Study on prescription medication mode and mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of noncritical COVID-19 based on data mining.

Background: As of 2023, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still spreading globally. Therefore, we aim to integrate non-critical COVID-19 high-frequency and high-targeting Chinese medicines to provide a reference for clinical prescriptions to improve COVID-19-related symptoms. Materials and methods: The information on non-critical COVID-19 high-frequency Chinese medicines in the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 was obtained by the TCM inheritance support platform. Using network pharmacology and molecular docking technology, high-targeting Chinese medicines with good docking activity with COVID-19 receptors angiotensin-converting enzyme-II (ACE2), 3CLpro and tyrosine-protein kinase receptor UFO (AXL) were obtained. A new prescription for non-critical COVID-19 was established by integrating high-frequency and high-targeting Chinese medicines. Rats with acute lung injury induced by lipopolysaccharide were used as the experimental model. The histopathological changes in the lungs of rats in each group were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The lung coefficient of rats was measured. The levels of IL-6, TNF-a, and IL-1ß in serum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The mRNA and protein levels of ACE2 and AXL in lung tissue were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot. Results: Through data mining, it was found that there were 39 high-frequency traditional Chinese medicines for non-critical COVID-19 in the diagnosis and treatment guidelines. According to network pharmacology and molecular docking, 30 highly targeted traditional Chinese drugs for COVID-19 were found. The new prescriptions for non-critical COVID-19 were comprehensively obtained, including Glycyrrhizae Radix, Ephedra Herba, Amygdalus Communis Vas, Gypsum Fibrosum, Descurainiae Semen, Atractylodes Lancea, Scutellariae Radix, Amomum Tsao-Ko Crevostet, Forsythiae Fructus, Pogostemon cablin, Magnolia Officinalis. Compared with the LPS-induced lung injury model group, the medium dose of the new prescription group had significantly alleviated pathological changes in lung tissue, decreased lung coefficient, decreased contents of IL-6, TNF-a and IL-1ß, and increased mRNA and protein expression of ACE2 and AXL (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Based on data mining, network pharmacology and molecular docking technology, the new prescription for non-critical COVID-19 established by this method has an anti-inflammatory effect on rats with acute lung injury induced by lipopolysaccharide and can provide a reference for clinicians to alleviate the symptoms related to non-critical COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]