Compatibility mechanism of hawthorn fruit and leaf regulating glycolipid metabolism based on AMPKα/SREBP-1/ACCα pathway

Glucolipid metabolic disease is a complex disease characterized by disorder of glucose and lipid metabolism and caused by genetic, environmental and mental conditions. It is called "Xiaoke disease" in traditional Chinese medicine. With the improvement of living standards and social pressure, it shows a multi-aging trend. The multi-component synergy of traditional Chinese medicine has obvious advantages in the long-term treatment of diabetes. Hawthorn fruit and leaves are rich in organic acids and flavonoids, which have significant effect on lowering blood sugar and blood lipids. In this study, the contents of the main components in hawthorn fruit and leaf extracts were determined, and the T2DM rat model was established to study the effect and mechanism of hawthorn fruit and leaf extracts on AMPKα/SREBP-1/ACCα signaling pathway and regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism. Combined with the method of network pharmacology, the effective components, action targets and action mechanism of hawthorn fruit and leaf in the treatment of T2DM were analyzed. The results showed that the combined administration of hawthorn fruit and leaf could significantly reduce the fasting blood glucose and lipid level, improve the glucose tolerance level, promote insulin secretion, reduce fat accumulation, shrink adipocytes, regulate liver and kidney function and increase AMPKα phosphorylation, reduce protein expression of SREBP-1 and ACCα. A total of 14 active components of hawthorn fruit leaves were screened by network pharmacology, with a total of 150 disease intersection targets, which are involved in the regulation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, insulin resistance and other signaling pathways related to glucose and lipid metabolism. This study shows that the compatibility of fruit and leaf of hawthorn can regulate glucose and lipid metabolism through AMPKα-SREBP-1-ACCα pathway, which has a good prospect of clinical application.