Efficacy of Glycyrrhetinic Acid in the Treatment of Acne Vulgaris Based on Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation

Overview

Journal Molecules

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Biology

Date 2024 May 25

PMID 38792208

Authors

Lingna Xie

Congwei Ma

Xinyu Li

Huixiong Chen

Ping Han

Li Lin

Weiqiang Huang

Menglu Xu

Hailiang Lu

Zhiyun Du

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) is a saponin compound, isolated from licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), which has been wildly explored for its intriguing pharmacological and medicinal effects. GA is a triterpenoid glycoside displaying an array of pharmacological and biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, antiviral and antioxidative properties. In this study, we investigated the underlying mechanisms of GA on acne vulgaris through network pharmacology and proteomics. After the intersection of the 154 drug targets and 581 disease targets, 37 therapeutic targets for GA against acne were obtained. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis highlighted TNF, IL1B, IL6, ESR1, PPARG, NFKB1, STAT3 and TLR4 as key targets of GA against acne, which is further verified by molecular docking. The experimental results showed that GA inhibited lipid synthesis in vitro and in vivo, improved the histopathological damage of skin, prevented mast cell infiltration and decreased the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6. This study indicates that GA may regulate multiple pathways to improve acne symptoms, and the beneficial effects of GA against acne vulgaris might be through the regulation of sebogenesis and inflammatory responses.

Citing Articles

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PMID: 39133272 PMC: 11825621. DOI: 10.1007/s00210-024-03353-8.

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