Exploring the mechanism of acupuncture for Parkinson's disease based on network pharmacology techniques

Abstract

Objective: To explore the potential mechanism of action of acupuncture for Parkinson's disease using network pharmacology. Methods: Firstly, Parkinson's disease-related targets were collected from the DisGeNET disease database, followed by the GEO database to obtain the possible targets of acupuncture for Parkinson's disease, and the targets of the active substance-dopamine produced after acupuncture were predicted in the SuperPred database. All target IDs were converted into corresponding gene IDs in the UniProt database. Finally, the disease targets of Parkinson's disease were intersected with the potential targets of acupuncture treatment to obtain the key targets of acupuncture for Parkinson's disease, and these key targets were analyzed for GO and KEGG pathway enrichment. Results: A total of 2079 targets for Parkinson's disease were obtained, 3193 targets for acupuncture treatment of Parkinson's disease, and 24 key targets. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis was performed on the key targets, and the most significant GO entries and key pathways were obtained for targets in cellular components, molecular functions and biological processes. Conclusion: Acupuncture may treat Parkinson's disease via activating cAMP signaling pathway, IL−17 signaling pathway and dopaminergic synapse.