## 3 Results
### Host Modulation Effects Based on Target Prediction  
To complement the in vitro findings, an in silico analysis was conducted to predict potential interactions between carvacrol, thymol and vitamin C and human proteins. The SwissTargetPrediction platform [28] was used to identify the 15 most probable targets for each compound, based on structural similarity and probability scores derived from the UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot database [29]. The predicted targets and their corresponding UniProt identifiers are shown in Figure 4.  
Figure 4: ProteinTargets and UniProt IDs of selected proteins [28; 29].  
Thymol and carvacrol exhibited a comparable number of predicted targets. Among the most frequently identified protein classes for thymol were serotonin receptors (5-HT2B, 5-HT2C), GABA-A receptors, the norepinephrine transporter, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and tyrosine-protein kinases. Carvacrol shared several of these targets but also showed interactions with TRP channels and enzymes involved in metabolic pathways. In contrast, vitamin C was associated with a distinct set of targets, including oxidoreductases and proteins related to cell cycle regulation and antioxidant activity.  
The STRING analysis revealed that the predicted targets of thymol, carvacrol and vitamin C were functionally associated with key biological processes, including inflammatory signaling, antioxidant defense and components of the innate immune response. The resulting interaction network revealed three distinct functional clusters, each associated with specific biological processes, as shown by the color-coded groupings in Figure 5. The largest cluster comprises proteins involved in inflammatory signaling and immune regulation, including GSK3B, JAK1 and STAT3--key modulators of pathways such as NF-kB, IL-6 and TNF-\(\alpha\). The second cluster is primarily associated with antioxidant responses, while the third includes targets related to neurotransmission and cellular homeostasis.  
Figure 5: Protein–protein interaction (PPI) network of predicted human targets of carvacrol, thymol vitamin C, generated using STRING v11.5 [30]. Nodes represent proteins; edges indicate predicted functional associations. Line colors reflect the source of interaction evidence: pink (experiments), blue (databases), green (neighborhood), black (co-expression), yellow (text mining) and light blue (co-occurrence). The three functional clusters—inflammation (red circle), neurotransmission (green circle) and oxidative stress (blue circle)—are labeled based on biological roles of the included proteins. Key nodes such as JAK1, STAT3 and GSK3B appear centrally within the inflammatory cluster.  
Subsequent pathway analysis using the Reactome [31] database identified a total of 136 signaling pathways associated with at least one of the predicted targets. These included pathways involved in cytokine signaling, transcriptional regulation, redox homeostasis, cellular stress responses and general metabolic processes. A summary of the enriched pathways linked to the three compounds is provided in Figure 6.  
This analysis offers a closer look at the predicted interactions between protein targets, drawing attention to key hubs such as JAK1, STAT3 and GSK3B--known regulators of inflammatory pathways involving NF-kB and IL-6. To further interpret these interactions, Reactome analysis was performed, identifying 136 signaling pathways associated with at least one predicted target, including cytokine signaling, redox homeostasis, mitochondrial function and cell cycle regulation. Although descriptive, the findings provide valuable insight into potential host-mediated mechanisms through which the studied compounds might exert effects related to oxidative stress, immune responses and cellular signaling.