Exploring the Efficacy and Mechanism of Astragalus Polysaccharide in Treating Allergic Asthma through Network Pharmacology, Bioinformatics, and Experimental Verification.

Abstract

Background: Allergic asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways that causes great distress to the patient's normal life. Astragalus Polysaccharide (APS) is the main active ingredient in the traditional Chinese medicine Astragalus mongholicus Bunge, which has the effect of regulating immune function.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of APS on allergic asthma and investigate its potential mechanism of action.

Methods: This study utilized network pharmacology to predict the relevant targets and signaling pathways of APS treatment for allergic asthma. Subsequently, an animal model was established using Ovalbumin (OVA) induction. The efficacy of APS was verified using histopathologic staining and Airway Hyperresponsiveness (AHR) assay. Signaling pathways were examined using Western Blot (WB). Finally, bioinformatics analysis was utilized to explore the correlation between the progression of allergic asthma and signaling pathways.

Results: Network pharmacology analysis identified 15 intersection targets significantly enriched in the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. The results of molecular docking showed that small molecule drugs have a strong binding ability to target proteins. The experiments confirmed APS successfully suppressed the pathological symptoms in allergic asthma model mice. Subsequently, WB provided evidence supporting that APS has potential therapeutic effects mediated through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. The bioinformatics results confirmed that disease progression in allergic asthma patients does correlate with the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that APS may treat allergic asthma by targeting the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. This provides a basis for preliminary research on the clinical application of APS for treating allergic asthma.