Serum and fecal metabonomic studies on effect of huoxiang zhengqi oral liquid in rats with dampness obstructing spleen-stomach syndrome / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective To classify the essence of dampness obstructing spleen-stomach syndrome (DOSS) in rats and the effect of Huoxiang Zhengqi Oral Liquid (HZOL) on DOSS. Methods Comprehensive physical methods were applied to establish the rat DOSS model. Body weight, body length, tail length, abdominal girth index, and locomotor activity were observed. Moreover, a proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) based metabonomic approach was developed to profile DOSS-related metabolic perturbations in rat serum and feces and to investigate the intervention effect of HZOL in rats. Results Compared with the healthy control group, rats with DOSS showed weight loss, slow growth of body length, increased abdominal girth index, and decreased locomotor activity along with metabolic perturbations in serum and feces. The disturbed metabolic state associated with DOSS in rat serum and feces could be restored by HZOL. Meanwhile, six and eight potential biomarkers related to DOSS in rat serum and feces, respectively, were reversed by administration of HZOL. Conclusion The current study demonstrated that HZOL exerted protective effect against DOSS in rats, which was probably mediated by amelioration of disturbance in energy and amino acid metabolism and gut microbiota.