Majid R, Ibraheem ZO, Mediani A, Ismail IS, Unyah NZ, Alhassan Abdullahi S, Nordin N, Nasiru Wana M, Basir R. Investigation of Andrographolide Effect on Non-Infected Red Blood Cells Using the 1H-NMR-Based Metabolomics Approach

Andrographolide (AG) has been shown to have several medicinal and pharmaceutical effects, such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, and anti-malarial activities. Moreover, studies to assess the pharmacological effect of AG on the metabolic changes of uninfected red blood cells (uRBCs) have not yet been investigated. This study aims to evaluate the pharmacological effects of AG compared to chloroquine (CQ) on the metabolic variations of uRBCs in vitro using a proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR)-based metabolomics approach coupled with multivariate data analysis (MVDA). Forty-one metabolites were successfully identified by ¹H-NMR. The results of the unsupervised data analysis principal component analysis (PCA) showed ideal differentiation between AG and CQ. PC1 and PC2 accounted for 71.4% and 17.7% of the explained variation, respectively, with a total variance of 89.10%. Based on S-plot and VIP values, a total of 28 and 32 metabolites were identified as biomarkers in uRBCs-AG and uRBCs-CQ, respectively. In uRBCs treated with AG, ten metabolic pathways were determined to be disturbed, including riboflavin metabolism, d-glutamate and d-glutamine metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, glutathione metabolism, proline and arginine metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, citrate cycle, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and pyruvate metabolism as well as alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism. In contrast, in CQ-treated uRBCs, nine affected metabolic pathways were determined, which involved the same metabolic pathways for uRBCs-AG, except for glutathione metabolism. These findings suggest an evident relationship between AG and CQ associated with metabolic changes in intact RBCs after being exposed to the treatment. The metabolomics results could allow useful comprehensive insights into the underlying mechanism of the action of AG and CQ on red blood cells. Consequently, the ¹H-NMR-based metabolomics approach was successfully utilized to identify the pharmacological effects of AG and CQ on the metabolic variations of uRBCs.

Protection of Ficus pandurata Hance against acute alcohol-induced liver damage in mice via suppressing oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Ficus pandurata Hance (FPH) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, which is commonly used for liver protection in the folk of Southeast China. However, the medicinal part and pharmacological mechanism have not been clarified yet.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This study aims to investigate the medicinal part of FPH for liver protection and uncover the potential mechanism.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Acute alcoholic liver damage (ALD) mice model induced by intragastric administration with 50% alcohol was used to evaluate the liver protection of FPH. Different parts of FPH, including the root (FPHR), stem (FPHS), leaf (FPHL), and whole plant (FPHWP), were selected to investigate the liver-protected efficacy and determine which part is the medicinal part. Acute oral toxicity (AOT) test was performed to determine the acute toxicity of FPH on Kunming mice. The liver-protected effect of FPH was determined by evaluating the liver function, liver morphological changes, and liver pathological changes. The underlying mechanism was investigated by evaluating the effect on oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis in liver tissues via ELISA, H&E staining, Western Blot, and TUNEL staining assays.

RESULTS

In the screening test for medicinal parts of FPH, all of the extracts from FPHR, FPHS, FPHL, and FPHWP could alleviate the acute ALD of mice, including reducing abnormal levels of AST, ALT, and relative liver weight. Especially, the alleviated efficacies of FPHS and FPHL were better than those of FPHWP and FPHR, showing that the aerial part (FPHAP, including the stem and leaf), is probably the medicinal part of FPH against acute ALD. In the AOT test, FPHAP at the maximum administration dosage (480 g/kg, calculated based on the quantity of crude material) did not induce obvious abnormality and death of mice, and had no significant influence on body weight, as well as the relative organ weight, showing that the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of FPHAP was 480 g/kg on Kunming mice. In the anti-acute ALD study, FPHAP significantly reduced the levels of AST, ALT, LDH, ROS, MDA, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-18, and IL-6, alleviated the morphology of liver injury, increased the levels of SOD and GSH, up-regulated the expressions of Nrf-2, HO-1 and NQO1, and reduced apoptosis of liver cells in acute ALD mice, indicating that FPHAP could significantly alleviate acute ALD by suppressing oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONS

FPH could protect acute alcohol-induced liver damage of mice by suppressing oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. Our study provides scientific evidence for the therapeutic effect of Ficus pandurata Hance in acute ALD mice and suggests its potential development in humans for liver protection, supporting its traditional application.

