Comparative Analysis of Effect of Houpu Wenzhongtang Combined Decoction and Simple Decoction on Urine Metabonomics of Rats with Deficiency-cold of Spleen and Stomach / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To study the effect of combined decoction and single decoction of Houpu Wenzhongtang on rats with deficiency-cold of spleen and stomach from the perspective of metabonomics, to find out the relevant potential biomarkers and metabolic pathways, and to explore the similarities and differences between the combined decoction and single decoction, so as to provide reference for the feasibility analysis of replacing traditional decoction with single dispensing granule of this formula. Method:SD rats were randomly divided into normal group, model group, Houpu Wenzhongtang combined decoction group and simgle decoction group. Rats in the normal group were given distilled water by intragastric administration, rats in the other three groups were given cold vinegar at 4 ℃ in the morning and refined lard in the afternoon for 10 days (the dosage of 10 mL·kg-1). After the model was successfully established, rats in the combined decoction group and the single decoction group were given corresponding decoction with dosage of 1.8 g·kg-1 (according to the amount of crude drugs), once a day for 7 days. Ultra-high liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) technique was used to analyze the small molecular endogenous metabolites in urine. Orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to compare the changes of differential metabolites among the normal group, model group, Houpu Wenzhongtang combined decoction group and single decoction group, and the differential metabolites were introduced into Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) for metabolic pathway analysis. Result:Compared with the model group, the Houpu Wenzhongtang combined decoction group and single decoction group jointly regulated 13 potential biomarkers, including phosphatidylcholine(PC), lysophosphatidic acid(LysoPA) and cholic acid, etc. They played a role in treating deficiency-cold of spleen and stomach by influencing metabolic pathways such as glycerophospholipid metabolism, glycerolipid metabolism, phosphatidylinositol signaling system and so on. The combined decoction and single decoction of Houpu Wenzhongtang could obviously restore the body weight, motilin and gastrin contents of rats with deficiency-cold of spleen and stomach to normal levels. Conclusion:According to biochemical indexes, there is no obvious difference between combined decoction and single decoction of Houpu Wenzhongtang, but according to metabonomics, the combined decoction may be slightly better than the single decoction. The research shows that it is feasible to replace traditional decoction with single dispensing granule of Houpu Wenzhongtang in clinical application.