Investigating the inflammatory mechanism of notoginsenoside R1 in Diabetic nephropathy via ITGB8 based on network pharmacology and experimental validation.

BACKGROUND

Diabetes often causes diabetic nephropathy (DN), a serious long-term complication. It is characterized by chronic proteinuria, hypertension, and kidney function decline, can progress to end-stage renal disease, lowering patients' quality of life and lifespan. Inflammation and apoptosis are key to DN development. Network pharmacology, clinical correlation, and basic experimental validation to find out how NGR1 might work to reduce inflammation in DN treatment. The study aims to improve DN treatment with new findings.

METHODS

To determine how NGR1 treats DN, this study used network pharmacology, clinical correlation, and basic experimental validation. Three methods were used to predict NGR1 drug targets: ChEMBL, SuperPred, and Swiss Target Prediction. Drug targets are linked to diseases by molecular docking. A clinical correlation analysis using the Nephroseq Classic (V4) database looked at the strong link between medication targets and the development, progression, and renal function of DN. Additional research showed that NGR1 reduces high blood sugar-induced podocyte inflammation.

RESULTS

The integrin subunit beta 8 (ITGB8) protein is a potential NGR1 therapeutic target for DN. It may be linked to inflammatory proteins like caspase 3 and IL-18. Validation of the molecular docking showed that SER-407, ALA-22, Ala-343, and TYR-406 form hydrogen bonds with NGR1 and ITGB8. These interactions represent pharmacodynamic targets. Clinical correlation showed that DN patients had significantly lower ITGB8 expression levels than healthy individuals. Between 50 and 80 years old, DN patients' ITGB8 expression levels decreased. ITGB8 expression was lowest in renal function conditions, with eGFR values of 15-29 ml/min/1.73 m2. In the db/db mouse model, downregulation of ITGB8 expression in renal tissue was associated with renal inflammatory damage. The hyperglycemic group had significantly lower levels of nephrin and caspase-3 protein, but higher levels of cleaved caspase-1 protein. Giving NGR1 in different amounts (1, 3, 10, and 30 µM) greatly decreased the expression of caspase3, stopped the expression of cleaved caspase1, and lowered the damage caused by NLRP3 in podocytes.

CONCLUSION

We identified several NGR1 pharmacological targets and found that the ITGB8 protein is a key drug target linked to inflammation and DN. ITGB8 is critical for DN development and can help to reduce high blood sugar-induced podocyte inflammation.