Blume (Amaranthaceae) (ABR) and semen vaccariae (SV) are used commonly in the clinical treatment of erectile dysfunction in males with diabetes mellitus (DMED) to strengthen the kidney and promote blood circulation, and often achieve good curative effects.
Explore mechanistic details of ABR + SV treatment against DMED.
Prediction of key targets by network pharmacology. A rat model of DM was established by streptozotocin injection (55 mg/kg). Apomorphine (100 μg/kg) was injected into rats to screen the DMED model. Group C ( = 6) and group M ( = 6) were gavaged with deionized water; group T ( = 6) was given radix- granule suspension (2.5 g/kg). It lasted 8 weeks. Real-time reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting (WB) were used to measure the expression of tissue-related proteins and mRNA.
The predicted key targets are albumin (ALB), caspase-3 (CASP3), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Compared with the M group (0.52 ± 0.04; 0.50 ± 0.03; 0.49 ± 0.02; 0.23 ± 0.03), CASP3, VEGFA, and ACE protein expression reduced in the T group (0.39 ± 0.06; 0.34 ± 0.03; 0.39 ± 0.03), and eNOS protein expression increased (0.34 ± 0.03).
ABR + SV can improve erectile function in DMED rats. This study provides a potential mechanism for the treatment of DMED with ABR + SV and can benefit from more patients.
About The Expert
Ji-Sheng Wang
Jun-Long Feng
Heng-Heng Dai
Zi-Long Chen
Xiao Li
Bing-Hao Bao
Sheng Deng
Fan-Chao Meng
Qi Zhao
Hong-Sheng Xu
Bin Wang
Hai-Song Li
References
PubMed