Study on the Effect and Mechanism of Huaji Jianpi Decoction on Simple Obesity

Mengmeng Zhu; Baixia Zhang; Jinghui Zhang; Shaoqin Ge; Meiyun Liu

doi:10.1155/2022/5494224

Study on the Effect and Mechanism of Huaji Jianpi Decoction on Simple Obesity

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2022 Apr 28:2022:5494224. doi: 10.1155/2022/5494224. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Mengmeng Zhu^{1

2}, Baixia Zhang¹, Jinghui Zhang¹, Shaoqin Ge^{1

3}, Meiyun Liu³

Affiliations

¹ College of Chinese Medicine, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei 071000, China.
² General Hospital of Xuzhou Mining Group, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221006, China.
³ The Center for Reproductive Medicine of Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei 071000, China.

Abstract

Background: As the major type of obesity in clinical, simple obesity has gained increasing attention in recent years. Depending on the etiology and pathogenesis of simple obesity and combined with clinical practice experience, Huaji Jianpi decoction (HJJPD) was established to invigorate the spleen and eliminate dampness; however, the underlying molecular mechanism is yet unclear.

Materials and methods: A simple obesity mouse model was established by feeding a high-fat diet to the animals, and the related indexes were analyzed. The mice were divided into the normal, positive control (orlistat), and HJJPD high-dose, medium-dose, and low-dose groups. After 6 weeks of administration, the curative effect of HJJPD was observed. Simple obesity is associated with leptin resistance. The leptin signal transduction pathways mainly include the JAK2-STAT3, AMPK-ACC, LepRb-IRS-PI3K-PDE3B-cAMP, and LepRb-SHP2-MAPKs (ERK1/2) pathways. Therefore, the networks of HJJPD acting on these four pathway-related targets were constructed using the network pharmacology method, and the key nodes were identified.

Results: After 6 weeks of drug intervention, we found a good therapeutic effect of HJJPD on simple obesity in the mouse model. The biological network analysis showed that HJJPD plays a role in treating leptin resistance in simple obesity by acting on multiple targets in the JAK2-STAT3 pathway via various components. Also, HJJPD can improve leptin resistance in mice by enhancing the binding force of LEP and LEPRB and activating the LEP-mediated JAK2-STAT3 signaling pathway.

Conclusion: In this study, animal experiments, network pharmacology, and molecular biology were combined to establish a mouse model of simple obesity, confirm the role of HJJPD in the treatment of simple obesity, and preliminarily reveal the related mechanism. Relevant research results will provide a basis for the treatment of simple obesity and the drug discovery.