Mechanism of Polygonum capitatum on atherosclerosis based on data mining
- VernacularTitle:基于数据挖掘探讨头花蓼对动脉粥样硬化的作用机制
- Author:
Zi YE
1
;
Yun-pei WANG
;
Yu-hui WANG
;
Xun-de XIAN
;
Xiao-jie LI
;
Chun-hua HUANG
;
Yuan-zhu LIAO
;
Di-dong LOU
;
Yi-xia ZHOU
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords: atherosclerosis; Polygonum capitatum; network pharmacology; molecular docking; phenotypic switching of aortic smooth muscle; MMP-9/NF-κB/MCPIP1
- From: Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(12):2369-2378
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
- Abstract: Aim To systematically investigate the ac-tive components,targets,and regulatory pathways of Po-lygonum capitatum in intervening atherosclerosis(AS)through network pharmacology,molecular docking and animal experiments.Methods Active components of Polygonum capitatum and AS-related targets were screened and identified through database searches.Protein-protein interaction(PPI)network analysis was performed using the STRING database,followed by GO and KEGG enrichment analyses via the David plat-form.Molecular docking validation was conducted with AutoDock.An AS model was established in Syrian golden hamsters fed a high-fat diet.Predicted pathways and targets were validated using qPCR,ELISA,and histopathological assessment of aortic and hepatic tis-sues via HE staining.Results Network pharmacology identified 27 potential active components of Polygonum capitatum(primarily flavonoids such as quercetin and luteolin)and 110 drug-disease intersection targets,in-cluding core targets MMP-9,ALB,and AKT1.GO and KEGG analyses enriched 593 and 125 pathways,re-spectively,with the NF-κB inflammatory pathway,TNF signaling pathway and lipid metabolism/atherosclerosis pathways highlighted as key mechanisms.Animal ex-periments demonstrated that Polygonum capitatum im-proved serum lipid profiles(reduced TC,TG,LDL-C)in AS hamsters,suppressed the MMP-9/NF-κB signa-ling pathway(downregulated MMP-9,p65 phosphoryla-tion,TNF-α,and IL-6),and inhibited VSMC synthetic phenotypic transformation(upregulated α-SMA and myocardin)by downregulating MCPIP1.Additionally,Polygonum capitatum ameliorated aortic lesions and he-patic lipid deposition in AS hamsters.Conclusions Polygonum capitatum alleviates AS by synergistically regulating the MMP-9/NF-κB/MCPIP1 axis through flavonoid components,suppressing vascular inflammato-ry cascades and maintaining VSMC contractile pheno-types.This reflects Polygonum capitatum's multi-com-ponent,multi-pathway,and multi-target characteristics in combating AS.
