Overview of network pharmacology in traditional medicinal material research

Abstract

Traditional medicinal material (TMM) plays an important role in disease treatment, however, comprehensively understanding the mechanism of TMM remains a persistent challenge for researchers due to its multi-compound and multi-action characteristics. Network pharmacology, a discipline rooted in bioinformatics technology and modern pharmacology, has facilitated a shift from the “one drug - one target” model to a “multi-drug - multi-target” model, which offers a solution to elucidate the multi-action mechanisms of TMM. This review article introduces concepts, methodologies, databases, and applications of network pharmacology in TMM research. Network pharmacology represents a novel approach to systematically explore the mechanisms of action of TMM by elucidating the interaction network between herbal target proteins and disease genes. Simultaneously, it aids in elucidating concepts of TMM from a systems biological perspective. While research and literature on network pharmacology have garnered increasing global attention, locating similar documents in Vietnamese poses a challenge. As one of the first overview documents on network pharmacology written in Vietnamese, the article contributes to promoting a novel research direction in unraveling the mechanisms of TMM in treating various diseases.