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Potential therapeutic drug targets and pathways prediction for premature ovarian insufficiency -Based on network
Shan Ju1, Jialin He2, Hanbi Wang3
1School of Health Science and Engineering, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Food Microbiology, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, PR China.
Ethnopharmacological Relevance:
The incidence of premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is gradually increasing, the proportion is rising especially in female infertility patients. The risk of death of POI patients with cardiovascular disease also increases significantly. The cause of POI is complex and unclear, and clinical treatment is still in the exploratory stage, are two major constraints of treating POI. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used in the treatment of POI, and it is a good way to combine the development of modern new drugs with the help of TCM to predict the therapeutic targets.
Aim Of The Study:
In this study, four herbs commonly used in clinical treatment of POI, namely Radix Paeoniae, Polygonatum sibiricum, Rehmannia glutinosa and Eucommia ulmoides were selected to predict their mechanism in the treatment of POI, using network pharmacology methods. Then verify the predicted targets by animal test. Aim to find more effective POI potential core treatment targets and main pathways.
Materials And Methods:
We screened the active ingredients of drugs from the TCM System Pharmacology Analysis Platform (TCMSP), Performed target prediction of active ingredients from databases such as SwissTargetPrediction and compare and analyze the POI-related targets retrieved from them to obtain potential targets for drug treatment of POI. Used STRING database to construct a protein interaction network, Cytoscape 3.7.2 software to construct an active ingredient-target-pathway network, and DAVID database to conduct the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) on the intersection targets and gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis.
Results:
The result is: there were 25 key targets for the treatment of POI with Radix Paeoniae Alba, 31 for the treatment of POI by Eucommia ulmoides, 28 for the treatment of POI by Polygonatum sibiricum, and 8 key targets for the treatment of Rehmannia glutinosa. The intersection targets of four herbs were defined as the core targets, which are CYP19A1, EGF, ESR1, ESR2, MDM2, AR, PCYP17A1, PPARG. Four Chinese herbs treat POI mainly through HIF-1 signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, FoxO signaling pathway, Estrogen signaling pathway etc. A mouse model of POI was constructed based on the results of network pharmacology to verify the predicted targets. The results showed that the protein expression of the core target changed, and the estrogen level was increased by reducing the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG).
Conclusions:
This study predicts the mechanism of multiple herbs in the treatment of POI, screens out more potential therapeutic drug targets and main pathways of POI treatment and provides new ideas for the subsequent development of POI therapeutic drugs.
Insights
This study used network pharmacology to identify key targets and pathways for treating premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Findings reveal core targets and pathways, offering new avenues for POI drug development.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
- Network Pharmacology
Background:
- Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) incidence is rising, particularly among infertile women, and is linked to increased cardiovascular disease mortality.
- The complex etiology and unclear mechanisms of POI present significant challenges for clinical treatment.
- Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers a promising approach for POI treatment, with potential for identifying novel therapeutic targets.
Purpose of the Study:
- To predict the therapeutic mechanisms of four commonly used TCM herbs for POI: Radix Paeoniae, Polygonatum sibiricum, Rehmannia glutinosa, and Eucommia ulmoides.
- To identify potential core treatment targets and key pathways for POI using network pharmacology.
- To validate predicted targets through animal testing.
Main Methods:
- Screening active ingredients and predicting drug targets using TCMSP and SwissTargetPrediction databases.
- Analyzing POI-related targets to identify potential drug targets.
- Constructing protein-protein interaction and active ingredient-target-pathway networks using STRING and Cytoscape.
- Performing Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis using DAVID database.
- Validating predicted targets in a mouse model of POI.
Main Results:
- Identified 25 key targets for Radix Paeoniae Alba, 31 for Eucommia ulmoides, 28 for Polygonatum sibiricum, and 8 for Rehmannia glutinosa.
- Determined core targets including CYP19A1, EGF, ESR1, ESR2, MDM2, AR, PCYP17A1, and PPARG.
- Revealed that these herbs primarily act through pathways such as HIF-1, PI3K-Akt, FoxO, and Estrogen signaling.
- Animal testing confirmed changes in core target protein expression and increased estrogen levels via PPARG modulation.
Conclusions:
- Network pharmacology successfully predicted the mechanisms of multiple TCM herbs in treating POI.
- Identified potential therapeutic drug targets and main pathways for POI treatment.
- Provides a foundation for developing novel POI therapeutic drugs based on TCM principles.
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