PMID- 33505505
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20240330
IS  - 1741-427X (Print)
IS  - 1741-4288 (Electronic)
IS  - 1741-427X (Linking)
VI  - 2021
DP  - 2021
TI  - A Study on the Therapeutic Efficacy of San Zi Yang Qin Decoction for 
      Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and the Underlying Mechanism Based on Network 
      Pharmacology.
PG  - 8819245
LID - 10.1155/2021/8819245 [doi]
LID - 8819245
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the therapeutic efficacy of San Zi Yang Qin 
      Decoction (SZ) and its potential mechanism in the treatment of non-alcoholic 
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD) based on network pharmacology and in vivo 
      experiments. METHODS: Effective chemicals and targets of SZ were searched in 
      online databases, according to the drug-likeness of compounds and the binomial 
      distribution of targets. A disease-target-chemical network was established using 
      NAFLD-associated genes screened through GeneCards database, Gene Ontology (GO) 
      terms, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. Furthermore, 
      animal experiments were conducted to verify the efficacy and mechanism of SZ 
      predicted by network pharmacology. The NAFLD mouse model was established with 
      C57BL/6J mice fed with a high-fat diet for 22 weeks. The mice in the control 
      group were fed with a chow diet. From the 23(rd) week, the NAFLD mice were 
      treated with intragastric SZ or normal saline for 8 weeks. After the glucose 
      tolerance was measured, the mice were sacrificed, followed by the collection of 
      serum and liver tissues. Pathological changes in liver tissues were examined by 
      H&E staining. Additionally, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate 
      aminotransferase (AST), serum fast blood glucose, and insulin levels were 
      detected. Expression levels of TNF-alpha of serum and liver tissues were determined 
      by ELISA and qRT-PCR, respectively. Western blot was used to detect the 
      activation of AKT in liver tissues. RESULTS: A total of 27 effective compounds 
      and 20 targets of SZ were screened. GO analysis uncovered a significant 
      correlation between the targets of SZ and those of NAFLD. KEGG analysis presented 
      the signaling pathways enriched in SZ and NAFLD, including NAFLD, TNF-alpha, and 
      apoptosis pathways. The area under the curve of major GO and KEGG pathways 
      indicated the potential role of SZ in improving NAFLD. In vivo experiments 
      demonstrated that SZ significantly alleviated hepatosteatosis and inflammatory 
      cell infiltration in liver tissues, reduced serum transaminases, and improved 
      insulin resistance and glucose tolerance of NAFLD mice. The protein level of 
      phospho-AKT was upregulated by SZ. Additionally, SZ treatment obviously impaired 
      the TNF-alpha level in the serum and liver tissue of NAFLD mice. CONCLUSIONS: 
      According to the network pharmacology analysis and in vivo experiments, SZ could 
      have therapeutic efficacy for NALFD. The mechanism mainly involves pathways 
      relative to insulin resistance, TNF-alpha, and apoptosis. Our results provide a 
      scientific basis for SZ in the clinical treatment of NAFLD.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2021 Yiping Li et al.
FAU - Li, Yiping
AU  - Li Y
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-5611-9877
AD  - Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of 
      Traditional Chinese Medicine, 725 Wanping Road, Shanghai 200032, China.
FAU - Liu, Yang
AU  - Liu Y
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-3957-2754
AD  - Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of 
      Traditional Chinese Medicine, 725 Wanping Road, Shanghai 200032, China.
FAU - Yang, Ming
AU  - Yang M
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-8246-4797
AD  - Office of National Drug Clinical Trial, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of 
      Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China.
FAU - Wang, Qianlei
AU  - Wang Q
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-7733-8438
AD  - Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of 
      Traditional Chinese Medicine, 725 Wanping Road, Shanghai 200032, China.
FAU - Zheng, Yu
AU  - Zheng Y
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-0985-5163
AD  - Department II of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of 
      Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200120, China.
FAU - Xu, Jiaoya
AU  - Xu J
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-6957-0106
AD  - Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of 
      Traditional Chinese Medicine, 725 Wanping Road, Shanghai 200032, China.
FAU - Zheng, Peiyong
AU  - Zheng P
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-1084-5317
AD  - Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of 
      Traditional Chinese Medicine, 725 Wanping Road, Shanghai 200032, China.
FAU - Song, Haiyan
AU  - Song H
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-2155-8110
AD  - Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of 
      Traditional Chinese Medicine, 725 Wanping Road, Shanghai 200032, China.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20210108
PL  - United States
TA  - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med
JT  - Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM
JID - 101215021
PMC - PMC7810527
COIS- The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
EDAT- 2021/01/29 06:00
MHDA- 2021/01/29 06:01
PMCR- 2021/01/08
CRDT- 2021/01/28 05:42
PHST- 2020/09/19 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2020/12/16 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2020/12/22 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2021/01/28 05:42 [entrez]
PHST- 2021/01/29 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/01/29 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2021/01/08 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1155/2021/8819245 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Jan 8;2021:8819245. doi: 
      10.1155/2021/8819245. eCollection 2021.