Identification of hub genes and candidate herbal treatment in obesity through integrated bioinformatic analysis and

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Yuxing Tai1, Hongying Tian1, Xiaoqian Yang2

  • 1Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, 130117, China.

Scientific Reports
|October 12, 2022
PubMed

Insights

This study identifies ten key herbs and two potent ingredients for obesity treatment by analyzing gene expression and network pharmacology. These findings offer new therapeutic targets and natural drug candidates for combating the global obesity epidemic.

Area of Science:

  • Genomics and Bioinformatics
  • Pharmacology
  • Metabolic Disorders

Background:

  • Obesity is a global health crisis with limited effective pharmaceutical treatments.
  • Identifying novel therapeutic strategies for obesity is crucial for public health.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify effective herbs and active ingredients for obesity treatment using bioinformatics and reverse network pharmacology.
  • To elucidate the complex relationships between herbs, ingredients, and therapeutic targets for obesity.

Main Methods:

  • Analyzed adipose tissue gene expression data from five GEO datasets to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs).
  • Constructed a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network to identify 27 hub genes using MCODE and STRING.
  • Performed Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses.
  • Identified ten key herbs targeting nine hub genes with six active ingredients, including Quercetin and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate.
  • Utilized Cytoscape to construct network models (Ingredients-Targets, Herbs-Ingredients-Targets, Herbs-Taste-Meridian Tropism).

Main Results:

  • Identified 1011 DEGs in adipose tissue post-weight loss.
  • Discovered 27 hub genes involved in pathways like extracellular matrix-receptor interaction and cholesterol metabolism.
  • Pinpointed ten specific herbs and nine key target genes (e.g., COL1A1, MMP2, CETP) for obesity.
  • Confirmed Quercetin and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate as primary active ingredients.

Conclusions:

  • This study provides a comprehensive network pharmacology approach to identify natural compounds for obesity.
  • The identified herbs and ingredients represent promising therapeutic candidates for obesity management.
  • The findings offer potential new targets and drug discovery avenues for metabolic disorders.

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