Title:To Explore the Mechanism of “Fuzi-Guizhi” for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis
on the Basis of Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking
Volume: 26
Issue: 4
Author(s): De-Ta Chen*, Xue Shen*, Yu-Mei Li, Lin Chen, Yan-Bin Pan, Xiao-Ping Sheng, Wu Rao, Xiao-Liang Xie, Jing-Liang Gu, Hai-Xia Zhu, Tian-You Fan and Min-Lei Qiu
Affiliation:
- Department of Orthopaedics, Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of
Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200071, China
- Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of
Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China
Keywords:
Traditional Chinese medicine, cartilage degeneration, apoptosis, ATP, caspase-3, Fuzi-Guizhi.
Abstract:
Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze and verify the main drug components
and targets of "Fuzi-Guizhi" in the treatment of osteoarthritis by using the network pharmacology
platform.
Methods: The integrated pharmacology of "Fuzi-Guizhi" was analyzed by using the platform of
integrated pharmacology of traditional Chinese medicine to explore its mechanism in the treatment
of osteoarthritis. By establishing an arthritis model in vitro, the pharmacological effect of "aconitecassia
twigs" on articular cartilage was evaluated and conducted for molecular docking.
Results: 28 candidate active components, 37 compound targets, and 583 osteoarthritis-related potential
targets were screened, and 10 key target processes were screened in the protein interaction
network model. Enrichment analysis showed that the 10 core targets involved 958 GO biologic
function items and 76 KEGG signal pathways, which were mainly related to apoptosis and mitochondrial
functional metabolism and "Fuzi-Guizhi" drug-containing serum inhibited the expression
of Caspase-3 mRNA and protein in chondrocytes and promoted the synthesis of ATP.
Conclusion: Our research is preliminary that the mechanism of action of "Fuzi-Guizhi" may inhibit
chondrocyte degeneration by resisting mitochondrial apoptosis, and further experimental research
is required to determine.
