Objective  To explore the molecular mechanisms of diosmin in the treatment of prostatic hyperplasia complicated with chronic prostatitis by using network pharmacology and molecular docking technology.

Methods  The active targets of diosmin were predicted by PharmMapper, SEA, SuperPred, and TargetNet databases. Disease targets related to prostatic hyperplasia and chronic prostatitis were obtained through the GeneCards and GenCLiP 3 databases. These two kinds of targets were mapped to each other to obtain common targets. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was built with STRING database and Cytoscape software, and key targets were screened by MCODE and CytoHubba plug-ins. The enrichment analysis of Gene Ontology (GO) function and the Kyoto Gene and Genome Encyclopedia (KEGG) pathway was conducted using the DAVID database. Autodock Vina software was used to carry out the molecular docking verification of diosmin and key targets.

Results  A total of 69 targets of diosmin for the treatment of prostatic hyperplasia complicated with chronic prostatitis were obtained, among which HIF1A, IL-2, KDR, NFKB1, PTPN11, SERPINE1, SLC2A1and TLR4 were the key targets. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the therapeutic effects of diosmin against prostatic hyperplasia complicated with chronic prostatitis mainly involved PI3K-Akt, HIF-1, Ras, IL-17, estrogen, MAPK and other signal pathways. The results of molecular docking showed that diosmin had strong binding activity with core targets.

Conclusions Diosmin could treat prostatic hyperplasia complicated with chronic prostatitis through multi-target and multi-channel synergy.

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