Background:Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F. H. Chen (PN) is a traditional Chinese
medicine that has been applied to prevent and treat osteoporosis. The mechanism of PN for osteoporosis
remained a mystery.Objective:The objective was to reveal the therapeutic effect and illuminate the possible mechanism
of PN for osteoporosis.Methods:The Traditional Chinese Medicine Database and Analysis Platform was searched to
screen the potent ingredients of the PN and to analyze the potential therapeutic targets for osteoporosis.
We excavated four disease databases to collect osteoporosis-related genes. After integrating
the gene expression profile of osteoporosis and the chemical-protein data of PN, a protein-protein
interaction network was constructed to demonstrate the interactions among the gene products.
GO function, KEGG pathway, and docking analyses were executed.Results:Network pharmacology obtained 31 active ingredients and 134 targets for the treatment
of osteoporosis. The key components were beta-elemene, quercetin, methyl palmitate, oleic acid,
and hexanal. The results of GO and KEGG analyses showed that Panax notoginseng was beneficial
for osteoporosis by influencing the main pathways including AGE-RAGE signaling pathway
in diabetic complications, TNF signaling pathway, IL-17 signaling pathway, p53 signaling pathway,
NF-kappa B signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway,
FoxO signaling pathway, and Wnt signaling pathway, modulating inflammation, metabolism, cell
proliferation, cell survival, growth and angiogenesis. Panax notoginseng intervened in osteoporosis
through multi-components, multi-targets, and multi-pathways.Conclusion:This study illustrates the mechanism of Panax notoginseng for osteoporosis, providing
broader insights for novel research and developments of the Panax species for osteoporosis.