The Effect and Mechanism of <i>Fructus lycii</i> on Improvement of Exercise Fatigue Using a Network Pharmacological Approach with <i>in vitro</i> Experimental Verification.

Xiao Ning JI; Zhao Ping Liu; Chao Zheng Zhang; Min Chen; Jiang Liang; Jiang LU; Lei Zhang

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The Effect and Mechanism of Fructus lycii on Improvement of Exercise Fatigue Using a Network Pharmacological Approach with in vitro Experimental Verification.

Author: Xiao Ning JI ^{1
,

2} ; Zhao Ping LIU ² ; Chao Zheng ZHANG ² ; Min CHEN ³ ; Jiang LIANG ² ; Jiang LU ⁴ ; Lei ZHANG ²
Author Information

1. National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
2. China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing 100022, China.
3. National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.
4. Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China.
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: Exercise fatigue; Fructus lycii; Network pharmacology
MeSH: Humans; Quercetin/therapeutic use*; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Fatigue/drug therapy*
From: Biomedical and Environmental Sciences 2024;37(1):42-53
CountryChina
Language:English
Abstract: OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to investigate the effect and underlying mechanism of Fructus lycii in improving exercise fatigue.
METHODS:A network pharmacological approach was used to explore potential mechanisms of action of Fructus lycii. Skeletal muscle C2C12 cells and immunofluorescence were employed to verify the effect and mechanism of the representative components in Fructus lycii predicted by network pharmacological analysis.
RESULTS:Six potential active components, namely quercetin, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, 7-O-methylluteolin-6-C-beta-glucoside_qt, atropine, and glycitein, were identified to have potency in improving exercise fatigue via multiple pathways, such as the PI3K-Akt, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, IL-17, TNF, and MAPK signaling pathways. The immunofluorescence results indicated that quercetin, a significant active component in Fructus lycii, increased the mean staining area of 2-NBDG, TMRM, and MitoTracker, and decreased the area of CellRox compared to the control. Furthermore, the protein expression levels of p-38 MAPK, p-MAPK, p-JNK, p-PI3K, and p-AKT markedly increased after quercetin treatment.
CONCLUSION:Fructus lycii might alleviate exercise fatigue through multiple components and pathways. Among these, quercetin appears to improve exercise fatigue by enhancing energy metabolism and reducing oxidative stress. The PI3K-AKT and MAPK signaling pathways also appear to play a role in this process.