Network Pharmacology
insights into the Anti-Diabetic Mechanisms of Syzygium cumini Seeds in type 2 Diabetes
Mellitus
Sharma Hitender and Garg Munish
Res. J. Biotech.; Vol. 20(10); 169-177;
doi: https://doi.org/10.25303/2010rjbt1690177; (2025)
Abstract
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a progressive, multipathological and multifactorial
disease. Syzygium cumini seeds (SCS) are used in T2DM management; however, the molecular
mechanism is still unexplored. Recently, network pharmacology has emerged as a new
approach to study the effects of natural products with the various targets underlying
diseases. Therefore, the present study investigated the molecular mechanism of SCS
in T2DM via a network pharmacology approach. The bioactive compounds present in
SCS were retrieved from the published literature indexed in the PubMed and structure
queried from the PubChem database. The protein targets of these genes were predicted
via the SwissTargetPrediction web tool. The proteins involved in the pathogenesis
of T2DM were retrieved from the TherapeuticTargetDisease database.
Among the 10 bioactive compounds of SCS, the top five, on the basis of their degree
of interaction with target proteins, are α-terpineol, ferulic acid, quercetin, 3,3',4'-tri-O-methylellagic
acid and caffeic acid. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that twenty target proteins
associated with SCS-T2DM were linked to 14 pathways among which important pathways
are regulation of lipolysis, diabetic cardiomyopathy and the PPAR signaling pathway.
This study demonstrated the multicomponent, multitarget, and multi-pathway properties
of SCS, which can be used for further research into its mechanism in the treatment
of T2DM.
