Clinical Research Center, Hainan Hospital, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Haikou, 570100, China.
Science and Technology Innovation Center, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510000, China.
Alzheimers Res Ther. 2024 Nov 19;16(1):251. doi: 10.1186/s13195-024-01618-1.
BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder for which no effective therapy is currently available. Given that various attempts to target beta-amyloid (Aβ) have been unsuccessful in clinical trials, other potential pathogenic factors such as brain energy metabolism (EM) have attracted increasing attention. Traditional Chinese medicines, including danggui-shaoyao-san (DSS), play a notable role in AD. However, it remains unclear whether DSS exerts therapeutic effects on AD through EM regulation. METHODS: In this study, we conducted behavioural tests, Nissl staining, haematoxylin and eosin staining, and thioflavin S staining, in APP/PS1 mice to assess the pharmacodynamic effect of DSS on AD. Subsequently, we integrated the drug target network of herbal ingredients in DSS and evaluated their absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity properties to identify the core ingredients. We used proteomic and metabolomic approaches to explore the potential mechanisms of action of DSS against AD. Consequently, we verified the mechanism underlying EM using qPCR, western blotting, and ELISA. RESULTS: In vivo experimental results revealed that DSS ameliorated cognitive impairment in APP/PS1 mice, attenuated neuronal apoptosis, and reduced Aβ burden. Furthermore, the drug-target network comprised 6,514 drug-target interactions involving 1,118 herbal ingredients and 218 AD genes, of which 253 were identified as the core ingredients in DSS. The proteomic results implied that DSS could act on EM to alleviate AD, and targeted energy metabolomics suggested that DSS regulated 47 metabolites associated with EM. Mechanistically, we found that DSS could regulate the GSK3β/PGC1α signalling pathway to improve brain glucose uptake and mitigate mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress, ultimately promoting EM to treat AD. CONCLUSION: Our study is the first to integrate multi-omics approaches to reveal that DSS could regulate the GSK3β/PGC1α signalling pathway to exert therapeutic effects in AD through the promotion of EM, thereby providing new insights into the mechanism of action of DSS against AD.
背景:阿尔茨海默病(AD)是最常见的神经退行性疾病,目前尚无有效的治疗方法。鉴于针对β-淀粉样蛋白(Aβ)的各种尝试在临床试验中均未成功,因此其他潜在的致病因素,如大脑能量代谢(EM),引起了越来越多的关注。传统中药,包括当归芍药散(DSS),在 AD 中发挥着显著的作用。然而,DSS 是否通过调节 EM 对 AD 发挥治疗作用尚不清楚。
方法:在这项研究中,我们对 APP/PS1 小鼠进行了行为学测试、尼氏染色、苏木精和伊红染色以及硫黄素 S 染色,以评估 DSS 对 AD 的药效。随后,我们整合了 DSS 中草药成分的药物靶标网络,并评估了它们的吸收、分布、代谢、排泄和毒性特性,以确定核心成分。我们使用蛋白质组学和代谢组学方法探索了 DSS 对抗 AD 的潜在作用机制。随后,我们使用 qPCR、western blotting 和 ELISA 验证了 EM 相关的机制。
结果:体内实验结果表明,DSS 改善了 APP/PS1 小鼠的认知障碍,减轻了神经元凋亡,减少了 Aβ的负担。此外,药物-靶标网络包含 6514 个药物-靶标相互作用,涉及 1118 种草药成分和 218 个 AD 基因,其中 253 种被确定为 DSS 的核心成分。蛋白质组学结果表明,DSS 可以通过作用于 EM 来缓解 AD,靶向能量代谢组学表明 DSS 调节了 47 种与 EM 相关的代谢物。在机制上,我们发现 DSS 可以调节 GSK3β/PGC1α 信号通路,改善大脑葡萄糖摄取,减轻线粒体功能障碍和氧化应激,从而促进 EM 治疗 AD。
结论:我们的研究首次整合了多组学方法,揭示了 DSS 通过促进 EM 来调节 GSK3β/PGC1α 信号通路,从而发挥对 AD 的治疗作用,为 DSS 治疗 AD 的作用机制提供了新的见解。
J Ethnopharmacol. 2020-5-10
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2024-8-10
Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2025-1-7
Pharmacol Res. 2024-8
Alzheimers Dement. 2024-5
J Prev Alzheimers Dis. 2024