The mechanism of Huatan Tongluo Decoction in treating dysphagia after wind-phlegm blocking cerebral infarction based on Bioinformatics combined with Network Pharmacology

Rui Liu^1,2,#, Bing Feng^3,#, Yaowen Li³, Ji Wang³, Yunpeng Zhang^3,*

1. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Huadu District People’s Hospital of Guangzhou, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510800, China.
2. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Huadu Institute of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510800, China.
3. Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine Rehabilitation, The 966th Hospital of the PLA Joint Logistic Support Force of China, Dandong, Liaoning 118000, China.

# These authors are contributed equally to this work.

*Corresponding Author: Yunpeng Zhang; E-mail: zhangyunpeng1970@163.com

Abstract
Background
Using bioinformatics and network pharmacology, this study explored Huatan Tongluo Decoction’s mechanism for treating dysphagia in wind-phlegm blocking cerebral infarction, identifying its effective components and predicting potential targets to guide further experiments and clinical use.
Methods
Using TCMSP, GeneCards, and OMIM, we identified the effective components and targets of Huatan Tongluo Decoction and disease-related targets for cerebral infarction dysphagia. Common targets were screened using R’s Venn package and Cytoscape/BisoGenet, followed by construction of ingredient-target and disease-core target networks. Core targets were identified by network topology analysis and further analyzed by GO and KEGG enrichment. Clinically, 90 patients with wind-phlegm blocking cerebral infarction dysphagia were randomized to receive conventional treatment alone (n = 45) or conventional treatment plus Huatan Tongluo Decoction (n = 45), and efficacy, swallowing function, and adverse reactions were compared.
Results
The study identified 164 effective ingredients of Huatan Tongluo Decoction, 1041 potential targets for cerebral infarction dysphagia, and 48 core target proteins. GO/KEGG enrichment showed that these targets were mainly involved in lipid and atherosclerosis, AGE-RAGE, PI3K-Akt, and HIF-1 signaling pathways. In the clinical comparison, the Huatan Tongluo Decoction group showed a higher overall effective rate than the control group (95.56% vs. 80.00%; RR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.02–1.40; risk difference = 15.56%, 95% CI: 2.41%–28.70%). The post-treatment swallowing function score was also higher in the experimental group than in the control group (mean difference = 0.95 points, 95% CI: 0.69–1.21; Hedges’ g = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.05–1.98), whereas the incidence of adverse reactions did not differ significantly between groups (15.56% vs. 13.33%; P > 0.05).
Conclusions
Huatan Tongluo Decoction treats cerebral infarction dysphagia through multi-component, multi-target, multi-pathway regulation of key signaling pathways. Its use may significantly improve clinical outcomes, alleviate symptoms, and promote swallowing function recovery.
Keywords: Huatan Tongluo decoction; wind-phlegm blocking cerebral infarction; dysphagia; Bioinformatics; Network pharmacology; clinical efficacy