Network pharmacology: Anti-obesity and insulin-sensitizing effects of Danggui-Huangjing herb-pair via epidermal growth factor receptor/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B pathway

Table 1 Primers used for real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction

Primer	Sequence (5’-3’)	Length (bp)
actin	Forward primer: TGTACCCAGGCATTGCTGAC	238
	Reverse primer: AACGCAGCTCAGTAACAGTCC
Egfr	Forward primer: CCTATGCCACGCCAACTGTA	90
	Reverse primer: CACTGCCATTGAACGTACCC
Pi3k	Forward primer: CGGAGAACCTATTGCGAGGG	106
	Reverse primer: TGCTTGACTTCGCCGTCTAC
Akt	Forward primer: CCTTTATTGGCTACAAGGAACGG	170
	Reverse primer: CACATGGAAGGTGCGCTCAA
Fasn	Forward primer: CAAGCAGGCACACACAATGG	176
	Reverse primer: GAAGCGTCTCGGGATCTCTG
Srebp1	Forward primer: CGGCTGCATTGAGAGTGAAG	201
	Reverse primer: CTGCTCAGGAAGAAGCGTGTC
Acc	Forward primer: TCGGCACATGGAGATGTACG	119
	Reverse primer: GATCTACCCGACGCATGGTT
Stat3	Forward primer: GCCAAATGCTTGGGCATCAA	92
	Reverse primer: AGGTTCCAATTGGCGGCTTA
IL6	Forward primer: CGGCCTTCCCTACTTCACAA	184
	Reverse primer: GCAAGTGCATCATCGTTGTTC
IL1b	Forward primer: AATGAAAGACGGCACACCCA	119
	Reverse primer: ACTCCACTTTGCTCTTGACTTCT
Tnfa	Forward primer: ACTCCAGGCGGTGCCTATGT	160
	Reverse primer: GTGAGGGTCTGGGCCATAGAA
Cd11b	Forward primer: GCACCACACATGCAGAGAGA	151
	Reverse primer: GCTACCCGAGCCATCAATCA
Nos2	Forward primer: ACTACTGCTGGTGGTGACAA	106
	Reverse primer: GAAGGTGTGGTTGAGTTCTCTAAG

Table 2 Results of the screening for the active ingredients of Danggui-Huangjing

Mol ID	Ingredient	Oral bioavailability (%)	Drug likeness	Degree
MOL001792	Diosgenin-3-O-β-D-fructofuranosyl-α-L-rhamnopyranoside	32.76	0.18	31
MOL003889	Methylprotodioscin_qt	35.11	0.85	31
MOL009763	(+)-Syringaresinol-O-beta-D-glucoside	43.35	0.76	16
MOL009766	Zhonghualiaoine 1	34.71	0.77	16
MOL000358	Beta-sitosterol	36.91	0.75	16
MOL000449	Stigmasterol	43.82	0.75	16
MOL002201	Cis-ligustilide	51.3	0.06	16
MOL000359	Sitosterol	36.91	0.75	16
MOL006331	4′,5-dihydroxyflavone	48.55	0.18	16
MOL000346	Succinic acid	29.62	0.01	16
MOL000389	FERULIC ACID (CIS)	54.96	0.05	16
MOL002959	3′-methoxydaidzein	48.56	0.24	15
MOL000546	Diosgenin	80.87	0.80	15
MOL009760	Sibiricoside A_qt	35.25	0.86	1
MOL002714	Baicalein	33.51	0.20	1

The 15 ingredients in the network generated for the treatment of clinical obesity using Danggui-Huangjing were identified using Cytoscape software and ranked according to degree. The molecule ID, oral bioavailability (a key pharmacokinetic parameter representing the percentage of an orally administered drug that reaches the circulation), and drug likeness (a qualitative concept that estimates how “drug-like” a compound is on the basis of its physicochemical properties) of the ingredients were obtained by screening the Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform database and are ranked according to degree, a key network topology parameter reflecting the number of connections a node (component) has to other nodes (targets) in the network.