Molecular mechanisms of Buqing granule for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy: Network pharmacology analysis and experimental validation

Table 1 Primer information

Gene	Sequence	Product length (bp)
TP53	F:5’-GGCTCCGACTATACCACTATCCAC-3’	129
	R:5'GTCCCGTCCCAGAAGATTCCC-3'
AKT1	F:5’AACTTCTCAGTGGCACAATGTCAG-3’	71
	R:5’CAGCGGATGATGAAGGTGTTGG-3’
c-Jun	F:5'TCTACGACGATGCCCTCAACG-3'	99
	R:5’GGTTCAAGGTCATGCTCTGCTTC-3’
Caspase-3	F:5’CGGTATTGAGACAGACAGTGGAAC-3’	90
	R:5’GCGGTAGAGTAAGCATACAGGAAG-3’
MAPK1	F:5'CTTCCAACCTCCTGCTGAACAC-3'	117
	R:5’GCGTGGCTACATACTCTGTCAAG-3’
MAPK3	F:5’CGCATCACAGTAGAGGAAGCAC-3’	72
	R:5’CACTGGTTCATCTGTCGGATCATAG-3’
GAPDH	F:5’-CAAGTTCAACGGCACAGTCAAGG-3’	123
	R:5’-ACATACTCAGCACCAGCATCACC-3’

Table 2 Molecular docking binding energy

Molecule Name	Binding energy (kcal/mol)
	TP53	AKT1	Jun	Caspase-3	MAPK3	MAPK1
Quercetin	-7.3	-6.4	-7.9	-7.9	-7.3	-6.4
Kaempferol	-7.1	-6.3	-7.9	-8.1	-7.1	-6.3
Beta-sitosterol	-7.6	-6.1	-7.3	-8.7	-7.6	-6.1
Luteolin	-7.2	-6.5	-8.6	-8.2	-7.2	-6.5
Stigmasterol	-7	-6.9	-7.6	-7	-7	-6.9

Table 3 Body weight and blood sugar change at different time points (n > 3)

Time (week)	Body weight (g)				Blood glucose (mmol/L)
	Control	Model	BQKL	CaD	Control	Model	BQKL	CaD
0	267.00 ± 4.58	277.67 ± 11.68	273.00 ± 24.25	290.67 ± 14.98	7.50 ± 0.66	7.00 ± 0.70	7.77 ± 1.74	7.60 ± 1.08
4	457.00 ± 10.58	312.00 ± 6.08	346.33 ± 5.51	324.00 ± 25.71	7.17 ± 0.45	32.13 ± 0.21	31.60 ± 0.53	31.33 ± 0.15
8	493.67 ± 9.50	323.00 ± 17.35	376.33 ± 11.06	403.00 ± 4.68	8.20 ± 0.36	32.10 ± 0.26	30.90 ± 0.61	30.47 ± 0.38
12	556.00 ± 18.36	295.67 ± 12.01	413.00 ± 16.37	432.67 ± 14.19	8.50 ± 0.26	31.67 ± 0.55	29.50 ± 1.08	27.73 ± 0.76
16	597.00 ± 18.25	260.33 ± 14.84	443.67 ± 24.58	464.00 ± 10.15	7.00 ± 0.26	30.70 ± 0.90	28.23 ± 0.61	25.47 ± 0.74

BQKL: Buqing granule; CaD: Calcium dobesilate.

Table 4 Effect of Buqing granule on blood lipids in rats (n > 3)

Groups	TC (mmol/L)	TG (mmol/L)
Control	1.76 ± 0.07	1.17 ± 0.05
Model	3.01 ± 0.09	3.17 ± 0.14
BQKL	2.69 ± 0.07	2.74 ± 0.06
CaD	2.50 ± 0.05	1.30 ± 0.06

BQKL: Buqing granule; CaD: Calcium dobesilate; TC: Total cholesterol; TG: Triglyceride.

Table 5 Effect of Buqing granule on oxidative stress in rat retinal tissue and serum (n > 3)

Groups	Retinal tissue			Blood serum
	SOD (U/mgprot)	MDA (nmol/mgprot)	GSH-Px (U)	SOD (U/mgprot)	MDA (nmol/mgprot)	GSH-Px (U)
Control	467.77 ± 7.50	1.56 ± 0.08	71.15 ± 1.11	547.83 ± 9.27	8.43 ± 0.42	319.44 ± 3.38
Model	95.25 ± 1.41	22.94 ± 2.11	23.55 ± 1.06	347.22 ± 25.72	45.43 ± 0.99	73.80 ± 0.98
BQKL	202.33 ± 1.89	7.69 ± 0.45	54.37 ± 0.67	515.25 ± 11.60	15.41 ± 0.65	179.72 ± 2.58
CaD	228.47 ± 2.19	5.16 ± 0.70	65.88 ± 0.44	530.68 ± 3.93	15.56 ± 0.28	243.94 ± 1.95

BQKL: Buqing granule; CaD: Calcium dobesilate; SOD: Superoxide dismutase; MDA: Malondialdehyde; GSH-Px: Glutathione peroxidase.