Multiscale Interactome Analysis Prioritizes Candidate Herbs and Compounds for Diabetic Retinopathy
- 1College of Korean Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan 54538, Republic of Korea
- 2Research Center of Traditional Korean Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan 54538, Republic of Korea
- 3Forensic Chemistry Division, National Forensic Service, 10 Ipchun-ro, Wonju-si 26460, Republic of Korea
Abstract
Diabetic retinopathy (DR), a leading cause of preventable vision loss among working-age adults, arises from chronic hyperglycemic injury to the retinal microvasculature; current interventions such as anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injection are largely reactive, and mechanism-anchored herbal options remain undefined. We constructed a multiscale interactome and applied a biased random-walk diffusion model to prioritize herbal candidates, candidate compounds, and mechanisms for DR. Herb–ingredient records were drawn from OASIS; ingredient targets from DrugBank, TTD, and STITCH; and disease genes from DisGeNET. For each herb and compound, we computed diffusion profiles, correlated them with the DR profile, and assessed target-overlap significance by hypergeometric test. Eleven herbs combining high correlation (top 5%) with significant overlap (p < 0.05) were retained, led by Pini Koraiensis Semen (0.0263), Benincasae Exocarpium (0.0183), and Veratri Rhizoma Et Radix (0.0162); none had been previously investigated for DR. CASP3 emerged as a target shared by all eleven herbs, and enrichment analysis highlighted the advanced glycation end product–receptor for AGE (AGE–RAGE), TNF, IL-17, and NF-κB pathways alongside apoptosis and reactive-oxygen-species responses. Compound-level analysis recovered evidence-supported quercetin, resveratrol, oleic acid, luteolin, and diosgenin and nominated tectorigenin and cucurbitacins as novel candidates. This framework recapitulates known DR biology and elevates testable multi-target leads that warrant experimental validation for diabetic retinopathy.
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BibTeX
@article{ahn2026multiscale,
title = {{Multiscale Interactome Analysis Prioritizes Candidate Herbs and Compounds for Diabetic Retinopathy}},
author = {Yeong-Seon Ahn and Ji-In Chae and Seok-Hoon Han and Won-Yung Lee and Chihyun Park},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27209066},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/20/9066},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Multiscale Interactome Analysis Prioritizes Candidate Herbs and Compounds for Diabetic Retinopathy
AU - Yeong-Seon Ahn
AU - Ji-In Chae
AU - Seok-Hoon Han
AU - Won-Yung Lee
AU - Chihyun Park
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27209066
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/20/9066
AB - Diabetic retinopathy (DR), a leading cause of preventable vision loss among working-age adults, arises from chronic hyperglycemic injury to the retinal microvasculature; current interventions such as anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injection are largely reactive, and mechanism-anchored herbal options remain undefined. We constructed a multiscale interactome and applied a biased random-walk diffusion model to prioritize herbal candidates, candidate compounds, and mechanisms for DR. Herb–ingredient records were drawn from OASIS; ingredient targets from DrugBank, TTD, and STITCH; and disease genes from DisGeNET. For each herb and compound, we computed diffusion profiles, correlated them with the DR profile, and assessed target-overlap significance by hypergeometric test. Eleven herbs combining high correlation (top 5%) with significant overlap (p < 0.05) were retained, led by Pini Koraiensis Semen (0.0263), Benincasae Exocarpium (0.0183), and Veratri Rhizoma Et Radix (0.0162); none had been previously investigated for DR. CASP3 emerged as a target shared by all eleven herbs, and enrichment analysis highlighted the advanced glycation end product–receptor for AGE (AGE–RAGE), TNF, IL-17, and NF-κB pathways alongside apoptosis and reactive-oxygen-species responses. Compound-level analysis recovered evidence-supported quercetin, resveratrol, oleic acid, luteolin, and diosgenin and nominated tectorigenin and cucurbitacins as novel candidates. This framework recapitulates known DR biology and elevates testable multi-target leads that warrant experimental validation for diabetic retinopathy.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -