Eye School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 37 Shi Er Qiao Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu, 610036, China.
National Key Laboratory of Human Factors Engineering, China Astronaut Research and Training Center, Lvyuan Road, Haidin District, Beijing, 100089, China.
Sci Rep. 2021 Apr 1;11(1):7382. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-86914-8.
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of irreversible blindness globally. Qidengmingmu Capsule (QC) is a Chinese patent medicine used to treat DR, but the molecular mechanism of the treatment remains unknown. In this study, we identified and validated potential molecular mechanisms involved in the treatment of DR with QC via network pharmacology and molecular docking methods. The results of Ingredient-DR Target Network showed that 134 common targets and 20 active ingredients of QC were involved. According to the results of enrichment analysis, 2307 biological processes and 40 pathways were related to the treatment effects. Most of these processes and pathways were important for cell survival and were associated with many key factors in DR, such as vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGFA), hypoxia-inducible factor-1A (HIF-1Α), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα). Based on the results of the PPI network and KEGG enrichment analyses, we selected AKT1, HIF-1α, VEGFA, TNFα and their corresponding active ingredients for molecular docking. According to the molecular docking results, several key targets of DR (including AKT1, HIF-1α, VEGFA, and TNFα) can form stable bonds with the corresponding active ingredients of QC. In conclusion, through network pharmacology methods, we found that potential biological mechanisms involved in the alleviation of DR by QC are related to multiple biological processes and signaling pathways. The molecular docking results also provide us with sound directions for further experiments.
糖尿病视网膜病变（DR）是全球范围内导致不可逆性失明的主要原因。芪灯明目胶囊（QC）是一种用于治疗 DR 的中药方剂，但治疗的分子机制尚不清楚。在这项研究中，我们通过网络药理学和分子对接方法，确定并验证了 QC 治疗 DR 的潜在分子机制。成分-DR 靶标网络的结果表明，134 个共同靶标和 QC 的 20 种活性成分参与其中。根据富集分析的结果，有 2307 个生物过程和 40 个途径与治疗效果相关。这些过程和途径大多对细胞存活很重要，与 DR 中的许多关键因素有关，如血管内皮生长因子-A（VEGFA）、缺氧诱导因子-1A（HIF-1Α）和肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNFα）。基于 PPI 网络和 KEGG 富集分析的结果，我们选择 AKT1、HIF-1α、VEGFA、TNFα及其相应的活性成分进行分子对接。根据分子对接结果，DR 的几个关键靶标（包括 AKT1、HIF-1α、VEGFA 和 TNFα）可以与 QC 的相应活性成分形成稳定的键。总之，通过网络药理学方法，我们发现 QC 缓解 DR 的潜在生物学机制与多个生物学过程和信号通路有关。分子对接结果也为我们进一步的实验提供了合理的方向。
