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Integrated network pharmacology, in vivo experiment, computational biology, and metabolomics to explore the mechanism of astragaloside IV against spinal cord injury

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Spinal cord injury has become a global public health challenge. Astragaloside IV has been shown to have neuroprotective effects. However, the underlying mechanism of astragaloside IV against spinal cord injury remains poorly understood. An integrated approach combining network pharmacology, in vivo experimental validation, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and metabolomics was used to investigate the underlying mechanism of astragaloside IV against spinal cord injury. Network pharmacology results indicated that IL6, IL1B, AKT1, TNF, and PTGS2 might be the key targets, while the TNF signaling pathway, IL17 signaling pathway, and C-type lectin receptor signaling pathway might be the critical signaling pathways involved in the mechanism of astragaloside IV against spinal cord injury. In vivo studies indicated that astragaloside IV significantly improved BBB scores and Rivlin inclined plane test performance in spinal cord injury mouse models, while reducing TNF-α, IL1B, IL6, and PTGS2 levels and increasing AKT1 expression. Molecular docking results revealed that astragaloside IV exhibits strong binding affinity with IL1B, IL6, PTGS2, and AKT1. Molecular dynamics simulation further indicated that astragaloside IV could form stable complexes with AKT1 with a binding free energy of -27.17±3.21 kcal/mol. Metabolomic analysis further elucidated that the mechanism of astragaloside IV against spinal cord injury might involve up-regulating energy metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, amino acid metabolism, etc., and down-regulating lipid metabolism including linoleic acid metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis, and α-linolenic acid metabolism. Astragaloside IV can improve spinal cord injury through multiple targets, multiple signaling pathways, and multiple metabolic pathways, providing a new perspective on the molecular and metabolic mechanism network of spinal cord injury and strong experimental evidence for the use of astragaloside IV in treating spinal cord injury.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-77007-5

Authors: Zhicheng Sun, Bin Hu, Ling Wang, Xiaoyang Pang, Xiongjie Shen

Institutions: Xiangya Hospital Central South University, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital

Language: English

Topic: Spinal Cord Injury Research

Subfield: Clinical Neurology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,690