The mechanism of Astragalus-Prunella vulgaris in the treatment of diabetic cardiomyopathy based on network pharmacology and molecular docking

Objective:To study the main chemical components and mechanism of Astragalus and Prunella vulgaris in the treatment of diabetes cardiomyopathy(DCM)based on network pharmacology and in vitro experiments.Methods:The main active components and prediction targets of Astragalus membranaceus and Prunella vulgaris herbal pairs were obtained by TCM Pharmacology database and analysis platform(TCMSP),and the disease genes were retrieved by genecards,OMIM,PharmGKB and drugbank databases.The disease and drug prediction targets were intersected to screen out common potential therapeutic targets.Cytoscape3.7.2 software was used to construct"drug component disease target"interaction network diagram;The PPI network of protein-protein interaction was constructed by using string database.R software was used to analyze the function enrichment of GO and KEGG for drug disease common targets,and autodock Vina 1.1.2 for molecular docking.Finally,the specific mechanism of Astragalus and Prunella vulgaris medicated serum on high glucose stimulated cardiomyocytes was verified in vitro.H9c2 cardiomyocytes were divided into five groups:normal group:low glucose(5.5 mmol/L)culture group,model group:high glucose(33 mmol/L)culture group,5%serum group:high glucose+5%Astragalus membranaceus Prunella vulgaris herb serum culture group,10%serum group:high glucose+10%Astragalus membranaceus Prunella vulgaris herb serum culture group,15%serum group:Hg high glucose+15%Astragalus membranaceus Prunella vulgaris herb serum culture group.MTT assay was used to detect the cell survival rate,and Western blot was used to detect the effect of Astragalus and Prunella vulgaris medicated serum on the expression of AKT1,p-AKT1,MAPK14 and p-MAPK14 proteins.Results:In this study,31 active components of Astragalus and Prunella vulgaris were screened,involving 157 targets of diabetes cardiomyopathy and 178 related signal pathways.The results of network analysis showed that Astragalus and Prunella vulgaris herbs may play a role in the treatment of DCM by acting on key targets such as AKT1,FOS,MAPK1,MAPK8,MAPK14,Jun and key pathways such as PI3K-AKT.Molecular docking showed that Astragalus membranaceus and Prunella vulgaris medicine had good binding between the active components luteolin,quercetin,pistil isoflavone,kaempferol and key targets such as AKT1,MAPK14,MAPK1,FOS,mapk8 and Jun,and the Vina score of luteolin and AKT1 was the lowest.The results in vitro showed that Astragalus and Prunella vulgaris medicated serum significantly improved the inhibition of H9c2 cardiomyocyte proliferation induced by high glucose,and increased the phosphorylation levels of AKT1 and MAPK14 proteins to play a role in the treatment of DCM.Conclusion:Astragalus and Prunella vulgaris have the characteristics of multi-target and multi-channel in the treatment of DCM.Its mechanism may be related to the regulation of the protein expression of p-AKT1 and p-MAPK14.These findings provide a new idea and basis for further experimental study on the mechanism of Astragalus and Prunella vulgaris in the treatment of diabetes cardiomyopathy.