Exploration of “principle-recipe-composition-target-activity” association of Bupleuri Radix and Scutellariae Radix drug pair for diabetes treatment based on network pharmacology / 药学学报

ABSTRACT

By using the integrated pharmacology platform and the big data of traditional Chinese medicine combined with the pharmacology thinking of "principle-recipe-composition-target-pathway-activity" in this study, we predicted the material basis and mechanisms of Bupleuri Radix and Scutellariae Radix drug pair for the treatment of diabetes. Fifty-nine active components were predicted, which included saponins, flavones, essential oil, fatty acids and so on. They acted on twenty-two direct targets and twenty-six main pathways respectively.The known disease targets of diabetes include arginine vasopressin receptor gene (AVP), retinoblastoma (RB1), receptor active modified protein (RAMP), platelet growth factor receptor (PDGFR), insulin receptor (INSR), α-glucosidase (GAA), etc. The pathways with diabetes effect involves endocrine system, circulatory system, digestive system, thyroid hormone signaling pathway, ErbB signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, lipid metabolism and other related biological processes and metabolic pathways. The results of virtual screening in molecular docking technology indicate that flavonoids from Bupleuri Radix and Scutellariae Radix drug pair can easily form good docking mode and high affinity with peroxisome proliferators activated receptor γ (PPAR-γ) and glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), showing antidiabetic activity. The study provides information for the treatment of diabetes by Bupleuri Radix and Scutellariae Radix drug pair, and a new thought for the study of drug pair and complex prescription.