Is acupuncture effective in the treatment of COVID-19 related symptoms? Based on bioinformatics/network topology strategy

Zhenzhen Han, Yang Zhang, Pengqian Wang, Qilin Tang, Kai Zhang, Zhenzhen Han, Yang Zhang, Pengqian Wang, Qilin Tang, Kai Zhang

Abstract

Acupuncture is an important part of Chinese medicine that has been widely used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, acupuncture has been used as a complementary treatment for COVID-19 in China. However, the underlying mechanism of acupuncture treatment of COVID-19 remains unclear. Based on bioinformatics/topology, this paper systematically revealed the multi-target mechanisms of acupuncture therapy for COVID-19 through text mining, bioinformatics, network topology, etc. Two active compounds produced after acupuncture and 180 protein targets were identified. A total of 522 Gene Ontology terms related to acupuncture for COVID-19 were identified, and 61 pathways were screened based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Our findings suggested that acupuncture treatment of COVID-19 was associated with suppression of inflammatory stress, improving immunity and regulating nervous system function, including activation of neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, calcium signaling pathway, cancer pathway, viral carcinogenesis, Staphylococcus aureus infection, etc. The study also found that acupuncture may have additional benefits for COVID-19 patients with cancer, cardiovascular disease and obesity. Our study revealed for the first time the multiple synergistic mechanisms of acupuncture on COVID-19. Acupuncture may play an active role in the treatment of COVID-19 and deserves further promotion and application. These results may help to solve this pressing problem currently facing the world.

Keywords: COVID-19; acupuncture; bioinformatics; interventions; network topology.

© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The intersection generated between acupuncture-associated target and COVID-19-associated genes. Using online databases, we identified 180 shared biotargets of acupuncture against COVID-19.
Figure 2
Figure 2
GO enrichment analysis (P-adjust value < 0.05). GO: Gene Ontology; BP: biological processes; CC: cellular components; MF: molecular functions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
KEGG pathways enrichment analysis (P-adjust value < 0.05). KEGG: Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Component-target network of acupuncture for COVID-19. In the network, there are two active components have interactions with 180 protein targets. Red nodes represent protein targets, light blue nodes represent active components.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Compound-disease-target network of acupuncture for COVID-19. Red nodes represent targets, light blue nodes represent active components, dark blue nodes represent the key words of COVID-19.

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