OBJECTIVE: To explore the possible mechanism of "cinnamomi ramulus-aconite"Wentong meridian compatibility in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis（ RA） based on network pharmacology. METHODS: Based on the pharmacological database and analysis platform of traditional Chinese medicine system

the chemical constituents and potential targets of"cinnamomi ramulus"and"aconite"were searched

oral bioavailability ≥30% and drug-likeness ≥0. 18 were selected as the conditions for chemical constituents screening. RA targets were retrieved from Gene Cards database. Cytoscape 3. 6. 0 software was used to draw the network of "cinnamomi ramulus-aconite compatibilitychemical constituents-targets-RA". STRING 11. 0 online software was used to establish the PPI network and mine the core targets. Gene ontology（ GO） function enrichment analysis was performed on the proteins in the potential target network of the compatible active ingredient by using David Bioinformatics Resources database

and pathway enrichment was performed based on Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（ KEGG）. RESULTS: GO function enrichment analysis suggested that the compatibility mainly affected the activity of cysteine-type endopeptidase to participate into the process of apoptosis

tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily binding and other process. Enrichment analysis of KEGG biological pathway suggested that the compatibility affected the signal transduction and disease progression of RA through multiple pathways such as TNF signaling pathway and apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: From the perspective of network pharmacology

this study predicts the possible signal pathway of "cinnamomi ramulus-aconite " Wentong meridian compatibility in the treatment of RA

and lays the certain foundation for the follow-up mechanism research.