Abstract: OBJECTIVE To screen the potential drug targets and signaling pathways of Acanthopanax senticosus for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease(AD) by bioinformatics and network pharmacology-based approach, and to preliminarily validate its efficacy. METHODS The ingredients of Acanthopanax senticosus were obtained through literature, the ingredients were screened by Swiss ADME, and potential targets were predicted by Swiss Target Prediction. AD’s differentially expressed genes were screened from the GSE28146 dataset. The target of Acanthopanax senticosus and AD target were mapped to construct a “drug-ingredients-potential target-disease” network and protein-protein interaction network. The DAVID database was used for GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. Autodock software was used to verify the molecular docking between key active ingredients and core targets. AD mice model was induced by D-galactose combined with aluminum chloride. Morris water maze test was performed to examine the learning memory ability of each group of mice and to observe the pathological changes in the hippocampus of mice. RESULTS Screened to obtain 24 active components and 74 potential targets of Acanthopanax senticosus for the treatment of AD. “Drug-ingredients-potential target-disease” network indicated that quercetin and kaempferol were the main components of Acanthopanax senticosus for the treatment of AD, and the protein-protein interaction network indicated that STAT3, MAPK1 and PIK3CA were the key targets. Obtained 366 GO enrichment entries(P<0.01) and 109 KEGG enrichment pathways(P<0.01). It mainly involved PI3K-AKT, AGE-RAGE, TNF and other pathways. The molecular docking results showed that the main active ingredients of Acanthopanax senticosus were able to bind well to the main targets. The in vivo pharmacological results showed that Acanthopanax senticosus could significantly improve the learning and memory ability of mice, reduce hippocampal tissue damage, and decrease the content of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in hippocampal tissue. CONCLUSION Acanthopanax senticosus may exert anti-AD effects by inhibiting the expression of inflammatory factors and reducing inflammatory damage.