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Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine >

2025 , Vol. 45 >Issue 1: 76 - 88

DOI: https://doi.org/10.19852/j.cnki.jtcm.2025.01.007

Network pharmacology-based study on the mechanism of Tangfukang formula (糖复康方) against type 2 diabetes mellitus

  • Kai YAN ,
  • Wei WANG ,
  • Yan WANG ,
  • Huijuan GAO ,
  • Xingzhong FENG
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  • 1 Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100043, China
    2 Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, China
    3 Institute for Precision Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
    4 Department of Endocrinology, Tsinghua University Yuquan Hospital (Tsinghua University Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine), Beijing 100040, China
    5 Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Civil Aviation General Hospital, Beijing 100123, China
    6 Institute for Precision Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Received date: 2023-12-22

  Accepted date: 2024-05-15

  Online published: 2025-01-10

Supported by

Tsinghua Precision Medicine Foundation: Tangfukang Plays the Therapeutic Role in Type 2 Diabetes Patients with Qi and Yin Deficiency Syndrome by Regulating the Intestinal Flora Mediated Branched-chain Amino Acids-Phosphatidylinositide 3-Kinases-Protein Kinase B Signaling Pathway(grant number 10001020105);National Natural Science Foundation of China: Tangfukang Plays the Therapeutic Role in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus by Regulating the Intestinal Flora Mediated Adiponectin-adenosine 5-Monophosphate-activated Protein Kinase-branched-chain Amino Acids Signaling Pathway(grant number 82104812)

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of Tangfukang formula (糖复康方, TFK) in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

METHODS: We employed network pharmacology combined with experimental validation to explore the potential mechanism of TFK against T2DM. Initially, we filtered bioactive compounds with the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and Symptom Mapping (SymMap), and gathered targets of TFK and T2DM. Subsequently, we constructed a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, enriched core targets through Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and adopted molecular docking to study the binding mode of compounds and the signaling pathway. Finally, we employed a KKAy mice model to investigate the effect and mechanism of TFK against T2DM. Biochemical assay, histology assay, and Western blot (WB) were used to assess the mechanism.

RESULTS: There were 492 bioactive compounds of TFK screened, and 1226 overlapping targets of TFK against T2DM identified. A compound-T2DM-related target network with 997 nodes and 4439 edges was constructed. KEGG enrichment analysis identified some core pathways related to T2DM, including adenosine 5-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway. Molecular docking study revealed that compounds of TFK, including citric acid, could bind to the active pocket of AMPK crystal structure with free binding energy of －4.8, －8 and －7.9, respectively. Animal experiments indicated that TFK decreased body weight, fasting blood glucose, fasting serum insulin, homeostasis model of insulin resistance, glycosylated serum protein, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and improve oral glucose tolerance test results. TFK reduced steatosis in liver tissue, and infiltration of inflammatory cells, and protected liver cells to a certain extent. WB analysis revealed that, TFK upregulated the phosphorylation of AMPK and branched-chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase proteins.

CONCLUSION: TFK has the potential to effectively manage T2DM, possibly by regulating the AMPK signaling pathway. The present study lays a new foundation for the therapeutic application of TFK in the treatment of T2DM.

Key words： network pharmacology; diabetes mellitus, type 2; AMP-activated protein kinase kinases; signal transduction; mechanics; Tangfukang formula

Cite this article

Kai YAN , Wei WANG , Yan WANG , Huijuan GAO , Xingzhong FENG . Network pharmacology-based study on the mechanism of Tangfukang formula (糖复康方) against type 2 diabetes mellitus[J]. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2025 , 45(1) : 76 -88 . DOI: 10.19852/j.cnki.jtcm.2025.01.007

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