Efficacy and potential pharmacological mechanism of Astragalus-Salvia miltiorrhiza combination in diabetic nephropathy: integrating meta-analysis, network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental validation

Background Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a diabetes mellitus (DM)-induced complication that poses high morbidity and mortality risks. The Astragalus and Salvia miltiorrhiza couplet medicines (AS) are commonly employed in DN clinical treatment in China, but their clinical efficacy and potential pharmacological mechanisms are yet to be evaluated.