Clinical and Translational Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. May 15, 2024; 15(5): 945-957
Published online May 15, 2024. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v15.i5.945
Systematic investigation of Radix Salviae for treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy disease based on network Pharmacology
Tao Kang, Xiao Qin, Yan Chen, Qian Yang
Tao Kang, Xiao Qin, Yan Chen, Qian Yang, Department of Neurology, Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, Xi'an 710068, Shaanxi Province, China
Author contributions: Kang T and Yang Q conceived the project; Qin X and Chen Y designed the experiment and collected clinical data; Kang T, Qin X and Chen Y performed postoperative follow-ups and recorded data; Kang T and Yang Q performed data and statistical analyses and wrote the original manuscript; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, who agreed to waive the need for informed consent.
Informed consent statement: After review by the Ethics Committee, it was agreed to waive the provision of informed consent for this study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author(s) declare there are no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data sharing statement: All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Qian Yang, MD, Department of Neurology, Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, No. 256 You-Yi West Road, Beilin District, Xi’an 710068, Shaanxi Province, China. yqqjy2019@163.com
Received: December 22, 2023
Peer-review started: December 22, 2023
First decision: January 9, 2024
Revised: February 7, 2024
Accepted: March 13, 2024
Article in press: March 13, 2024
Published online: May 15, 2024
Processing time: 140 Days and 10 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a debilitating complication of diabetes mellitus with limited available treatment options. Radix Salviae, a traditional Chinese herb, has shown promise in treating DPN, but its therapeutic mech-anisms have not been systematically investigated.

AIM

Radix Salviae (Danshen in pinin), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is widely used to treat DPN in China. However, the mechanism through which Radix Salviae treats DPN remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to explore the mechanism of action of Radix Salviae against DPN using network pharmacology.

METHODS

The active ingredients and target genes of Radix Salviae were screened using the TCM pharmacology database and analysis platform. The genes associated with DPN were obtained from the Gene Cards and OMIM databases, a drug-com-position-target-disease network was constructed, and a protein–protein inter-action network was subsequently constructed to screen the main targets. Gene Ontology (GO) functional annotation and pathway enrichment analysis were performed via the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) using Bioconductor.

RESULTS

A total of 56 effective components, 108 targets and 4581 DPN-related target genes of Radix Salviae were screened. Intervention with Radix Salviae for DPN mainly involved 81 target genes. The top 30 major targets were selected for enrichment analysis of GO and KEGG pathways.

CONCLUSION

These results suggested that Radix Salviae could treat DPN by regulating the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway and the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Therefore, Danshen may affect DPN by regulating inflammation and apoptosis.

Keywords: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy, Radix Salviae, Network pharmacology, Systematic investigation

Core Tip: This study utilizes network pharmacology to explore the potential therapeutic mechanism of Radix Salviae in treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), revealing its regulation of the AGE-RAGE and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. Through identification of active ingredients, target genes, and interaction networks, this research provides a comprehensive understanding of the molecular basis for Radix Salviae's effects on DPN, offering valuable insights for further investigation and potential drug development.