According to the theory of 'Xingben Dazao' of
Psoralea corylifolia Linn. (BL), the susceptible
syndromes and
biomarkers of
liver injury caused by BL were searched.
Rat models of
kidney-
yin deficiency syndrome (M_yin) and
kidney-
yang deficiency syndrome (M_yang) were established, and all
animal experimental operations and welfare following the provisions of the First Affiliated Experimental
Animal Ethics and
Animal Welfare Committee of Henan
University of
Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. YFYDW2020017). The results showed that BL significantly decreased the
body weight,
water intake, and
urine weight of M_yin
rats and increase the organ indexes of the
liver,
testis,
adrenal gland, and
spleen and the expression of
alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Meantime, BL significantly increased the
urine weight of M_yang
rats and decreased the expression of ALT and
aspartate aminotransferase (AST).
Hematoxylin and
eosin (HE)
staining showed that BL could aggravate inflammatory infiltration of
hepatocytes in
rats with M_yin and alleviate
liver injury in
rats with M_yang.
Metabolomics identified 17 BL co-regulated significant differential metabolic markers in M_yin and M_yang
rats. Among them, 8 metabolites such as
glutamine,
quinolinate,
biliverdin, and lactosylceramide showed opposite
trends, mainly involving
cysteine and
methionine metabolism,
tyrosine metabolism,
tryptophan metabolism, purine
metabolism,
sphingolipid metabolism,
glycerol phospholipid metabolism,
glutamine metabolism, and other pathways. M_yin/M_yang may be the susceptible
constitution of BL for
liver damage or
protection, which may be related to the
regulation of
amino acid metabolism and
sphingolipid metabolism. The study can provide some experimental data support for the safe and accurate use of BL in the clinical practice of
traditional Chinese medicine.