Icariin: A Potential Molecule for Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Background: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a degenerative disease that develops over time. Icariin (ICA) has a positive effect on KOA, although the mechanism is unknown. To investigate drug-disease connections and processes, network pharmacology is commonly used. The molecular mechanisms of ICA for the treatment of KOA were investigated using network pharmacology, molecular docking and literature research approaches in this study.Methods: We gathered KOA-related genes using the DisGeNET database, the OMIM database, and GEO microarray data. TCMSP database, Pubchem database, TTD database, SwissTargetPrediction database, and Pharmmapper database were used to gather ICA-related data. Following that, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was created. Using the Metascape database, we performed GO and KEGG enrichment analyses. After that, we built a targets-pathways network. Furthermore, molecular docking confirms the prediction. Finally, we looked back over the last 5 years of literature on icariin for knee osteoarthritis to see if the findings of this study were accurate.Results: core targets relevant to KOA treatment include TNF, IGF1, MMP9, PTGS2, ESR1, MMP2 and so on. The main biological process involved regulation of inflammatory response, collagen catabolic process, extracellular matrix disassembly and so on. The most likely pathways involved were the IL-17 signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, Estrogen signaling pathway.Conclusion: ICA may alleviate KOA by inhibiting inflammation, cartilage breakdown and extracellular matrix degradation. Our study reveals the molecular mechanism of ICA for the treatment of KOA, demonstrating its potential value for further research and as a new drug.

Fitoterapia en Osteoartritis: Eficacia y mecanismos implicados

“…La Icariina también presenta efectos antiosteoporóticos y antiinflamatorios en la OA interfiriendo en la vía de señalización NLRP3/caspasa-1 mediada por liposacáridos (LPS) (68), además inhibe apoptosis de condrocitos, degradación de la matriz ósea y estimula la reparación de los cartílagos (69).…”

Targeting Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: Therapeutic Perspectives of Phytochemicals

“…ICA has been revealed by many studies to play a crucial role in antioxidation ( Liu XJ. et al, 2021 ; Zheng et al, 2021 ) and anti-inflammatory ( Guangtao et al, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2022 ). Hua et al found that IL-1β induces significant expression of COX-2 and iNOS and stimulates the production of PGE2 and nitric oxide in human NP cells ( Hua et al, 2018 ).…”

Natural Compounds: Potential Therapeutics for the Inhibition of Cartilage Matrix Degradation in Osteoarthritis

“…4.17 Icariin is the major, effective natural compound isolated from Epimedium and has been shown in several studies to have chondroprotective activity [ 162 ]. Icariin suppressed NFκB signaling pathway in chondrocytes [ 114 , 163 ].…”