Mechanism of YLTZ on glycolipid metabolism based on UPLC/TOF/MS metabolomics

Bromuconazole exposure induces cardiac dysfunction by upregulating the expression LEF1

With the wide application of bromuconazole (BRO), a kind of triazole fungicide, the environmental problems caused by BRO have been paid more and more attention. In this study, adult male zebrafish were exposed to environmental related concentration and the maximum non-lethal concentration for zebrafish larvae (0,50 ng/L and 7.5 mg/L) for 7 days, respectively. Zebrafish exposed to BRO exhibited a significant reduction in body length and an increase in fatness index, indicating adverse physiological changes. Notably, the exposed zebrafish showed enlarged heart ventricular volumes and thinner heart walls. Transcriptome analysis of heart samples showed that BRO exposure mainly affected pathways related to cardiac energy metabolism. In addition, the amount of ATP in the heart tissue was correspondingly reduced, and the expression levels of genes related to controlling ion balance and myosin synthesis in the heart were also altered. The study extended its findings to the rat cardiomyocytes (H9C2), where similar cardiotoxic effects including changes in transcription of genes related to energy metabolism and heart function were also observed, suggesting a potential universal mechanism of BRO-induced cardiotoxicity. In a doxorubicin (DOX) induced larval zebrafish heart failure model, the expression of lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1(LEF1), a key gene in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, was significantly increased in larval zebrafish and adult fish heart tissues and cardiomyocytes, suggesting that LEF1 might play an important role in BRO-induced cardiotoxicity. Taken together, BRO exposure could interfere with cardiac function and metabolic capacity by abnormal activation the expression of LEF1. The study emphasized the urgent need for monitoring and regulating BRO due to its harmful effects on the hearts of aquatic organisms.

Deciphering the mechanisms of Yinlan Tiaozhi capsule in treating hyperlipidemia by combining network pharmacology, molecular docking and experimental verification

Yinlan Tiaozhi capsule (YLTZC) has been widely used to treat hyperlipidemia (HLP). However, its material basis and underlying pharmacological effects remain unclean. The current study aimed to explore the mechanisms involved in the treatment of YLTZC on HLP based on network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental verification. Firstly, UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS was used to comprehensively analyze and identify the chemical constituents in YLTZC. A total of 66 compounds, mainly including flavonoids, saponins, coumarins, lactones, organic acids, and limonin were characterized and classified. Simultaneously, the mass fragmentation pattern of different types of representative compounds was further explored. By network pharmacology analysis, naringenin and ferulic acid may be the core constituents. The 52 potential targets of YLTZC, including ALB, IL-6, TNF, and VEGFA, were considered potential therapeutic targets. Molecular docking results showed that the core active constituents of YLTZC (naringenin and ferulic acid) have a strong affinity with the core targets of HLP. Lastly, animal experiments confirmed that naringenin and ferulic acid significantly upregulated the mRNA expression of ALB and downregulated the mRNA expression of IL-6, TNF, and VEGFA. In sum, the constituents of YLTZC, such as naringenin and ferulic acid, might treat HLP by regulating the mechanism of angiogenesis and inhibiting inflammatory responses. Furthermore, our data fills the gap in the material basis of YLTZC.

Isochlorogenic Acid C Alleviates High-Fat Diet-Induced Hyperlipemia by Promoting Cholesterol Reverse Transport

Background: Promoting cholesterol reverse transport (RCT) has been proven to be a promising hyperlipidemia therapy since it is more effective for the treatment of atherosclerosis (AS) caused by hyperlipidemia. Liver X receptor (LXR) agonists can accelerate RCT, but most of them trigger undesirable liver steatosis due to the activation of liver LXRα.

Aim: We aim to figure out whether isochlorogenic acid C (ICAC) facilitates RCT without causing hepatic steatosis.

Methods:In vitro study, we established foam macrophages and macrophages with loaded NBD-cholesterol models to investigate the competence of RCT promoting ICAC. RT-qPCR and Western blot were used to verify ICAC’s regulation of RCT and NF-κB inflammatory pathways. In this in vivo study, male 6-week-old C57BL/6 mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) to investigate ICAC’s anti-hyperlipidemic effect and its functions in regulating RCT. The anti-hyperlipidemic effect of ICAC was evaluated by blood and liver lipid levels, liver hematoxylin, oil red o staining, and liver coefficient. Finally, mRNA levels of genes involved in RCT and inflammation pathways in the liver and intestine were detected by RT-qPCR.

