Based on Plasma Metabonomics and Network Pharmacology Exploring the Therapeutic Mechanism of Gynura procumbens on Type 2 Diabetes

Gynura procumbens (GP) is a perennial herbal medicine and food homologous plant, which has been reported to have a good hypoglycemic effect. However, its active components and underlying mechanism of action are not clear. Here, we aimed to confirm the effects of GP on type 2 diabetes (T2DM) from several different aspects. We used UPLC/Q-TOF MS to analyze the metabolic patterns, which included blood samples of clinical subjects and db/db mice to screen for serum metabolic markers and metabolic pathways. We also used network pharmacology to study GP targets in the treatment of T2DM. Data from endogenous metabolites in plasma showed that two common pathways, including glycerol phosphate metabolism and retinol metabolism, were identified in plasma samples of the groups. Finally, Western blot analysis was used to verify the expression of proteins in the PI3K/AKT and AGE–RAGE signaling pathways. The protein expression of AKT, eNOS, iNS, and MAPK was significantly upregulated, and the expression of caspase-8 and caspase-3 was significantly downregulated. Thus, our findings indicated that GP could alleviate insulin resistance by regulating biometabolic markers and key proteins in the PI3K/AKT and AGE–RAGE signaling pathways to treat T2DM.