The urinary metabolomics of Astragalus Radix and Dioscoreae Rhizomacomes reveal possible therapeutic mechanisms in the treatment of type 2 diabetes / 药学学报

ABSTRACT

sup>1H NMR-based metabonomic analysis was used to elucidate the hypoglycemic mechanism of Astragalus Radix and Dioscoreae Rhizomacomes. Thirty-seven SD rats were divided into four groups model group (M group), control group (C group), Astragalus Radix and Dioscoreae Rhizomacomes group (HS group), metformin group (Y group). A T2DM model was induced with a high fat diet and streptozotocin (STZ). Drug was continuously administered for 8 weeks, after which blood and the kidneys were collected to determine the biochemical index and the kidney coefficients of each group. Using 1H NMR metabolomics technology, we measured the metabolites in the urine of rats in each group to identify appropriate biomarkers. The results showed that total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (L-DLC), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and the kidney coefficients were significantly increased with high density lipoprotein (H-DLC) significantly decreased in the diabetic group, but these changes were largely reversed with treatment with Astragalus Radix and Dioscoreae Rhizomacomes. A total of 20 biomarkers were found in rat urine in the diabetic group and Astragalus Radix and Dioscoreae could reverse the changes of 16 of these metabolites to varying degrees, similar to that of metformin (200 mg·kg-1). The changes in metabolomics mainly involved butanoate metabolism, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies, and pyruvate metabolism. Dioscoreae Rhizomacomes and Astragalus Radix may have a therapeutic role in the treatment of diabetes through the above five metabolic pathways, revealing the possible therapeutic mechanisms for Dioscoreae Rhizomacomes and Astragalus Radix.