| Objective To study the main active components and potential mechanism of the Migu capsule in the treatment of sarcopenia by network pharmacology and the experiment of mouse C2C12 muscle cells in vitro. Methods The active components and main targets of traditional Chinese medicine components of Migu capsule were collected from TCMSP databases. The disease genes were searched from GeneCards and other databases. The intersection between the two sets of the targets and pathways of sarcopenia that the Migu capsule may be related was predicted. After culturing and inducing differentiation of mouse C2C12 muscle cells in vitro, the cells were pretreated with the Migu capsule and then stimulated with TNF- inflammatory factors. Western blotting and polymerase chain reaction showed its effect on the expression of related proteins in NF-κB pathway and AKT-mTOR pathway in muscle cells. Results In the action of the Migu capsule on muscle, the core targets were MTOR, ESR1, EGFR, SIRT1, CTNNB1, VEGFA, ALB, IL6, TP53, TNF, and AKT1, which interfered with HIF-1, AGE-RAGE, TNF, and PI3K-AKT-mTOR signal pathways. The Migu capsule decreased the expression of MuRF1 mRNA. The results of Western blotting showed that the drug-containing serum decreased the amount of Atrogin-1 protein stimulated by TNF-α and inhibited the phosphorylation and degradation of i??b?? in NF-κB pathway. It also increased the amount of p-AKT and p-4EBP1 protein by the inhibition of TNF-α in AKT-mTOR pathway. Conclusion Through network pharmacology and in vitro experiments, the Migu capsule may have a preventive and therapeutic effect on sarcopenia. The Migu capsule inhibits NF-κB pathway and slows down the degradation of muscle proteins. The Migu capsule activates AKT-mTOR pathway and promotes protein synthesis in muscle cells. |