To study the molecular mechanism of Astragali Radix for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,we used the active ingredients of Astragali Radix as an entry point,based on network pharmacology and molecular docking.Firstly,the active ingredients of Astragali Radix were screened by TCMSP.The potential targets of Astragali Radix chemical components were predicted by Swiss Target Prediction.GeneCards and CTD were used to screen out the related genes of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,and obtain the potential targets of Astragali Radix for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.Bioinformatics analysis of the potential targets were conducted to clarify the key targets.Secondly,molecular docking (SYBYL 2.1.1) was used to verify the degree of binding between key targets and the chemical components of Astragali Radix.Then,HE staining,Masson staining and ELISA were used to verify the results of network pharmacological enrichment analysis.Finally,through network pharmacology preliminary screening,29 signal pathways and 25 targets of Astragali Radix were obtained for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,among which the IL-17 signal pathway,EGFR signal pathway and HIF-1 signal pathway were disease-related pathways.And PTGS2,VEGFA,MMP-9,STAT3 and EGFR were the key targets.Through molecular docking,we found that the six chemical components in Astragali Radix had good combination with the five key targets.Both HE staining and Masson staining suggested that Astragali Radix and its active ingredient folic acid had therapeutic effect on bleomycin-induced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in rats,and could reduce the degree of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in rats.ELISA showed that Astragali Radix and its active ingredient folic acid could reduce the expression of IL-17 and MMP-9 in serum of rats.This study clarified the key targets and main chemical components of Astragali Radix for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis through network pharmacology,molecular docking and experimental verification,and provides new ideas and methods for the development of the effective components and mechanism of Astragali Radix for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and provides a theoretical basis for the clinical application of Astragali Radix for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.