“Inflammation plays a critical role in the development of numerous diseases.
Cannabidiol (CBD), found in hemp, exhibits significant pharmacological activities. Accumulating evidence suggests that CBD has anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular protection effects, but the potential mechanisms require further exploration.
In this study, we aimed to reveal the mechanisms of CBD against high-fat, high-cholesterol (HFC) diet-induced inflammation combining metabolomics with network pharmacology.
First, plasma lipidomics results indicated that oxidized lipids could serve as potential biomarkers for HFC diet-induced inflammation, and CBD reversed the elevated levels of oxidized lipids. The HFC diet was also found to enhance intestinal permeability, facilitating the entry of lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) into the circulatory system and subsequently increasing systemic inflammation.
Additionally, cell metabolomic results indicated that CBD could reverse 10 important differential metabolites in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. Using network pharmacology, we identified 49 core targets, and enrichment analysis revealed that arachidonic acid was the most significantly affected by CBD, which was closely associated with inflammation.
Further integrated analysis focused on three key targets, including PTGS2, ALOX5, and ALOX15. Molecular docking showed high affinities between key targets and CBD, and qPCR further demonstrated that CBD could reverse the mRNA expression of these key targets in RAW 264.7 cells.
Collectively, this finding integrates lipidomics and metabolomics with network pharmacology to elucidate the anti-inflammatory effects of CBD and validates key therapeutic targets.”