Effect and mechanism of salt-processed Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex in improving insulin resistance based on network pharmacology and experimental verification.
10.19540/j.cnki.cjcmm.20240218.302
- Author:
Jin-Jie LEI
1
;
Yang-Miao XIA
1
;
Shang-Ling ZHAO
1
;
Rui TAN
2
;
Ling-Ying YU
1
;
Zhi-Min CHEN
1
Author Information
1. State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, School of Pharmacy,Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Chengdu 611137, China.
2. School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu 610075, China.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
HepG2 cells;
Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex;
insulin resistance;
molecular docking;
network pharmacology;
salt-processing
- MeSH:
Humans;
Network Pharmacology;
Phellodendron/chemistry*;
Insulin Resistance;
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry*;
Hep G2 Cells;
Signal Transduction/drug effects*;
Molecular Docking Simulation;
Protein Interaction Maps/drug effects*;
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/genetics*;
Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/genetics*;
Glucose/metabolism*
- From:
China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica
2025;50(9):2373-2381
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
This study explores the therapeutic differences and mechanisms of salt-processed Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex in improving insulin resistance(IR) based on network pharmacology, molecular docking, and cellular experiments. The components and intersection targets of Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex in improving IR were collected from databases, and a "drug-component-target-disease" network and protein-protein interaction(PPI) network were constructed to screen core components and targets. A total of 29 active components and 240 intersection targets were identified, of which 13 were core targets. Gene Ontology(GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were used to identify key signaling pathways, and molecular docking was performed to validate the binding activity between core components and targets. An IR model in HepG2 cells was induced using insulin combined with high glucose, and the effects of Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex before and after salt-processing on cell glucose consumption were evaluated. The expression of proteins related to the mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)-protein kinase B(AKT) signaling pathways was detected by Western blot. The cellular experimental results showed that, compared with the model group, glucose consumption in the drug-treated groups was significantly increased(P<0.01), the phosphorylation level of extracellular regulated protein kinase(ERK) was decreased(P<0.05), the phosphorylation levels of PI3K and AKT were increased, and the expression of glucose transporter 4(GLUT4) was also upregulated(P<0.05). Furthermore, the effect of salt-processed Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex was better than that of raw Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex. The study demonstrates that Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex, both before and after salt-processing, improves IR by regulating the expression of related proteins in the MAPK and PI3K-AKT signaling pathways, with enhanced effects after salt-processing.
