Potential Host-Directed Mechanisms of Houttuynia cordata in Bovine Mycoplasma bovis Pneumonia: A Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Study.

Bovine Mycoplasma bovis pneumonia (MBP) is an important component of bovine respiratory disease, and its management is complicated by persistent infection and antimicrobial stewardship concerns. Houttuynia cordata Thunb. has reported anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities, but its potential host-directed mechanisms in MBP remain unclear. This in silico study used network pharmacology and molecular docking to identify candidate compounds, common drug-disease targets, enriched biological functions, and predicted ligand-target interactions. A total of 145 putative targets of H. cordata and 474 MBP-associated disease targets were obtained from TCMSP, GeneCards, OMIM, and CTD, yielding 43 common drug-disease targets. Dual-confidence STRING analysis, cytoHubba ranking, and MCODE module analysis prioritized TNF, IL6, IL1B, PTGS2, PPARG, IFNG, CASP3, and MMP9 as candidate core targets. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment indicated convergence on cytokine-mediated signaling, inflammatory response, immune regulation, oxidative stress, IL-17 signaling, and TNF signaling. Molecular docking suggested favorable predicted interactions for quercitrin-PTGS2, quercetin-TNF, quercetin-IL6, and quercitrin-CASP3. These computational findings suggest that H. cordata may be associated with host inflammatory and immune-response modulation in MBP, mainly through flavonoid-related interactions with inflammation- and apoptosis-related targets. Further bovine-specific experimental validation is required before biological activity or practical application can be inferred.