Palmitic acid is a common ingredient in many foods and traditional Chinese medicines. However, modern pharmacological experiments have shown that palmitic acid has toxic side effects. It can damage glomeruli, cardiomyocytes, and hepatocytes, as well as promote the growth of lung cancer cells. Despite this, there are few reports evaluating the safety of palmitic acid through animal experiments, and the mechanism of palmitic acid toxicity remains unclear. Clarifying the adverse reactions and mechanisms of palmitic acid in animal hearts and other major organs is of great significance for ensuring the safety of clinical application. Therefore, this study records an acute toxicity experiment on palmitic acid in a mouse model, and the observation of pathological changes in the heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys. It is found that palmitic acid had toxic and side effects on animal heart. Then the key targets of palmitic acid in regulating cardiac toxicity were screened using network pharmacology, and a “component-target-cardiotoxicity” network diagram and PPI network were constructed. The mechanisms regulating cardiotoxicity were explored using KEGG signal pathway and GO biological process enrichment analyses. Molecular docking models were used for verification. The results showed that the maximum dose of palmitic acid had low toxicity in the hearts of mice. The mechanism of cardiotoxicity of palmitic acid involves multiple targets, biological processes, and signaling pathways. Palmitic acid can induce steatosis in hepatocytes, and regulate cancer cells. This study preliminarily evaluated the safety of palmitic acid and provided a scientific basis for its safe application.

棕榈酸是许多食品和中药中的常见成分。然而，现代药理实验表明，棕榈酸有毒副作用。它可以损伤肾小球、心肌细胞和肝细胞，并促进肺癌细胞的生长。尽管如此，鲜有通过动物实验评价棕榈酸安全性的报道，棕榈酸的毒性作用机制尚不明确。阐明棕榈酸在动物心脏等主要脏器中的不良反应及作用机制，对于保障临床应用安全具有重要意义。因此，本研究记录了棕榈酸在小鼠模型中的急性毒性实验，以及心脏、肝脏、肺和肾脏的病理变化观察。发现棕榈酸对动物心脏有毒副作用。然后利用网络药理学筛选棕榈酸调控心脏毒性的关键靶点，构建“成分-靶点-心脏毒性”网络图和PPI网络。使用 KEGG 信号通路和 GO 生物过程富集分析探索调节心脏毒性的机制。分子对接模型用于验证。结果表明，最大剂量的棕榈酸对小鼠心脏的毒性较低。棕榈酸的心脏毒性机制涉及多个靶点、生物学过程和信号通路。棕榈酸可诱导肝细胞脂肪变性，并调节癌细胞。