Exploring the molecular mechanism of Si-Miao-Yong-An Decoction in treating diabetic foot using network pharmacological analysis and molecular docking technique

This study explores the potential mechanism of Si-Miao-Yong-An Decoction (SMYAD) in the treatment of diabetic foot using network pharmacological and molecular docking. The SMYAD- and diabetic foot ulcer (DFU)-related targets were obtained from traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database, GeneCards and DisGeNET. The common targets and compounds were determined by Venn diagram. Then, protein-protein interaction network was constructed in STRING and Cytoscape, and MCODE plugins was used to identify the cluster and hub genes. The differentially expressed hub genes were determined using limma R package. In addition, the gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment was performed in R software. Autodock Vina and PyMOL were applied for molecular docking. In total, 401 common targets of SMYAD-related targets and DFU-related targets and 104 active components related to common targets were identified. Besides, 10 hub genes, including cyclin dependent kinase 4, ataxia telangiectasia mutated, mitogen-activated protein kinase 3, janus kinase 1, histone deacetylase 1, fibroblast growth factor 2, matrix metallopeptidase 9, platelet derived growth factor receptor beta, cyclin D1, and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma, were obtained through differentially expressed gene analysis. The key active components of SMYAD in the treatment of DFU were 7,2',4'-trihydroxy-5-methoxy-3-arylcoumarin, licochalcone B, glyasperin F, vestitol, glyasperins M and (2R)-7-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)chroman-4-one. PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and advanced glycation end product-receptor of advanced glycation end product signaling pathway in diabetic complications were the key signal pathways for SMYAD in the treatment of DFU. The results of molecular docking showed that some key active components were well connected with hub gene. This study reveals the potential mechanism of SMYAD in the treatment of DFU through multi-components, multi-targets and multi-channels, which provides more theoretical basis for the study of SMYAD's mechanism.