Mechanism of Dipsaci Radix in treatment of osteoporosis based on systematic pharmacology / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the possible mechanism of Dipsaci Radix in the treatment of osteoporosis based on systems pharmacology method. Methods The drug components of Dipsaci Radix were obtained from TCMSP database to screen active ingredients and predict target protein. The target protein of osteoporosis was searched in the TTD and CTD database in order to build Drug-Target protein-Disease interaction Network. Then, the analysis on the role of core target protein pathways were performed by DAVID tool. The protein interaction network of primary signal pathways was built in String database. Results Seven active ingredients of Dipsaci Radix and their 63 target proteins were obtained, 118 targets of osteoporosis were selected, and 118 cross-acting proteins between Dipsaci Radix and osteoporosis were obtained. Then 24 signaling pathways related to cell proliferation and differentiation and immune function were enriched, wherein PI3K-AKT signaling pathway contained the largest number of related genes. String database analysis showed that AKT1, MAPK1, and MAPK3 protein appeared frequently in signal pathways. Conclusion Dipsaci Radix may affect the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway mainly through AKT1, MAPK1, and MAPK3 for the treatment of osteoporosis. This study provides a new idea for the further mechanism study on the treatment of osteoporosis of Dipsaci Radix.