Abstract
Cisplatin (CP) is one of the most effective antitumor drugs in the clinic, but has serious adverse reactions, and its hepatotoxicity has not been fully investigated. Licorice (GC), a traditional herbal medicine, has been commonly used as a detoxifier for poisons and drugs, and may be an effective drug for CP-induced hepatotoxicity. However, its mechanism and the effector molecules remain ambiguous. Therefore, in this study, a network pharmacology and proteomics-based approach was established, and a panoramic view of the detoxification of GC on CP-induced hepatotoxicity was provided. The experimental results indicated that GC can recover functional indices and pathological liver injury, inhibit hepatocyte apoptosis, upregulate B-cell lymphoma/leukemia 2 (Bcl-2) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels, and downregulate cellular tumor antigen p53 (p53), caspase-3, malondialdehyde high mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin 1β (IL-1β) levels. Proteomics indicated that GC regulates phosphatidylcholine translocator ABCB1 (ABCB1B), canalicular multispecific organic anion transporter 1 (ABCC2), cytochrome P450 4A2 (CYP4A2), cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1), cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2), estrogen receptor (ESR1), and DNA topoisomerase 2-alpha (TOP2A), inhibits oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammatory responses, and accelerates drug metabolism. In this study, we provide the investigation of the efficacy of GC against CP-induced hepatotoxicity, and offer a promising alternative for the clinic.