Hypoglycemic Effect and Experimental Validation of Scutellariae Radix based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

Abstract

Scutellariae Radix (SR) is a well-known traditional herb that has good pharmacological effects against diabetes. However, the mechanism of SR against diabetes is not clear. In this study, the ingredient–target–pathway relationship and hypoglycemic effect of SR on diabetes were explored using network pharmacology, molecular docking and an animal experiment. The targets of SR and diabetes were mined. The selected targets were studied using Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and pathway enrichment analysis. The network of active components, targets and pathways was integrated to analyze the ingredient–target–pathway relationship. Then, the correspondence between the active components and targets was verified using molecular docking. Finally, an animal experiment was used to verify the hypoglycemic effect of SR. There were 52 components and 22 targets for the hypoglycemic effect of SR. We identified 18 biological processes, 9 cellular components, 15 molecular functions and 25 signaling pathways. Molecular docking results indicated that the targets of diabetes bound strongly to the main components. The animal experiments showed that SR could significantly decrease the blood glucose level of diabetic rats (p ≤ 0.05). This study explored the potential targets and signaling pathways of SR in diabetes, and the results may help to illustrate the hypoglycemic mechanism of SR.