Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023;26(1):30-48.
doi: 10.2174/1386207325666220221121919.

Network Pharmacology Research Indicates that Wu-Mei-Wan Treats Obesity by Inhibiting Th17 Cell Differentiation and Alleviating Metabolic Inflammation

Zhe Cheng  1 , Xinyu Xiong  1 , Fan Wu  1 , Yan Zhao  1 , Ruolan Dong  1 , Shujun Jiang  1 , Ke Fang  1 , Panpan Huang  2   3 , Guang Chen  1
Affiliations

Network Pharmacology Research Indicates that Wu-Mei-Wan Treats Obesity by Inhibiting Th17 Cell Differentiation and Alleviating Metabolic Inflammation

Zhe Cheng et al. Comb Chem High Throughput Screen. 2023.

Abstract

Background: Wu-Mei-Wan (WMW), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, has a good effect on the treatment of obesity and has been proven helpful to promote the metabolism of adipose tissue. However, its underlying mechanism remains to be studied. This study aims to explore the potential pharmacological mechanism of WMW in the treatment of obesity.

Methods: Network pharmacology was used to sort out the relationship between WMW putative targets and obesity-related drug targets or disease targets, which indicated the mechanism of WMW in treating obesity from two aspects of clinical drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and obesity-related diseases. Databases such as Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP), PubChem, DrugBank, DisGeNET, and Genecards were used to collect information about targets. String platform was used to convert the data into gene symbol of "homo sapiens", and perform gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. With the Human Protein Reference Database (HPRD) as background data, Cytoscape 3.6.0 software was used to construct a new protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Mechanism diagrams of key pathways were obtained from the KEGG database. AutoDock Vina software was used to conduct molecular docking verification.

Results: The number of targets in the overlap between WMW putative targets and obesity-related drug targets accounted for more than 50% of the latter, and HTR3A, SLC6A4, and CYP3A4 were core targets. In obesity-related disease targets-WMW putative targets PPI network, the Th17 cell differentiation pathway, and the IL-17 signaling pathway were key pathways, and the 1st module and the 7th module were central function modules that were highly associated with immunity and inflammation. Molecular docking verified that STAT3, TGFB1, MMP9, AHR, IL1B, and CCL2 were core targets in the treatment of WMW on obesity.

Conclusion: WMW has similar effects on lipid and drug metabolism as the current obesity-related drugs, and is likely to treat obesity by inhibiting Th17 cell differentiation and alleviating metabolic inflammation.

Keywords: IL-17; Th17 cell; Wu-Mei-Wan; metabolic inflammation; network pharmacology; obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Sung H.; Siegel R.L.; Torre L.A.; Pearson-Stuttard J.; Is-lami F.; Fedewa S.A.; Goding Sauer A.; Shuval K.; Gapstur S.M.; Jacobs E.J.; Giovannucci E.L.; Jemal A.; Global pat-terns in excess body weight and the associated cancer burden. CA Cancer J Clin 2019,69(2),88-112 - PubMed
    1. Wu F.; Yang X.; Hu M.; Shao Q.; Fang K.; Li J.; Zhao Y.; Xu L.; Zou X.; Lu F.; Chen G.; Wu-Mei-Wan prevents high-fat diet-induced obesity by reducing white adipose tissue and enhancing brown adipose tissue function. Phytomedicine 2020,76,153258 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yang X.; Lu F.; Li L.; Li J.; Luo J.; Zhang S.; Liu X.; Chen G.; Wu-Mei-wan protects pancreatic β cells by inhibit-ing NLRP3 Inflammasome activation in diabetic mice. BMC Complement Altern Med 2019,19(1),35 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yang X.; Li L.; Fang K.; Dong R.; Li J.; Zhao Y.; Dong H.; Yi P.; Huang Z.; Chen G.; Lu F.; Wu-Mei-Wan reduces insulin resistance via inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome ac-tivation in HepG2 cells. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2017,2017,7283241 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hopkins A.L.; Network pharmacology: The next paradigm in drug discovery. Nat Chem Biol 2008,4(11),682-690 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources