RÉSUMÉ
ObjectiveTo investigate the potential active ingredients and targets of Baihu Jia Renshentang（BHJRST） for the treatment of obesity combined with type 2 diabetes mellitus（T2DM） by network pharmacology and in vivo experiments. MethodUltra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/electrostatic field orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS） was used to analyze and identify the material basis of BHJRST. Subsequently， potential targets for the action of the active ingredients were queried in databases such as ChEMBL， Therapeutic Target Database（TTD）， YaTCM， DisGeNET and Traditional Chinese Medicine on Immuno-Oncology（TCMIO）， and the shared targets were identified by taking the intersection of these targets with disease targets. The shared targets were imported into the STRING database to construct a protein-protein interaction（PPI） network， the hub genes were identified by cytoHubba plug-in， and molecular docking was used to validate the binding energy of the hub genes to the bioactive ingredients in BHJRST. Meanwhile， the shared targets were imported into the DAVID platform for gene ontology（GO） functional annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG） pathway enrichment analysis. The predicted results were subsequently verified by animal experiments. Eighteen 8-week-old male skeletal muscle insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor dysfunction（MKR） mice were induced by a high-fat diet for 12 weeks in order to prepare a mouse model of obesity combined with T2DM. The mice were randomly divided into the model group， metformin group（0.2 g·kg-1） and BHJRST group（27 g·kg-1 in raw material）， and another 6 male FVB mice of the same age as the normal group. The mice in each group were were given the corresponding drugs by gavage， and the normal and model groups were given the same amount of distilled water by gavage， 1 time/d for 6 consecutive weeks. At the end of administration， the body mass， Lee's index， fasting blood glucose（FBG）， oral glucose tolerance test（OGTT） of mice in each group were examined， and the pathological morphology of the white adipose tissue of the epididymis was observed， and the expression of the mRNA of the hub genes in the white adipose tissue of the epididymis was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction（Real-time PCR）. ResultA total of 200 bioactive components of BHJRST were identified， of which 64 bioactive components were reverse-matched to 384 targets， and a total of 308 targets were associated with obesity combined with T2DM. Hub genes included mitogen-activated protein kinase 1（MAPK1）， signal transducer and activator of transcription 3（STAT3）， MAPK3， interleukin（IL）-2， Janus kinase 1（JAK1）， nuclear transcription factor-κB p65（RELA）， estrogen receptor 1（ESR1）， transcription factor AP-1（JUN）， MAPK14 and lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase（LCK）. GO functional annotation showed that it was mainly enriched in cytoplasm， cell membrane and nucleus， and was closely related to important biological processes such as peptide serine phosphorylation， protein phosphorylation and inflammation. In KEGG enrichment analysis， metabolic pathway， lipid and atherosclerosis， phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase（PI3K）/protein kinase B（Akt） and MAPK signal pathways were significantly enriched. The molecular docking results showed that the hub genes had a stable binding relationship with 10 bioactive components， including quercetin， isoliquiritigenin， and morin， in BHJRST. The results of animal experiments showed that BHJRST could significantly reduce body mass， Lee's index and FBG levels（P<0.01） in mice with obesity combined with T2DM， improve the pathological changes of white adipose tissue， and down-regulate the the mRNA expression of the hub genes in white adipose tissue of the epididymis（P<0.01）. ConclusionIn this study， 10 potentially active components such as quercetin， isoliquiritigenin， and morin in BHJRST are identified through network pharmacology and animal experiments， and it is possible to treat obesity combined with T2DM by regulating lipid and atherosclerosis， phosphatidylinositol PI3K/Akt and MAPK signal pathways， which provides important clues and theoretical basis for the study of its mechanism and clinical application.