Mechanism and Dosage-effect Relationship of Achillea Alpina L.in Preventing and Treating Acute Liver Injury
OBJECTIVE To investigate the mechanism of Achillea alpina L.in preventing and treating acute liver injury and assess the hepatoprotective effect of different doses of Achillea alpina L.(1.56,3.12,6.24,9.36,12.48,15.60 g·kg-1)using network pharmacology and a multi-index comprehensive index method.METHODS Network pharmacology was used to predict the potential targets of Achillea alpina L.in liver injury and its potential relationship with related diseases.The results were validated using molecular docking and immune fluorescence detection.Acute liver injury was induced in rats using carbon tetrachloride and olive oil solution,and multiple indicators were measured,including liver index,ALT,AST,TNF-α,IL-6,IL-1 β,CAT,SOD,GSH-px,MDA,and GSH.Finally,principal component analysis and CRITIC weight analysis were used to comprehensively evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of Achillea alpina L..RESULTS A total of 351 common targets for Achillea alpina L.and acute liver injury were obtained.Network pharmacology analysis revealed that AKT1,TNF and ALB were the top 3 core targets,mainly involving the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.Immune fluorescence staining showed that Achillea alpina L.downregulated the expression of PI3K,AKT,and TNF proteins,while upregulating the expression of ALB protein in the liver of rats with acute liver injury.Compared with the control group,the differences in various indicators in the model group were statistically significant.When compared with the model group,Achillea alpina L.at different doses could better improve the levels of various indicators in rats with acute liver injury and exhibited a certain dose-effect relationship.Through principal component analysis and a multi-index comprehensive index method,it was determined that the dosage of 15.60 g·kg-1 of Achillea alpina L.had the most significant hepatoprotective effect.CONCLUSION Achillea alpina L.has a preventive and therapeutic effect on acute liver injury,which may be related to the regulation of the PI3K signaling pathway by Achillea alpina L.When the dosage of Achillea alpina L.is 15.60 g·kg-1,it exhibits the best therapeutic effect,which provides a basis for the rational clinical application of Achillea alpina L..
Achillea alpina L.PI3K/AKT signal pathwayCRITIC weight analysis methodmulti-index comprehensive index methoddose-effect relationship