Aim and Objective: Maxingyigan (MXYG) decoction is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription. However, how MXYG acts against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not known. We investigated the active ingredients and the therapeutic targets of MXYG decoction against COVID-19.

Methods: A network pharmacology strategy involving drug-likeness evaluation, prediction of oral bioavailability, network analyses, and virtual molecular docking was used to predict the mechanism of action of MXYG against COVID-19.

Results: Thirty-three core COVID-19-related targets were identified from 1023 gene targets through analyses of protein–protein interactions. Eighty-six active ingredients of MXYG decoction hit by 19 therapeutic targets were screened out by analyses of a compound–compound target network. Via network topology, three “hub” gene targets (interleukin (IL-6), caspase-3, IL-4) and three key components (quercetin, formononetin, luteolin) were recognized and verified by molecular docking. Compared with control compounds (ribavirin, arbidol), the docking score of quercetin to the IL-6 receptor was highest, with a score of 5. Furthermore, the scores of three key components to SARS-CoV-2 are large as 4, 5, and 5, respectively, which are even better than those of ribavirin at 3. Bioinformatics analyses revealed that MXYG could prevent and treat COVID-19 through anti-inflammatory and immunity-based actions involving activation of T cells, lymphocytes, and leukocytes, as well as cytokine–cytokine-receptor interaction, and chemokine signaling pathways.

Conclusion: The hub genes of COVID-19 helped to reveal the underlying pathogenesis and therapeutic targets of COVID-19. This study represents the first report on the molecular mechanism of MXYG decoction against COVID-19.

目的和目的：麻杏益肝汤（MXYG）是一种中药（TCM）处方。但是，未知MXYG如何对抗2019年的冠状病毒疾病（COVID-19）。我们研究了MXYG汤对COVID-19的活性成分和治疗目标。

方法：采用网络药理策略，包括药物相似性评估，口服生物利用度预测，网络分析和虚拟分子对接，以预测MXYG对抗COVID-19的作用机理。

结果：通过分析蛋白质相互作用，从1023个基因靶标中鉴定出33个与COVID-19相关的核心靶标。通过对化合物-化合物靶标网络的分析，筛选出被19个治疗靶标击中的86种MXYG汤有效成分。通过网络拓扑结构，通过分子对接识别并验证了三个“ hub”基因靶标（白介素（IL-6），caspase-3，IL-4）和三个关键成分（槲皮素，formononetin，木犀草素）。与对照化合物（利巴韦林，阿比多尔）相比，槲皮素与IL-6受体的对接得分最高，为5。此外，SARS-CoV-2的三个关键成分的得分分别为4、5和5。和分别为5和3，甚至比利巴韦林的3更好。

结论：COVID-19的中枢基因有助于揭示COVID-19的潜在发病机制和治疗靶点。这项研究代表了关于MXYG汤对抗COVID-19的分子机制的首次报道。