{
  "abstract": "Background Chronic inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and oxidative stress contribute to digestive diseases, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Botanical bioactives may exert therapeutic effects through multi-target modulation of interconnected pathways within the gut–liver–metabolic axis. Tagetes species contain polyphenols, carotenoids, and terpenoids with reported antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This study aimed to investigate molecular pathways through which Tagetes bioactive compounds may influence inflammatory and metabolic mechanisms relevant to digestive and liver diseases using a network pharmacology approach.Methods Bioactive compounds from Tagetes were retrieved from BATMAN-TCM and related phytochemical databases. Compound targets were predicted using BATMAN-TCM, INPUT, and NetInfer and standardized to UniProt identifiers. Disease-associated gene sets for inflammation, fatty liver disease, metabolic disorders, and skin diseases were obtained from GeneCards. Overlapping genes between compound targets and disease genes were identified. Functional enrichment analyses were conducted using Gene Ontology (GO), KEGG, and Reactome databases. Protein–protein interaction networks were analyzed using Metascape.Results Thirty-five Tagetes compounds were linked to 1,029 predicted protein targets. Intersection analysis identified 253 overlapping genes with inflammation, 152 with fatty liver disease, and 181 with metabolic disorders. Enrichment analyses highlighted immune-inflammatory pathways, including TNF, IL-17, and Toll-like receptor signaling, along with metabolic regulators such as AMPK, FoxO, and insulin signaling. Additional enrichment was observed in AGE–RAGE signaling, oxidative stress responses, and lipid metabolism pathways. Protein–protein interaction analysis revealed modules associated with cytokine signaling, MAPK pathways, GPCR signaling, and lipid metabolic regulation.Conclusions These findings suggest that Tagetes phytochemicals may modulate interconnected inflammatory, metabolic, and oxidative pathways central to the gut–liver–metabolic axis. Network pharmacology provides mechanistic hypotheses supporting further experimental and clinical evaluation of Tagetes-derived nutritional interventions for MASLD and metabolic digestive diseases.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Center of Excellence in Immunology and Immune-mediated Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand"
      ],
      "name": "May Soe Thu"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Center of Excellence in Preventive and Integrative Medicine (CE-PIM), Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand"
      ],
      "name": "Krit Pongpirul"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China"
      ],
      "name": "Jian Chen"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Center of Excellence in Preventive and Integrative Medicine (CE-PIM), Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand"
      ],
      "name": "Thunnicha Ondee"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand"
      ],
      "name": "Kamonwan Banchuen"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, Thailand"
      ],
      "name": "Kanchaporn Chaisungnern"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, Thailand"
      ],
      "name": "Sayamon Senaprom"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Research Affairs, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand"
      ],
      "name": "Phanupong Phutrakool"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Center of Excellence in Preventive and Integrative Medicine (CE-PIM), Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand"
      ],
      "name": "Oranut Chatsirisakul"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Center of Excellence in Translational Research in Inflammation and Immunology (CETRII), Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand"
      ],
      "name": "Asada Leelahavanichkul"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Center of Excellence in Applied Thai Traditional Medicine Research (CEATMR), Thammasat University, Thailand"
      ],
      "name": "Arunporn Itharat"
    }
  ],
  "title": "IDDF2026-ABS-0232 Network pharmacology analysis of tagetes reveals multi-target mechanisms across the gut-liver axis in metabolic inflammation and MASLD",
  "uid": "e9ac7aa4-1df0-5531-b20b-e89b5edc2f42"
}