Utilizing network pharmacology to explore the underlying mechanism of Radix Salviae in diabetic retinopathy.

INTRODUCTION: Radix Salviae (Dan-shen in pinyin), a classic Chinese herb, has been extensively used to treat diabetic retinopathy in clinical practice in China for many years. However, the pharmacological mechanisms of Radix Salviae remain vague. The aim of this study was to decrypt the underlying mechanisms of Radix Salviae in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy using a systems pharmacology approach. METHODS: A network pharmacology-based strategy was proposed to elucidate the underlying multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway mode of action of Radix Salviae against diabetic retinopathy. First, we collected putative targets of Radix Salviae based on the Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology database and a network of the interactions among the putative targets of Radix Salviae and known therapeutic targets of diabetic retinopathy was built. Then, two topological parameters, "degree" and "closeness certainty" were calculated to identify the major targets in the network. Furthermore, the major hubs were imported to the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery to perform a pathway enrichment analysis. RESULTS: A total of 130 nodes, including 18 putative targets of Radix Salviae, were observed to be major hubs in terms of topological importance. The results of pathway enrichment analysis indicated that putative targets of Radix Salviae mostly participated in various pathways associated with angiogenesis, protein metabolism, inflammatory response, apoptosis, and cell proliferation. The putative targets of Radix Salviae (vascular endothelial growth factor, matrix metalloproteinases, plasminogen, insulin-like growth factor-1, and cyclooxygenase-2) were recognized as active factors involved in the main biological functions of treatment, which implied that these were involved in the underlying mechanisms of Radix Salviae on diabetic retinopathy. CONCLUSIONS: Radix Salviae could alleviate diabetic retinopathy via the molecular mechanisms predicted by network pharmacology. This research demonstrates that the network pharmacology approach can be an effective tool to reveal the mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine from a holistic perspective.

Ginsenoside Rg1 inhibits dietary-induced obesity and improves obesity-related glucose metabolic disorders.

Obesity and its consequent type 2 diabetes are significant threats to global health. Emerging evidence indicates that ginsenosides from ginseng (Panax ginseng) have anti-diabetic activity. We hypothesized that ginsenosides Rg1 could suppress dietary-induced obesity and improve obesity-related glucose metabolic disorders. Our results showed that ginsenoside Rg1 attenuated dietary-induced body weight gain and fat accumulation in white adipocyte tissue of mice fed a high-fat diet. Furthermore, we found that ginsenosides Rg1 not only decreased fasting glucose concentration and the 2-h postprandial glucose concentration, but also improved insulin resistance and glucose intolerance in those mice. Ginsenoside Rg1 also activated the AMPK pathway in vitro and in vivo and increased plasma membrane translocation of GLUT4 in C2C12 skeletal muscle cells. In conclusion, our observations suggested that ginsenoside Rg1 inhibited dietary-induced obesity and improved obesity-related insulin resistance and glucose intolerance by activation of the AMPK pathway.

Ginsenoside Rg1 inhibits dietary-induced obesity and improves obesity-related glucose metabolic disorders

Obesity and its consequent type 2 diabetes are significant threats to global health. Emerging evidence indicates that ginsenosides from ginseng (Panax ginseng) have anti-diabetic activity. We hypothesized that ginsenosides Rg1 could suppress dietary-induced obesity and improve obesity-related glucose metabolic disorders. Our results showed that ginsenoside Rg1 attenuated dietary-induced body weight gain and fat accumulation in white adipocyte tissue of mice fed a high-fat diet. Furthermore, we found that ginsenosides Rg1 not only decreased fasting glucose concentration and the 2-h postprandial glucose concentration, but also improved insulin resistance and glucose intolerance in those mice. Ginsenoside Rg1 also activated the AMPK pathway in vitro and in vivo and increased plasma membrane translocation of GLUT4 in C2C12 skeletal muscle cells. In conclusion, our observations suggested that ginsenoside Rg1 inhibited dietary-induced obesity and improved obesity-related insulin resistance and glucose intolerance by activation of the AMPK pathway.

[Discussion on correlation between intrahepatic inflammatory pathogenesis and the TCM theory of liver collateral injury by toxins in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus with insulin resistance].

Correlation between the intrahepatic inflammatory pathogenesis and the TCM theory of liver collateral injury by toxins in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with insulin resistance (IR) was investigated, to elucidate that removing toxins, dredging collateral and modulating Gan could be one of the effective approaches for inhibiting intrahepatic inflammation mechanism of T2DM with IR.

[Effect of combined therapy of xiaoke shen'an capsule and western medicine in diabetic nephropathy].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of xiaoke shen' an capsule on diabetic nephropathy. METHODS: Ninety patients with diabetic nephropathy were randomly divided into two groups, the patients in the control group (CG) were treated with conventional western medicine, and those in the treated group (TG) were treated with combined therapy of xiaoke shen'an capsule and conventional western medicine. The treatment course of both groups was 8 weeks, and the therapeutic effect related indexes were measured before and after treatment. RESULTS: The curative rate was 85.0% and 73.3% in CG and TG respectively, it was better in TG than that in CG (P < 0.05). Indexes such as fasting blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, blood pressure, quantity of 24h urinary protein, urinary albumin excretion rate, renal function, blood lipids and hemoreheologic parameters were significantly different before and after treatment in TG (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). As compared with CG, some of these indexes after treatment were superior to those in CG (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Combined therapy of xiaoke shen'an capsule and conventional western medicine has definite therapeutic effect on diabetic nephropathy.

[Discussion on thoughts and methods for treatment of diabetic nephropathy by TCM according to inflammatory pathogenesis].

Aim of this article was to investigate relationship between inflammatory pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy and the TCM pathogenetic theory of Shen-Collateral impaired by Toxin, and to illustrate the method for removing toxin, activating collateral and protecting Shen can be an effective treatment for inhibiting the inflammatory pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy.