pathway and GO (gene ontology) enrichment.
WebGestalt (WEB-based Gene SeT AnaLysis Toolkit) was used for gene set
enrichment analysis (GSEA) for functions and pathways enrichment. The
therapeutic effect for PDL treatment on COVID-19 was validated by the
TCMATCOV (TCM Anti COVID-19) platform. Key Results: PDL may prevent the
entrance of SARS-CoV-2 entry into cells by blocking the
angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). It may inhibit the cytokine
storm by affecting C-reactive protein (CRP), interferon-γ (IFN-γ),
interleukin- 6 (IL-6), interleukin- 10 (IL-10), tumor necrosis factor
(TNF), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), C-C Motif Chemokine
Ligand 5 (CCL5), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFβ1), and other
proteins. PDL may moderate immune system to shorten the course of the
disease, delay disease progression and reduce the mortality rate.
Conclusion and Implications: We showed the molecular mechanism of PDL
treatment for COVID-19. Based on previous studies, PDL was proven to be
useful in the treatment of COVID-19 via different levels studies
including clinical practice, animal experiments, cell testing, and
network pharmacology.