Network pharmacology-based strategy for predicting therapy targets of Sanqi and Huangjing in diabetes mellitus
Xiaoyan Cui, Xiao Wu, Dan Lü, Dan Wang
Abstract
BACKGROUND: , respectively. However, the combined effects of SQHJ on diabetes mellitus (DM) are still unclear. AIM: To explore the potential mechanism of Panax notoginseng (Sanqi in Chinese) and Polygonati Rhizoma (Huangjing in Chinese) for the treatment of DM using network pharmacology. METHODS: The active components of SQHJ and targets were predicted and screened by network pharmacology through oral bioavailability and drug-likeness filtration using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Analysis Platform database. The potential targets for the treatment of DM were identified according to the DisGeNET database. A comparative analysis was performed to investigate the overlapping genes between active component targets and DM treatment-related targets. We constructed networks of the active component-target and target pathways of SQHJ using Cytoscape software and then analyzed the gene functions. Using the STRING database to perform an interaction analysis among overlapping genes and a topological analysis, the interactions between potential targets were identified. Gene Ontology (GO) function analyses and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses were conducted in DAVID. RESULTS: were the major active components. The mechanism underlying the SQHJ intervention effects in DM may involve nine core targets (TP53, AKT1, CASP3, TNF, interleukin-6, PTGS2, MMP9, JUN, and MAPK1). The screening and enrichment analysis revealed that the treatment of DM using SQHJ primarily involved 16 GO enriched terms and 13 related pathways. CONCLUSION: SQHJ treatment for DM targets TP53, AKT1, CASP3, and TNF and participates in pathways in leishmaniasis and cancer.