Academic Editors: Antonio Barbieri and Francesca Bruzzese
Background: The key active component(s) in an anti-tumor preparation
used in traditional Chinese medicine, Xihuang Pills, remains unclear.
Methods: We used a network pharmacology analysis to construct a
component-disease-target network diagram and used this to determine quercetin as
a critical active ingredient in Xihuang Pills. Subsequently, human hepatocellular
carcinoma (HCC) cell lines, H22 and HepG2 cells, were treated with quercetin, and
BALB/c mice were injected with H22 cells and
treated with different concentrations of quercetin. Tumor volume and weight were
determined in these mice with and without quercetin administration. Immune and
pro-inflammatory factors were measured using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay
(ELISA). Macrophage polarization was assessed by western blot and flow cytometry.
Finally, PD-L1, autophagy-related proteins, and the NF-