Exploring the mechanism of Zhuanggu Zhitong Formula in treating postmenopausal osteoporosis based on network pharmacology and molecular docking
Objective:To explore the potential target and mechanism of Zhuanggu Zhitong formula in the treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis.Methods:The PPI network of drug action targets was screened from the BATMAN-TCM database and PMOP disease targets were obtained from GeneCards,TTD,and OMIM databases.This network was then established using the STRING database and visualized with Cytoscape software to create a 'drug-active ingredient-target-disease' network.Additional-ly,molecular docking was employed to confirm the binding ability between core active components and key targets.Molecular docking technique was used to verify the binding ability of core active components to key targets.The animal model of postmeno-pausal osteoporosis was established.Mirco-CT and HE staining were used to explore the effect of Zhuanggu Zhitong formula in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.RT-PCR was used to evaluate the expression of mRNA.Results:69 active ingredient targets and disease common targets of Zhuanggu Zhitong formula were obtained.The key targets of PPI analysis were PPARG,PTGS2,ESR1 and so on.Drug-active ingredient-target-disease network revealed that the core active components were stigmaster-ol,isopsoralen,ursolic acid,oleanolic acid and so on.The results of molecular docking showed that they had strong binding abili-ty.GO function analysis showed that the main biological function was the response to hormones.The main pathways related to KEGG enrichment were the pathogenesis of cancer,estrogen signal pathway and so on.CT scanning and HE staining can effec-tively relieve postmenopausal osteoporosis.RT-PCR showed that the expression of PTGS2mRNA was significantly increased and the expression of PPARG was significantly decreased in Zhuanggu Zhitong group.Conclusion:Zhuanggu Zhitong formula can treat PMOP with multi-components,multi-targets and multi-pathways.The main components of Zhuanggu Zhitong formula are stig-masterol,Angelicin,ursolic acid and oleanolic acid.Zhuanggu Zhitong formula acts on human INS,AKT1,PPARG,PTGS2 and ESR1 through metabolic pathway and estrogen signal pathway.