Work

Anti-type 2 diabetes mellitus compounds and pharmacological mechanism of Dendrobium officinale

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Objectives This study aimed to explore the effective compounds and pharmacological mechanisms of Dendrobium officinale for the treatment of T2DM. Methods A qualitative analysis of effective compounds of D. officinale was performed by UPLC-ESI-Q-Orbitrap, network pharmacology analysis was used to preliminarily predict anti-T2DM mechanisms of D. officinale , virtual screening of effective compounds of D. officinale and validation of core protein targets were subsequently implemented through molecular docking technique. 3T3-L1 mouse preadipocytes was to validate the anti-T2DM therapeutic effect and pharmacological mechanism of D. officinale , relevant biochemical indexes and proteins were detected by biochemical assay kits and western blot method. Results There were 27 chemical compounds identified in D. officinale , anti-T2DM compounds of D. officinale were α-linolenic acid, naringenin, n-trans-feruloyltyramine, paprazine, et al. D. officinale extract could promote glucose uptake of 3T3-L1 cells in a dose-dependent manner and increase TG content in the cells, anti-T2DM mechanisms of D. officinale may involve PI3K/Akt, insulin resistance and insulin signaling pathways, core compounds of D. officinale were α-linolenic acid, naringenin, n-trans-feruloyltyramine, paprazine, isobutyl 4-hydroxybenzoate, pinellic acid, azelaic acid, acuminoside, rac-1-monopalmitoylglycerol and atractyloside A according to degree value of the network, anti-T2DM core targets of D. officinale were also screened out, including PIK3CA, AKT1, AKT2, MAPK1, MAPK3, MAP2K1, HRAS, PRKCA, MAPK8 and EGFR. Acuminoside, naringenin, n-trans-feruloyltyramine, et al. exhibited better affinity effects with PIK3CA, AKT1 and AKT2 while their docking scores were below −7.2 kcal mol −1 . The expressions of p-PI3K, p-AKT and GLUT4 in 3T3-L1 cells were significantly upregulated by D. officinale extract which indicated PI3K/Akt pathway was activated in insulin resistance and insulin signaling pathways of 3T3-L1 adipocytes under the therapeutic effect of D. officinale . Conclusions D. officinale could improve insulin resistance in T2DM by modulating PI3K/Akt, insulin resistance and insulin signaling pathways, acuminoside, naringenin, n-trans-feruloyltyramine, et al. from D. officinale could be used as anti-T2DM lead compounds with PI3K, AKT and GLUT4 as protein targets.

Source: Acta Chromatographica

DOI: 10.1556/1326.2025.01347