Results: ICAC prevented macrophages from foaming by up-regulating the LXRα mediated RCT pathway and down-regulating expression of the cholesterol absorption genes LDLR and CD36, as well as suppressing iNOS, COX2, and IL-1β inflammatory factors. In HFD-fed mice, ICAC significantly lowered the lipid level both in the serum and the liver. Mechanistic studies showed that ICAC strengthened the RCT pathway in the liver and intestine but didn’t affect liver LXRα. Furthermore, ICAC impeded both adipogenesis and the inflammatory response in the liver.

Conclusion: ICAC accelerated RCT without affecting liver LXRα, thus resulting in a lipid-lowering effect without increasing liver adipogenesis. Our results indicated that ICAC could be a new RCT promoter for hyperlipidemia treatment without causing liver steatosis.

Metabonomic Study on the Plasma of High-Fat Diet-Induced Dyslipidemia Rats Treated with Ge Gen Qin Lian Decoction by Ultrahigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Gegen Qinlian decoction (GGQLD) has a definite effect on T2DM in clinic, and it has the effect of lowering blood sugar, improving insulin resistance, and improving the blood lipid level of rats with dyslipidemia, but the intervention mechanism of GGQLD on dyslipidemia has not been clarified. The changes in endogenous metabolites in the plasma of high-fat diet-induced dyslipidemia rats treated with Ge Gen Qin Lian Decoction (GGQLD) were studied to elucidate the therapeutic effects and mechanism of action of GGQLD in dyslipidemia. Based on ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS), the metabolic profiles of rat serum samples were collected. The rat model of dyslipidemia was induced by a 60% fat-fed high-fat diet. After feeding the rats with a high-fat diet for 4 weeks, dyslipidemia appeared. After 5 weeks of GGQLD (14.85 g kg⁻¹) administration, the metabonomics of rats' plasma samples in the normal group, model group, and administration group were analyzed. Mass profiler professional (MPP), SIMCA-P 14.1, and Graphpad prism 6.0 software were used combined with METLIN biological database and human metabolite database HMDB to screen and identify endogenous biomarkers. Metaboanalyst 4.0 software was used by combining with HMDB and KEGG databases; the enrichment and metabolic pathway of biomarkers were analyzed to explore the metabolic mechanism of dyslipidemia rats induced by high-fat diet and the intervention mechanism of Gegen Qinlian decoction. After 5 weeks of administration of GGQLD, the levels of serum TC and TG were significantly decreased (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), while HDL-C and LDL-C were not significantly affected. After administration, the food intake of rats in the administration group decreased gradually, and the change trend of body weight gradually slowed down. The metabonomics of rat plasma samples results showed that 23 potential biomarkers including α-linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, and lysophosphatidylcholine were significantly changed in positive ion mode. Studies have shown that GGQLD has a significant lipid-lowering effect on dyslipidemia rats induced by a high-fat diet, and its preventive mechanism is related to tryptophan metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis, α-linolenic acid metabolism, arachidonic acid, and glycerophosphatidyl metabolism pathway.

Explore of the beneficial effects of Huang-Lian-Jie-Du Decoction on diabetic encephalopathy in db/db mice by UPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS/MS based untargeted metabolomics analysis

Diabetic encephalopathy (DE) is a severe diabetic complication with cognitive dysfunction. Huang-Lian-Jie-Du Decoction (HLJDD), a famous traditional Chinese formula, is effective for the treatment of diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer's disease in clinical practices, however, the therapeutic effects and the underlying mechanisms of HLJDD on DE is unclear yet. With this purpose, behavior test, brain histological and biochemical analysis were estimated to assess the beneficial effects of HLJDD on DE. Plasma samples were collected for metabolomics analysis based on UPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS/MS and chemometric analysis. As a result, morris water maze test revealed that HLJDD could effectively improve the learning and memory abilities in db/db mice. Brain histological and biochemical analysis indicated that HLJDD could protect against neurodegeneration and oxidative stress in db/db mice. Meanwhile, a total of 21 potential biomarkers with significant differences were identified between Model group and Control group using untargeted metabolomics strategy. Among them, 11 metabolites showed a trend towards the normal levels after HLJDD intervention. These metabolites principally involved in glycerophospholipid metabolism, fatty acid β-oxidation, linoleic acid metabolism, glucose metabolism and glutathione metabolism based on the metabolic pathway analysis, which were regulated in DE model mice after HLJDD intervention. Generally, the results demonstrated that HLJDD had beneficial effects on DE, which could be mediated via ameliorating the metabolic disorders.

Application of metabolomics for unveiling the therapeutic role of traditional Chinese medicine in metabolic diseases

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Traditional medicine has been practiced for thousands of years in China and some Asian countries. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is characterized as multi-component and multiple targets in disease therapy, and it is a great challenge for elucidating the mechanisms of TCM.

