NATURAL PRODUCT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ›› 2022, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (4): 677-686.doi: 10.16333/j.1001-6880.2022.4.016

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Study on mechanism of Cistanches Herba in the treatment of liver fibrosis based on network pharmacology,molecular docking and experimental verification

ZHANG Bo-rui1,MA Qian-qian1,WANG Wen-yi1,ZHANG Shi-lei1,LIU Tao1,ZHAO Jun2,MA Long1*   

  1. 1School of Public Health,Xinjiang Medical University,Urumqi 830054,China;2Key Laboratory of Uygur Medicine,Xinjiang Pharmaceutical Research Institute,Urumqi 830004,China
  • Online:2022-04-29 Published:2022-04-29

Abstract:

To study the mechanism of active components of Cistanches Herba in the treatment of liver fibrosis from the point of view of drugs,diseases and targets.The effective components of Cistanches Herba were collected through traditional Chinese medicine system pharmacology database and analysis platform (TCMSP),traditional Chinese medicine encyclopedia database (ETCM),traditional Chinese medicine research comprehensive database (TCMID),CNKI database,PubMed and other databases.The target genes of active components of Cistanches Herba were obtained by Uniprot database,and the disease genes of liver fibrosis were collected by GeneCards database and OMIM database,the active component targets were intersected with liver fibrosis targets,and the traditional Chinese medicine-active components-disease network was drawn.Protein interaction network (PPI) was constructed by String database and Cytoscape 3.7.1 software.GO function and KEGG pathway were enriched by DAVID database.Animal model of liver fibrosis was established,the contents of LN,HA,PCIII and Col IV in mouse liver tissue were detected by ELISA kit,liver histopathological changes were observed by HE and Masson staining,and the transcription of PI3K and AKT mRNA was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR.Eight active components of Cistanches Herba,157 targets and 1 005 targets of liver fibrosis were collected and screened,and 92 targets intersected with each other,involving 5 main signal pathways,including cancer signal pathway,hepatitis B virus signal pathway,PI3K-AKT signal pathway,tumor necrosis factor signal pathway,proteoglycan and cancer.The animal experiment showed that compared with the model group,the high,middle and low dose groups of total phenylethanol glycosides of Cistanches Herba (700,350,175 mg/kg) could significantly reduce the contents of LN,HA,PCIII and Col IV in liver tissue of mice with liver fibrosis.The pathological observation of liver tissue showed that total phenylethanol glycosides of Cistanches Herba could reduce hepatocyte injury and collagen fiber deposition.The real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR detection showed that the mRNA expression of PI3K and AKT in the liver tissue of model group was significantly up-regulated compared with normal group.Compared with model group,the mRNA expression of PI3K and AKT in the high,middle and low dose groups of total phenylethanol glycosides of Cistanches Herba significantly decreased,and its mechanism may delay the progression of liver fibrosis by inhibiting the activation of PI3K-AKT pathway.The total phenylethanol glycosides of Cistanches Herba have the effect of anti-fibrosis,which lays a foundation for further study on the pharmacological effects of Cistanches Herba.

Key words: Cistanches Herba, network pharmacology, molecular docking liver fibrosis, target

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