A Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation Strategy for Hypoglycemic Study of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos on Diabetes

As diabetes has become an important public health issue, Lonicerae Japonicae Flos (LJF) had gradually attracted increasing attention on diabetes. This study aimed to investigate the hypoglycemic ingredients and underlying mechanisms of LJF in diabetes using an integrated strategy of network pharmacology, molecular docking and experimental validation. Network pharmacology screened 73 active ingredients, 65 targets and 20 main signalling pathways. The results of molecular docking, protein-protein interaction and ingredient-target-pathway network indicated that four targets (PPARG, PPARD, MGAM, GAA) and three signalling pathways (PPAR signalling pathway, Starch and sucrose metabolism, Galactose metabolism) played essential roles. Subsequently, animal experiments and in vitro tests were performed to evaluate the anti-diabetic effect, antioxidant capacity and α-amylase inhibitory activity for the LJF extract. Animal studies indicated the LJF alcohol extract could significantly decrease blood glucose level and mitigate the weight loss compared to the model group (p < 0.05), respectively. Furthermore, both in vitro and in vivo tests confirmed that the LJF alcohol extract exhibited strong antioxidant capacity (p < 0.05 for MDA and SOD) and α-amylase inhibitory activity (maximum efficacy: 66.6% ± 4.6%). This strategy provided a promising approach to further elucidate the active ingredients and underlying mechanisms of LJF and other herbs.