Enhydrin from yacon attenuates atherosclerosis by modulating the FABP5/PPARγ/ABCA1 axis: An integrated multi-omics...

Dysregulated lipid metabolism drives atherosclerosis (AS). Yacon, an Andean lipid-modulating tuber, exerts anti-AS potential, but mechanisms remain unclear. We integrated network pharmacology, machine learning, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), and in vivo validation to explore its anti-AS effects and targets. Active constituents and targets were curated from literature, TCMSP, and SwissTargetPrediction; lipid/AS genes from GeneCards, OMIM, and GEO were filtered via limma, WGCNA, LASSO, randomForest, and SVM-RFE. Immune infiltration and external validation confirmed hub gene relevance. scRNA-seq prioritized FABP5; docking and dynamics quantified compound-FABP5 interactions. In vivo efficacy was tested in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed ApoE-/- mice via histology (Oil Red O, H&E, and Masson) and molecular assays (RT-qPCR, Western blot, and immunofluorescence). We identified 12 constituents, 384 targets, and seven core targets (AURKA, MMP9, FABP5, etc.), with FABP5 top-ranked. Docking and dynamics identified Enhydrin as the strongest FABP5 binder. Enhydrin administration was associated with reduced hepatic lipid accumulation, decreased serum triacylglycerol (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) levels. Histopathological analysis of arterial tissues revealed attenuated vascular lipid deposition and delayed atherosclerotic lesion progression. Across assays, Enhydrin downregulated FABP5, reduced abnormal fatty acid trafficking, and upregulated PPARγ and ABCA1, with markedly reduced vascular lipid deposition and improved serum lipid profiles, reflecting enhanced cholesterol efflux. Conclusion: Our integrative multi-omics analysis pinpointed FABP5 as a promising novel target for yacon-derived Enhydrin in atherosclerosis. In vivo, Enhydrin markedly downregulated FABP5 and upregulated PPARγ and ABCA1, suggesting this axis mediates its anti-atherosclerotic activity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: 1: This study identified FABP5 as a candidate target for atherosclerosis through integrative multi-omics, and its association with the anti-atherosclerotic effects of Enhydrin suggests therapeutic potential. 2: The anti-atherosclerotic effects of yacon's active components and their underlying molecular pathways were systematically screened and preliminarily characterized by integrating bioinformatic prediction with in vivo validation, laying a preliminary theoretical foundation for further pharmacological investigation and clinical translation.