Zhou LJ, Wu JL, Wang H, Han R, Tang C, Fang F, Zhu DP. Integrating proteomics, metabolomics, and molecular docking to elucidate the mechanism of Jiangtang Qingre formula against metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(48): 123033 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.123033]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Dan-Ping Zhu, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, No. 6 Panxi Qizhi Road, Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing 400021, China. zdp790203@163.com
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Endocrinology & Metabolism
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research-article
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Zhou LJ, Wu JL, Wang H, Han R, Tang C, Fang F, Zhu DP. Integrating proteomics, metabolomics, and molecular docking to elucidate the mechanism of Jiangtang Qingre formula against metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(48): 123033 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.123033]
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 28, 2026; 32(48): 123033 Published online Dec 28, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.123033
Integrating proteomics, metabolomics, and molecular docking to elucidate the mechanism of Jiangtang Qingre formula against metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis
Li-Juan Zhou, Jin-Lin Wu, Hang Wang, Rui Han, Cai Tang, Fang Fang, Dan-Ping Zhu
Li-Juan Zhou, Jin-Lin Wu, Hang Wang, Rui Han, Cai Tang, Fang Fang, Dan-Ping Zhu, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Chongqing 400021, China
Co-corresponding authors: Fang Fang and Dan-Ping Zhu.
Author contributions: Zhou LJ, Wu JL, Wang H, Han R, Tang C, Fang F and Zhu DP designed the study; Zhou LJ, Wu JL and Wang H performed the research; Han R and Tang C analyzed the data; Zhou LJ prepared the figures and wrote the manuscript; Fang F and Zhu DP reviewed the manuscript; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript for submission.
AI contribution statement: Portions of this manuscript were edited using AI tools solely for language refinement. The authors carefully reviewed and verified all AI-assisted outputs and take full responsibility for the scientific content of the manuscript.
Supported by Chongqing Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases (Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine), No. SQMS2025DXB-006, No. SQMS2026DXB-001 and No. SQMS2026DXB-003.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: The experimental protocol was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital (Approval No. 2025-DWSY-ZLJ).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors confirm that there are no competing interests.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: The mass spectrometry proteomics data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium (https://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org) via the iProX partner repository with the dataset identifier PXD078320. Other data generated and analyzed in this study are available from the corresponding author, Prof. Dan-Ping Zhu (zdp790203@163.com), upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Dan-Ping Zhu, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, No. 6 Panxi Qizhi Road, Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing 400021, China. zdp790203@163.com
Received: May 7, 2026 Revised: July 1, 2026 Accepted: September 4, 2026 Published online: December 28, 2026 Processing time: 181 Days and 14.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study demonstrated that Jiangtang Qingre formula (JQF) ameliorates metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis through multi-target mechanisms. Multi-omics revealed arachidonic acid metabolism, and glutathione metabolism, with multiple targets implicated including Lmod3. Molecular docking confirmed timosaponins exhibited the strongest binding affinity to these targets. Knockdown of Lmod3 partially alleviated free fatty acids-induced AML12 cell injury, an effect further augmented by JQF. Additionally, timosaponin A III and timosaponin B II were effectively absorbed into the bloodstream and enriched in the liver, while their secondary metabolite sarsasapogenin was detected at high abundance in feces, further supporting the role of timosaponins as key pharmacologically active substances.
