Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Danshen (Salvia Miltiorrhiza) and Ginkgo Biloba in Coronary Heart Diseases: A Network Pharmacology Investigation

Atherosclerosis is a leading cause of coronary heart disease (CHD), which imposes a significant health burden on the world. Historical formulations of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), including ginkgo biloba-Danshen herb pair (GDHP) have been extensively applied in cardiovascular therapy where the molecular mechanisms involved in their effects are not well understood. To examine the possible targets and the pathways of GDHP in the treatment of CHD, network pharmacology was implemented. The BATMAN-TCM database was used to identify active compounds and related targets and GeneCards, OMIM, PharmGKB, and DrugBank were used to identify the CHD-associated genes. With the help of STRING and Cytoscape, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was created. DAVID was used to do gene ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. AutoDock Vina and Discovery Studio were used to validate the compound-target interactions using molecular docking. The screening was done to identify active compounds (34) and matched targets (199), and 16 of them were common to GDHP and CHD. Network analysis identified gallocatechin, carnosol, and tanshinone IIA as the important bioactive constituents. The key targets were TLR4, P2RY12, ITGB3, NOS3, PTGS1, SERPine1, and TNF. Enrichment analyses demonstrated that the prominent roles in inflammatory regulation, lipid metabolism, insulin resistance, and fluid shear stress pathways were involved. Stable binding between hub targets and active components was confirmed by molecular docking, which can be used to support their potential in therapy. The protective effects of GDHP against atherosclerosis and CHD could be through the control of inflammatory, metabolic and vascular shear stress response. This evidence gives a network-based explanation of why GDHP should be used in cardiovascular disease and that experimental confirmation of the predicted mechanisms is required to support this hypothesis.