To systematically analyze the main active ingredients, potential therapeutic targets, and mechanism of action of Honghuapingyou granules in the treatment of verruca plana by network pharmacology, and to establish the quality control index for Honghuapingyou granules on this basis.

With the help of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) database, the SwissTargetPrediction database, and the Symptom Mapping (SymMap) database, the main active components and targets of Honghuapingyou granules were screened. The relevant targets of verruca plana were retrieved with the help of the Human Gene Database GeneCards and the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database. The Protein-Protein Interaction Networks (PPI) diagram of potential targets was constructed with the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) database, and the network diagram of "Honghuapingyou granules-active ingredient-target action" was constructed using Cytoscape 3.7.2 software. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed with the help of the gene function annotation analysis database Matascape, and the network diagram of the "active ingredient-core target-signaling pathway" was constructed with Cytoscape software. Finally, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the content of hydroxysafflower yellow A, the main index component in Honghuapingyou granules.

A total of 157 active ingredients and 94 core targets were screened through network pharmacology. In addition, Honghuapingyou granules play a role in the treatment of verruca plana possibly by regulating signaling pathways such as interleukin-17 (IL-17) and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1). The results of HPLC showed that the linear relationship between hydroxysafflower yellow A was good in the range of 6-120 mg/L (r=0.9996), the relative standard deviation (RSD) values of precision, repeatability, and stability were less than 3%, the average recovery rate was 96.17%-101.85%, the RSD was 2.19% (n=6), and the average content was 0.0576 mg/g.

The mechanism of action of Honghuapingyou granules in the treatment of verruca plana has been preliminarily explored through network pharmacology, and the quantitative study of hydroxysafflower yellow A, the selected quality control index component, provides a basis for the study of pharmacodynamics and quality standard improvement of Honghuapingyou granules in the treatment of verruca plana.