Network Pharmacology and Docking of Nephrolepis cordifolia as Type-2 Antidiabetic Agent

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disease characterized by disturbances in insulin secretion or action. Impaired insulin secretion causes blood glucose to increase continuously, resulting in potential complications of the disease, such as diabetic neuropathy, coronary heart disease, and hypertension. Therefore, this study aims to identify compounds from N. cordifolia with potential for T2DM and their mechanisms using network pharmacology and docking. The screening results showed that ellagic acid was the active compound with the potential to bind to T2DM proteins. Ellagic acid also helped in the treatment of T2DM by interacting with PI3K-Akt, Rap1, mTOR signalling, endocrine resistance, focal adhesion, and FOXO signalling. Based on the docking of ellagic acid against the FOXO signalling protein, namely; CDK2, EGFR, INSR; SMAD3, IGF1; BRAF, AKT1, and IGF1R, the binding energy values obtained were -8.56; -7.77; -7.43; -7.05; -7.68; -6.48; -7.82; -8.9 kcal/mol, respectively. This indicates that ellagic acid had a strong binding affinity with the target protein. In conclusion, ellagic acid was identified as a major compound from N. cordifolia that could be used to treat T2DM by alteration of FOXO signalling.