AIM OF THE REVIEW

Comprehensively summarize the application of metabolomics in biomarker discovery, stratification of TCM syndromes, and mechanism underlying TCM therapy on metabolic diseases.

METHODS

This review systemically searched the publications with key words such as metabolomics, traditional Chinese medicine, metabolic diseases, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus in "Title OR Abstract" in major databases including PubMed, the Web of Science, Google Scholar, Science Direct, CNKI from 2010 to 2019.

RESULTS

A total of 135 papers was searched and included in this review. An overview of articles indicated that metabolic characteristics may be a hallmark of different syndromes/models of metabolic diseases, which provides a new perspective for disease diagnosis and therapeutic optimization. Moreover, TCM treatment has significantly altered the metabolic perturbations associated with metabolic diseases, which may be an important mechanism for the therapeutic effect of TCM.

CONCLUSIONS

Until now, many metabolites and differential biomarkers related to the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases and TCM therapy have been discovered through metabolomics research. Unfortunately, the biological role and mechanism of disease-related metabolites were largely unclarified so far, which warrants further investigation.

Metabolomics analysis of Pulsatilla decoction on treatment of wetness-heat-induced diarrhea in rats based on UPLC-Q/TOF-MS/MS

Pulsatilla decoction (PD) is a classical prescription in traditional Chinese medicine that has therapeutic effects on wetness-heat-induced diarrhea (WHD). To investigate the therapeutic effects of PD in the treatment of WHD and elucidate the potential mechanism, we used a metabolomics strategy on the base of ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight/mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q/TOF-MS/MS) and analyzed the serum samples of 32 rats to identify differential metabolites and pathways associated with the PD treatment of WHD. With variable importance for projection >1.0 in the Orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA ) models and FC ≥1.2 or ≤0.8, 67 differential metabolites in the model and control groups and 33 differential metabolites in the model and PD groups were screened. A total of 23 differential metabolites were selected based on Venny analysis. Functional analysis showed that the differential metabolites identified were primarily involved in pentose and glucuronate interconversions, glycerophospholipid metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, and glycerolipid metabolism. This study suggested that PD exerts inhibitory effects on WHD. In particular, the significant roles of PD for treating WHD lie in regulating perturbed energy metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism and glycerolipid metabolism, and promoting lysoPC production restoring the function of intestinal tract.

Selection and evaluation of quality markers from Yinlan capsule and its LXRα-mediated therapy for hyperlipidemia

BACKGROUND

The selection of active compounds for the quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), specifically complex formulas, remains a challenge for researchers, as components selected as indexes usually have no clear relation with the therapeutic effects of interest. As a suggested resolution, quality control markers (Q-markers) showed good perspective for discriminating numerous compounds found for specific efficacies. In the presented study, the components of the Yinlan (YL) capsule, a TCM patent formula comprising four ingredients, were evaluated and selected for their lipid regulatory effects using principles for Q-marker selection.

PURPOSE

The mechanism of TCM therapeutic effects involves several pathways and targets that combine to become an integrated action in the body. Therefore, it is assumed that specific compounds in YL should have good affinity for related targets and obvious effects (both up- and downregulating). Thus, a series of experiments, including cytobiology, animal-based pharmacodynamics, computer-assisted drug design, conventional content determination and pharmacokinetics, would be helpful for the selection and final confirmation of Q-markers.

METHODS

The capsule was first administered to Wistar mice fed a high-fat diet and tested for their triglycerides (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) values to evaluate the effectiveness of YL. Then, liver tissue was extracted for gene expression. According to the results, the compounds in YL with good affiliation were selected and determined using UHPLC-MS-MS, and those with adequate results in the capsule were chosen as Q-marker candidates. Finally, pharmacokinetics research was performed; the candidates with desirable metabolite and bioavailability parameters were confirmed as Q-markers of YL.

RESULTS

YL capsule was capable of lowering TG and TC levels. For target selection, the expression of LXR mRNA increased significantly at all three tested dosages. Downstream genes, such as LCAT, CYP7A1, and ABCA1, and intestinal FXR mRNA also showed significant increases in expression. For screening of the Q-marker candidates, 5 compounds were selected according to abovementioned results. The pharmacokinetics research demonstrated that the rats exploited lupeol and ginsenoside Rb3 in a desirable pattern with adequate bioavailability, which confirmed their roles as lipid regulatory Q-markers.

CONCLUSION

The YL capsule was demonstrated to have obvious lipid regulatory effects, which are mainly exerted by targeting LXR and its related pathway. Lupeol and ginsenoside Rb3 were validated as Q-markers that represent the anti-hyperlipidemia activity of the capsule.