Qishen Yiqi Dripping Pill Protects Diabetic Nephropathy by Inhibiting the PI3K-AKT Signaling Pathways in Rats

This study aimed to explore the potential mechanisms of Qishen Yiqi dripping pill (QYDP) against diabetic nephropathy (DN) through network pharmacology and animal experiments. The components and targets of QYDP and DN-related targets were retrieved from public databases. A total of 116 compounds and 160 targets of QYDP anti-DN were obtained. The top 10 hub targets including AKT1, TNF, ALB, INS, PPARG, IL-6, IL-1B, VEGF-A, JUN, and MAPK3 were screened by Cytoscape software. Then, the key targets of QYDP were enriched in 1815 Gene Ontology (GO) entries (P < 0.01) and 159 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genomes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways (P < 0.01), mainly including the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications and the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. In animal experiments, the results of an ELISA assay showed that QYDP could regulate the expression levels of kidney function-related indexes and reduce the expression of inflammatory factors. qRT-PCR and western blot results showed that QYDP regulated the expression of hub genes. In conclusion, this study shows that QYDP could treat DN by antioxidative and antiinflammatory activity and inhibiting the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway.