RESUMO
Objective To study the metabolic profiles in the urine samples of rats dosed with decoction of the caulis of Aristolochia manshuriensis and the relationship between the results of blood biochemical analysis and histopathological analysis,and to explore the feasibility of the application of NMR-based metabonomics to toxicology of Chinese medicine.Methods Male Wistar rats were administrated by ig 36,32,28,and 24 g/kg of A.manshuriensis or the equal volume of distilled water for 6 d,respectively.Urine were collected and their()~1H-NMR spectra were acquired,and then subjected to data process and principal component ana-(lysis)(PCA).Blood biochemical analysis and histopathological examination were carried out.Results(Compared) to control groups,the urinary concentrations of TMAO,taurine,creatinine,DMG,citrate,and DMA in dosed groups decreased,while those of acetate,alanine,and some other amino acids increased to a great extent.The dosed groups can be readily discriminated from the controls based on PCA,with acetate and TMAO as main discriminators.A good agreement was achieved within clinical chemistry,microscopically examination and PCA data.Conclusion The caulis of A.manshuriensis can induce renal lesion as revealed by the metabonomic analysis of rat urine samples as well as blood biochemical analysis and histopathological examinations.The results show that the metabonomic approach is a promising new technology in toxicology.