Metabolomics study of Danggui Buxue Tang on treatment of type 2 diabetes mice using UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS / 中国中药杂志

ABSTRACT

In this paper, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry(UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS)-based metabolomics approach was used to explore the mechanism of Danggui Buxue Tang(DBT) in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2 DM). T2 DM mice model was induced by high-sugar and high-fat fodder and streptozotocin(STZ). The routine indexes such as body weight, blood glucose, plasma insulin, IL-6 and related organ indexes were determined. The UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS technique was used to analyze the metabolism profile of serum samples between the control group and model group, and multiple statistical analysis methods including principal component analysis(PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA) were used to screen and identify biomarkers. Metabolic profiling revealed 16 metabolites as the most potential biomarkers distinguishing mice in model group from those in control group. The metabolomics pathway analysis(MetPA) was used to investigate the underlying metabolic pathways. Seven major metabolic pathways such the valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis, glycerophospholipid metabolism, primary bile acid biosynthesis, taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, fatty acid metabolism and biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acid. Eleven metabolites such as taurocholic acid and palmitic acid were down-regulated in T2 DM mice, and five metabolites such as L-leucine and leukotriene E4 were up-regulated. Moreover, the sixteen biomar-kers of each administration group had a trend of returning to mice in control group. The significantly-altered metabolite levels indicated that DBT can improve the progression of type 2 diabetes by increasing insulin sensitivity, regulating sugar and lipid metabolism disorders, and relieving inflammation.