Potential Molecular Mechanism of Bajitian–Niuxi Formula Delays Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: An Animal Experiment and Network Pharmacology

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) continues to be a major health concern. The combination of Bajitian and Niuxi (B&N) is commonly used to treat musculoskeletal degenerative diseases. This study aimed to explore the potential of B&N in treating IDD through in vivo experiments and bioinformatics approaches. In vivo experiments found that the process of IDD in rats treated with B&N extracts was delayed. Through database screening and network pharmacology analysis, it was discovered that multiple key drug-active ingredients (DAIs) of B&N, such as wogonin, baicalein, 1-hydroxy-3-methoxy-9,10-anthraquinone, and beta-sitosterol, might play a role in the treatment of IDD, among which signaling pathways, such as PI3K-AKT, MAPK, and senescence signaling, might be the main drug-regulated pathways. The binding potential and position of the main DAIs to the core targets were verified by structural bioinformatics. Immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR results indicated that B&N treatment could improve the expressions of Type II collagen (Col-2) and aggrecan (ACAN) in IDD rats, which might be related to the phosphorylation levels of AKT and p38. Therefore, the B&N formula might delay IDD in rats by regulating multiple signaling pathways through DAIs, which provides new approaches for further exploring the prevention and treatment strategies of IDD with traditional Chinese medicine.