Network pharmacology was used to investigate the mechanism of the Sargassum treating thyroid nodule.

The main active ingredients of Sargassum and the targets of active ingredients were obtained by TCMSP, and thyroid nodule disease targets were obtained through GeneCards and OMIM. The STRING database and Cytoscape 3.2.1 software were used to construct the active ingredients-disease-targets network and protein interaction network (PPI). The GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis of the targets were analyzed by using R version 4.0.0 software.

Two active ingredients were screened from Sargassum and 59 targets were related to thyroid nodule. Biological function analysis showed that the targets of Sargassum included DNA-binding transcription activator activity, RNA polymerase Ⅱ-specific, ubiquitin-like protein ligase binding. Sargassum played an important role in treating thyroid nodule by the gene targets such as RELA, CASP3, IL6, CASP9, EGFR, VEGFA and other targets mediating the signaling pathways such as PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection and other pathways.

The potential multi-target and multi-pathway network mechanism of Sargassum in the treatment of thyroid nodule provided theoretical basis for further research.

Sargassum (TCD); Thyroid nodule; Network pharmacology; Molecular mechanisms of pharmacological action (TCD)