Identification of the Key Role of NF-κB Signaling Pathway in the Treatment of Osteoarthritis With Bushen Zhuangjin Decoction, a Verification Based on Network Pharmacology Approach

Frontiers in Pharmacology

Yunteng Xu¹  Xihai Li²  Xiaojuan He³  Hui Li³  Shengjie Wang³  Tetsuya Asakawa⁴  Hongzhi Ye⁶  Yanfeng Huang⁶  Lili Wang⁶  Changlong Fu⁶ 

[1] Academy of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, China;College of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, China;College of Pharmacy Science, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, China;Department of Neurology, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China;Department of Neurosurgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu-city, Japan;Fujian Key Laboratory of Integrative Medicine on Geriatrics, Fuzhou, China;Research Base of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, China;

关键词: network pharmacology approach;    complex herbal formulations;    molecular targets;    osteoarthritis;    Bushen Zhuangjin decoction;    NF-κB signaling pathway;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fphar.2021.637273

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This study aimed to identify whether the NF-κB signaling pathway plays a key role in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) with Bushen Zhuangjin Decoction (BZD) based on a typical network pharmacology approach (NPA). Four sequential experiments were performed: 1) conventional high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), 2) preliminary observation of the therapeutic effects of BZD, 3) NPA using three OA-related gene expression profiles, and 4) verification of the key pathway identified by NPA. Only one HPLC-verified compound (paeoniflorin) was identified from the candidate compounds discovered by NPA. The genes verified in the preliminary observation were also identified by NPA. NPA identified a key role for the NF-κB signaling pathway in the treatment of OA with BZD, which was confirmed by conventional western blot analysis. This study identified and verified NF-κB signaling pathway as the most important inflammatory signaling pathway involved in the mechanisms of BZD for treating OA by comparing the NPA results with conventional methods. Our findings also indicate that NPA is a powerful tool for exploring the molecular targets of complex herbal formulations, such as BZD.

【 授权许可】

Unknown