RESUMO
This paper was designed to study metabonomic characters of the osteoporosis induced by high dose of hydrocortisone and the protective effects of Drynariae Rhizoma, which can replenish the kidney and strengthen the bones. A urinary metabonomics method based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was developed. Clear separation of healthy control group, model group and treatment group was achieved by using the principal components analysis (PCA) and 9 significantly changed metabolites were identified as potential biomarkers of osteoporosis. Compared with the health control group, the model group rats showed lower levels of creatinine, citric acid, azelaic acid, hippurate, tryptophan and indoxyl sulfate together with higher levels of phenylalanine, cresol sulfate and phenaceturic acid. These changes in urinary metabolites suggest that the disorders of amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, gut microflora and anti-oxidative damage are related to osteoporosis induced by high dose of hydrocortisone and the potential effect of Drynariae Rhizoma on all the four metabolic pathways.