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| Study on the mechanism of Danshen-Yujin herbal drug pair treating hepatocellular carcinoma |
| Hits 286 Download times 82 Received:October 11, 2025 |
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| DOI
10.11656/j.issn.1672-1519.2026.01.13 |
| Key Words
hepatocellular carcinoma;Danshen;Yujin;network pharmacology;bioinformatics;cellular autophagy;immune infiltration |
| Author Name | Affiliation | E-mail | | ZENG Biyu | Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530200, China | | | HUANG Liangjiang | The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530023, China | | | LUO Qi | Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530200, China | | | ZHANG Rong | Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530200, China | | | MAO Dewen | The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530023, China | | | FU Lei | Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of China Medicine, Nanning 530011, China
Guangxi University Engineering Research Center for Innovative Product Development of Regional Major Diseases, Nanning 530011, China | | | YAO Chun | Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530200, China
Guangxi University Engineering Research Center for Innovative Product Development of Regional Major Diseases, Nanning 530011, China | yaoc@gxtcmu.edu.cn |
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| Abstract
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| [Objective] To investigate the material basis and mechanism of action of the Danshen（Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge）-Yujin （Curcuma aromatica Salisb）in treating hepatocellular Carcinoma using network pharmacology and bioinformatics. [Methods] Firstly， the active ingredients of the herbs were screened and their related targets identified using the TCMSP database. Secondly， hepatocellular Carcinoma-related targets were screened from the GeneCards and OMIM databases，followed by further prioritization of survival-significant targets using the random survival forest algorithm. Subsequently，intersection analysis was performed to identify common targets shared between the herb and disease targets. These common targets underwent functional annotation and enrichment analysis（GO and KEGG）. Cytoscape software was used for network topology calculations and module analysis to predict the binding characteristics between active components and targets. Immune infiltration analysis was conducted to elucidate the relationship between key genes and the immune system from an immunological perspective. Gene set enrichment analysis（GSEA）explored pathways involving the common targets，and gene set variation analysis（GSVA）further analyzed signaling pathway differences between highand lowexpression groups. Finally，a multifactor regression model was constructed；scores were assigned to each level of the influencing factors based on their contribution to the outcome variable within the model. These individual scores were summed to obtain a total score，which was used to calculate the predicted value. [Results] A total of 80 compounds were screened from DanshenYujin，31 of which had overlapping targets with HCC. The major components were flavonoids，diterpenoids，phenolic acids，sterols， lactones，etc. GO enrichment results showed significant enrichment of biological processes，such as regulation of small molecule metabolism，response to estradiol，regulation of DNA-binding transcription factor activity. KEGG enrichment showed that genes were particularly enriched in FoxO pathway，HIF-1 pathway，p53 pathway，and other pathways. Randomized survival forest algorithm analysis revealed statistically significant differences in survival for CCNB1，VEGFA，and MAPK3，which may be the key target genes of Danshen-Yujin in the treatment of HCC；immune infiltration analysis showed that the three key genes were associated with a variety of immune cells，and involved in autophagy-related signaling pathways. Meanwhile，GSEA pathway enrichment analysis suggested that the key genes were associated with multiple signaling pathways. Finally，the results of the regression analyses were presented in the form of nomogram by key gene expression，and the Nomogram model had good predictive efficacy. [Conclusion] The Danshen-Yujin herb pair may modulate pathological processes in hepatocellular carcinoma，such as autophagy，oxidative stress，immune regulation， and apoptosis，by targeting signaling pathways including P53，FoxO，and HIF-1. Furthermore，CCNB1，VEGFA，and MAPK3 may serve as key target genes of Danshen-Yujin in treating hepatocellular carcinoma. This study preliminarily reveals the potential multi-target and multi-pathway mechanism of Danshen-Yujin in the treatment of hepatocellular Carcinoma，providing a theoretical basis for further research and contributing to the modernization and internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine. |
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