Context: Qinggong Shoutao Wan (QGSTW) is a pill used as a traditional medicine to treat age-associated memory decline (AAMI). However, its potential mechanisms are unclear.
Objective: This study elucidates the possible mechanisms of QGSTW in treating AAMI.
Materials and methods: Network pharmacology and molecular docking approaches were utilized to identify the potential pathway by which QGSTW alleviates AAMI. C57BL/6J mice were divided randomly into control, model, and QGSTW groups. A mouse model of AAMI was established by d-galactose, and the pathways that QGSTW acts on to ameliorate AAMI were determined by ELISA, immunofluorescence staining and Western blotting after treatment with d-gal (100 mg/kg) and QGSTW (20 mL/kg) for 12 weeks.
Results: Network pharmacology demonstrated that the targets of the active components were significantly enriched in the cAMP signaling pathway. AKT1, FOS, GRIN2B, and GRIN1 were the core target proteins. QGSTW treatment increased the discrimination index from -16.92 ± 7.06 to 23.88 ± 15.94% in the novel location test and from -19.54 ± 5.71 to 17.55 ± 6.73% in the novel object recognition test. ELISA showed that QGSTW could increase the levels of cAMP. Western blot analysis revealed that QGSTW could upregulate the expression of PKA, CREB, c-Fos, GluN1, GluA1, CaMKII-α, and SYN. Immunostaining revealed that the expression of SYN was decreased in the CA1 and DG.
Discussion and conclusions: This study not only provides new insights into the mechanism of QGSTW in the treatment of AAMI but also provides important information and new research ideas for the discovery of traditional Chinese medicine compounds that can treat AAMI.
Keywords: Senile cognitive decline; d-galactose-injured mice; molecular docking; network pharmacology; traditional Chinese medicine formula.