[Evaluation of flavonoids in based on metabolomics and network pharmacology].

Flavonoids are key bioactive components for evaluating the pharmacological activities of . Exploring the potential flavonoids and pharmacological mechanisms of . lays a foundation for the rational development and efficient utilization of this plant. This study employed ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based widely targeted metabolomics to comprehensively identify the flavonoids in . . Network pharmacology was employed to explore the bioactive flavonoids and their mechanisms of action. Molecular docking was adopted to validate the predicted results. Finally, the content of bioactive flavonoids in different varieties of . was measured. The widely targeted metabolomics analysis identified 387 flavonoids in . , and the flavonoids varied among different varieties. Network pharmacology predicted 96 chemical components including 19 bioactive compounds, 181 corresponding targets and 2 504 disease targets, among which 99 targets were shared by the active components and the disease. Thirty-three core targets were predicted, involving 229 gene ontology terms and 99 pathways (≤0.05), which indicated that the flavonoids components of . exhibited pharmacological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antiviral activities. Topological analysis screened out five core components (salvigenin, laricitrin, isorhamnetin, quercetin, and 6-hydroxyluteolin) and five core targets (SRC, PIK3R1, AKT1, ESR1, and AKR1C3). The predicted bioactive flavonoids from . stably bound to key targets, which indicated that these flavonoids possessed potential bioactivities in their interactions with the targets. The flavonoids in . exerted pharmacological activities in a multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway manner. The combined application of metabolomics and network pharmacology provides a theoretical basis for in-depth studies on the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of . .