NETWORK PHARMACOLOGY APPROACH TO ELUCIDATE THE CARDIOPROTECTIVE POTENTIAL OF Β -AMYRIN IN ARSENIC-INDUCED CORONARY HEART DISEASE

Abstract

Chronic exposure to arsenic is an important environmental health risk factor and has been well-established in its association with different kinds of cardiovascular diseases, especially coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods In this study, a network pharmacology and molecular docking method were used to explore the cardioprotective effect of β amyrin (2.5, 5, 10 mg/kg), a natural pentacyclic triterpenoid against arsenic-induced CHD. In silico analyses of drug likeness, pharmacokinetic properties and toxicity of β-amyrin were performed using SwissADME and ProTox-II tools that indicated acceptable drug-like characteristics with a good safety profile. SwissTargetPrediction was used to predict molecular targets of β-amyrin, and arsenic-related cardiovascular disease genes were collected from the GeneCards database. Identified 35 common targets between β-amyrin and arsenic -induced CHD, which thereafter subjected to PPI NETWORK construction and hub gene analysis. Functions and pathways of hub genes associated with inflammation, lipid metabolism, hormone signaling and cardiovascular regulation. Molecular docking analysis showed stable and strong binding between β-amyrin and the hub proteins, indicating that it has the ability to modulate multiple targets related to disease. In summary, these findings indicate that β-amyrin may exert cardioprotective effects via a multi-target mechanism in arsenic-induced CHD and may provide a solid theoretical basis for more completely animal verification in the future.