Acupoint Application Therapeutic Mechanism for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia: A Network Pharmacology Analysis

Abstract

Background and objective: Acupoint application (AA) therapy, a traditional Chinese medicine external treatment method, is recommended as a complementary Chinese medicine therapy for treating new coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19), and can help improve curative effects, promote patient recovery, and improve immunity to prevent disease, but the mechanism is not clear. We sought to explore the key targets and mechanisms of Ephedra and Asarum, the main components used in AA, in the treatment of COVID-19 in this study. Methods: The active compounds and related targets of Ephedra and Asarum used in AA were screened by searching four databases. COVID-19-related target genes were identified from three disease databases, and the key targets of treating COVID-19 were obtained by Venn diagram using Cytoscape 3.2.1 software, gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis were used to explore possible mechanisms and pathways. The verification of the binding force between the compounds and target genes was completed by performing molecular docking with Autodock and pymol software.Results: Twenty-four active components of AA corresponded to 252 targets, with 713 target genes related to COVID-19, and 56 key genes were selected. GO analysis results showed that biological processes mainly included the inflammatory and immune responses, and cell components were mainly the plasma membrane and nucleus, with molecular functions including protein binding and identical protein binding. The top pathways included Immune System, Cytokine Signaling in Immune System, Adaptive Immune System, Signaling by Interleukins, Innate Immune System, and Signaling by GPCR.Conclusion: The results of this study preliminarily verified that Ephedra and Asarum used in AA therapy could treat COVID-19 via multiple compounds and multi-pathways, which provided a basis for clinical application and further research.

An Agent-Based Transmission Model of Major Infectious Diseases Considering Places: Forecast and Control

“…As for the research on the transmission mechanisms of major infectious diseases, at the macro level, many studies use the distribution data of specific infectious diseases in a certain spatial range (country, province, city, and district) in a certain period of time to analyze their spatial and temporal distribution characteristics and influencing factors [1][2][3][4][5][6]. At the micro level, most studies start from specific cases and summarize the characteristics of transmission chains and local prevention and control experiences through epidemiological investigation and analysis or other case studies [7,8]. As for the research on transmission models of major infectious diseases, the most common infectious disease model is the mathematical model optimized by introducing other influencing factors and variables based on the traditional SIR, SIS, SIRS, and SEIR infectious disease compartment models.…”