An integrated network pharmacology, molecular docking and experiment validation study to investigate the potential mechanism of Isobavachalcone in the treatment of osteoarthritis

In many different plants, including Dorstenia and Psoralea corylifolia L., Isobavachalcone (IBC) is a naturally occurring flavonoid chemical having a range of biological actions, including anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and anti-bacterial. The "Theory of Medicinal Properties" of the Tang Dynasty states that Psoralea corylifolia L. has the ability to alleviate discomfort in the knees and waist. One of the most widespread chronic illnesses, osteoarthritis (OA), is characterized by stiffness and discomfort in the joints. However, there hasn't been much research done on the effectiveness and underlying processes of IBC in the treatment of osteoarthritis. To investigate the potential efficacy and mechanism of IBC in treating osteoarthritis, we adopted an integrated strategy of network pharmacology, molecular docking and experiment assessment. The purpose of this research was to determine the impact of IBC on OA and the underlying mechanisms. IBC and OA possible targets and processes were predicted using network pharmacology, including the relationship between IBC and OA intersection targets, Cytoscape protein-protein interaction (PPI) to obtain key potential targets, and GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis to reveal the probable mechanism of IBC on OA. Following that, in vitro tests were carried out to confirm the expected underlying processes. Finally, in vivo tests clarified IBC's therapeutic efficacy on OA. We anticipated and validated that the impact of IBC on osteoarthritis is mostly controlled by the PI3K-AKT–NF–κB signaling pathway by combining the findings of network pharmacology analysis, molecular docking and Experiment Validation. This study reveals the IBC has potential to delay OA development.