Many individual herbs and herbal formulae have been demonstrated to provide safe and effective treatment for pancreatic ductal
adenocarcinoma (PDAC); however, the therapeutic mechanisms underlying their effects have not been fully elucidated. A total of 114 herbal formulae comprising 216 single
herbal medicines used to treat PDAC were identified. Cluster analysis revealed a core prescription including four herbs [Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizome (Gan Cao), Codonopsis Radix (Dang Shen), Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium (Chen Pi), and Pinelliae Rhizoma (Ban Xia)] in combination to treat PDAC, and 295, 256, 141, and 365 potential targets were screened for each of these four herbs, respectively. PDAC-related
proteins (n = 2940) were identified from the DisGeNET database. Finally, 44 overlapping targets of herbs and PDAC were obtained, representing potential targets of the
herbal medicines for PDAC treatment. GO enrichment analysis indicated that targets common to herbs and PDAC primarily functioned in response to
steroid hormones. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis indicated that the herbs may prevent PDAC by influencing apoptotic, p53, and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways. Further, molecular docking analysis indicated that of identified bioactive compounds,
stigmasterol, phaseol,
perlolyrine, shinpterocarpin, and
licopyranocoumarin have good binding ability with
proteins involved in responses to
steroid hormones, while
stigmasterol, phaseol,
perlolyrine, and DIOP have good binding ability with
PTGS2(also known as COX-2), ESR1, ESR2, AR, and PGR. The anti-PDAC activity of
herbal medicines may be mediated via regulation of
proteins with roles in responses to
steroid hormones. This study provides further evidence supporting the potential for use of
herbal medicines to treat PDAC.