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Investigation on the Mechanisms of Zanthoxylum bungeanum for Treating Diabetes Mellitus Based on Network Pharmacology, Molecular Docking, and Experiment Verification

Huang Y, Gong Z, Yan C, Zheng K, Zhang L, Li J, Liang E, Zhang L et al.

BioMed research international, 2023

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to explore the potential mechanism of Zanthoxylum bungeanum in the treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM) using network pharmacology.

METHODS: The DrugBank database and TCMSP platform were used to search for the main chemical components and their targets of Zanthoxylum bungeanum, and the genes related to diabetes mellitus were obtained from the genecards database. Import the data into the Venny 2.1.0 platform for intersection analysis to obtain the Zanthoxylum bungeanum-DM-gene dataset. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis of Zanthoxylum bungeanum-DM gene was performed using the String data platform, and the visualization and network topology analysis were performed using Cytoscape 3.8.2. The KEGG pathway enrichment and biological process of GO enrichment analysis were carried out using the David platform. The active ingredients and key targets of Zanthoxylum bungeanum were molecularly docked to verify their biological activities by using Discovery Studio 2019 software. Zanthoxylum bungeanum was extracted and isolated by ethanol and dichloromethane. HepG2 cells were cultured, and cell viability assay was utilized to choose the suitable concentration of Zanthoxylum bungeanum extract (ZBE). The western blot assay was used for measuring the expression of AKT1, IL6, HSP90AA1, FOS, and JUN proteins in HepG2 cells.

RESULTS: A total of 5 main compounds, 339 targets, and 16656 disease genes were obtained and retrieved, respectively. A total…

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