Mechanism of Rhizoma Polygonati in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease based on network pharmacology and molecular docking.

Objective: The therapeutic mechanisms of Rhizoma Polygonati (RP) on Alzheimer's disease (AD) were explored using network pharmacology methods and in vitro experiments for validation.

Materials and methods: First, the main active ingredients and target proteins of RP were screened using Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) and UniProt protein database. AD-related targets were predicted using the DisGeNET database. Subsequently, Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks and core targets were analyzed using STRING. DAVID was utilized for GO annotation, while KEGG plug-in was employed to perform enrichment analysis of KEGG pathways. AutoDockTools were examined molecular docking. And the RP mechanism on AD was confirmed in vitro experimentation.

Results: Screening identified 8 active ingredients, 76 potential targets, and 3397 CE-related genes, with 58 overlapping targets. 4 target proteins were analyzed through the PPI networks. The RP and AD shared 451 GO biological process items and 150 KEGG signal pathways. Molecular docking results showed that diosgenin (Dio) had strong binding abilities to AKT1 and Caspase 3. Dio inhibited apoptosis through AKT1/Caspase 3 pathway in the glutamate-induced SH-SY5Y cells in vitro.

Conclusion: The study revealed RP's potential mechanisms in treating AD, offering a theoretical basis for clinical use, by integrating network pharmacology with in vitro experiments.