Wang-Bi capsule (WB)
is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-based
herbal formula, and it has been used in the treatment of rheumatoid
arthritis (RA) in China for many years. Additionally, WB is also used
as a supplement to the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) in clinical
practice. Our research aimed to reveal the therapeutic effects and
underling mechanism of WB on RA and OA through computational system
pharmacology analysis and experimental study. Based on network pharmacology
analysis, a total of 173 bioactive compounds interacted with 417 common
gene targets related to WB, RA, and OA, which mainly involved the
PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. In addition, the serine–threonine
protein kinase 1 (AKT1) might be a core gene protein for the action
of WB, which was further emphasized by molecular docking. Moreover,
the anti-inflammatory activity of WB in vitro was confirmed by reducing
NO production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells.
The anti-RA and OA effects of WB in vivo were confirmed by ameliorating
the disease symptoms of collagen II-induced RA (CIA) and monosodium
iodoacetate-induced OA (MIA) in rats, respectively. Furthermore, the
role of the PI3K-Akt pathway in the action of WB was preliminarily
verified by western blot analysis. In conclusion, our study elucidated
that WB is a potentially effective strategy for the treatment of RA
and OA, which might be achieved by regulating the PI3K-Akt pathway.
It provides us with systematic insights into the effects and mechanism
of WB on RA and OA.