Background: A major complication of diabetes is diabetic foot ulcers. Millions of patients suffer from the physiological and psychosocial effects of diabetic foot ulcers. However, the current treatment is not effective, and the patients’ prognosis has not been significantly improved.
Results: Traditional Chinese medicine-Zizhu ointment exhibited its own characteristics and advantages in treating diabetic foot ulcer by promoting wound healing. The mechanism of Zizhu ointment promoting diabetic foot ulcer wound healing was explored by detecting its miRNA expression profiling. Eighty-three differentially expressed miRNAs were identified, 30 of which were upregulated and 53 were downregulated in diabetic cutaneous wounds treated with Zizhu ointment. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis of the differentially expressed miRNAs showed that they were involved in several pathways that could regulate the proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, migration, and secretion of tissue repair cells, and were linked to inflammatory cells, the extracellular matrix, growth factors, and other relevant factors related to wound healing. Furthermore, miRNA-Target regulatory network and protein-protein interaction network were constructed. Twenty hub genes of networks were obtained.
Conclusions: Our preliminary study provides a new alternative drug treatment for diabetic foot ulcers by traditional Chinese medicine, and will assist in better understanding its therapeutic targets.