Exploring Metabolic Signature of Protein Energy Wasting in Hemodialysis Patients

End-stage renal disease patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (HD) are vulnerable to the protein energy wasting (PEW) syndrome. Identification and diagnosis of PEW relies on clinical processes of judgment dependent on fulfilling multiple criteria drawn from serum biochemistry, weight status, predictive muscle mass, dietary energy and protein intakes. Therefore, we sought to explore the biomarkers’ signature with plasma metabolites of PEW by using ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance for an untargeted metabolomics approach in the HD population, to understand metabolic alteration of PEW. In this case-controlled study, a total of 53 patients undergoing chronic HD were identified having PEW based on established diagnostic criteria and were age- and sex-matched with non-PEW (n = 53) HD patients. Fasting predialysis plasma samples were analyzed. Partial least square discriminant analysis demonstrated a significant separation between groups for specific metabolic pattern alterations. Further quantitative analysis showed that the level of 3-hydroxybutyrate, acetate, arabinose, maltose, ribose, sucrose and tartrate were significantly increased whilst creatinine was significantly decreased (all p < 0.05) in PEW subjects. Pathway analysis indicated that PEW-related metabolites reflected perturbations in fatty acid mechanism and induction of glyoxylate and dicarboxylate pathway attributed to gluconeogenesis. These results provide preliminary data in understanding metabolic alteration of PEW and corresponding abnormal metabolites that could potentially serve as biomarkers of PEW.

Metabolomics approach to investigate the ergogenic effect of Morinda citrifolia L. leaf extract on obese Sprague Dawley rats

INTRODUCTION

Natural products are obtaining much acceptance as ergogenic aid, not only among athletes but also among the general population including people with excess body fat. Under normal circumstances, an obese person will have the desire and ability to exercise reduced; mainly because they are easily fatigued. Thus, they need to boost their energy production so that they can be more active and healthier.

OBJECTIVE

In this present work, Morinda citrifolia L. leaf extract (MLE) which is believed to possess ergogenic property, was evaluated on its effect on an obese animal model using ¹ H-NMR based metabolomics.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Rats were fed with high fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks for obese development. Once this was achieved, all the rats underwent endurance exercise (forced swimming test) every 2 weeks for 8 weeks together with treatment. The time to exhaustion was recorded for each rat. Three different dosages of MLE: 50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg of body weight were used together with two positive controls: 5 mg/kg caffeine and 100 mg/kg green tea. Blood was collected before and after treatments for metabolomics study.

RESULTS

Findings showed that feeding the rats at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight MLE significantly prolonged the exhaustive swimming time of the rats, and altered the metabolites present in their serum. Discriminating metabolites involved were the product of various metabolic pathways, including carbohydrate, lipids metabolism and energy metabolism. Treatment with 200 mg/kg body weight MLE resulted in significant improvement in the metabolic perturbations where the proximity of the obese exercised treated group to that of normal exercised group in the partial least squares discriminant analysis score plot was observed.

CONCLUSION

The present work demonstrated ergogenic property of MLE based on the improved metabolic perturbation in exercised obese rats.

Protective effects of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi extract on D-galactose induced aging rats

Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG), a traditional Chinese herb, has attracted considerable attention for its wide range of pharmacological activities. This study aimed to investigate the intervention effects of SBG ethanol extract on aging rats induced by D-galactose (D-gal) and to explore potential mechanisms by serum and liver metabolic profiles. The aging rats were induced by the D-gal (100 mg/kg) for 10 weeks continuously with subcutaneous injection, while the control rats received physiological saline. Two other groups of rats were administered with 100 mg/kg/day and 200 mg/kg/day of SBG by oral route following D-gal injections. The abilities of spatial and learning memory were evaluated by open-field test and Morris water maze test. Then, some biochemical indexes related to cognitive ability and aging were measured. Histopathological feature in hippocampal region was observed by Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. The changes of metabolic profiles were evaluated using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) spectroscopy coupled with multivariate data analysis. Results showed that SBG could significantly improve the learning and memory functions, reducing oxidative damage and histological abnormalities of hippocampus neurons. In addition, significant differences in the metabolic profiles were observed both in serum and liver between the model group and the control group. After the treatment using SBG, the levels of these metabolites are significantly changed back to their similar levels in the control group. These metabolic changes are related to the disturbance in amino acid metabolism, glycometabolism and choline metabolism. Hence, SBG may have the potential to improve neurodegeneration and provide brain protection. Graphical abstract A ¹H NMR-based metabonomic study was conducted to provide a global view of metabolites related to D-gal induced aging rats and assess the holistic efficacy of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi.

The intervention effect of licorice in d-galactose induced aging rats by regulating the taurine metabolic pathway

A potential protective mechanism of licorice in d-galactose induced aging rats.

Anti-melanoma activity of Forsythiae Fructus aqueous extract in mice involves regulation of glycerophospholipid metabolisms by UPLC/Q-TOF MS-based metabolomics study

Metabolomics is a comprehensive assessment of endogenous metabolites of a biological system in a holistic context. In this study, we evaluated the in vivo anti-melanoma activity of aqueous extract of Forsythiae Fructus (FAE) and globally explored the serum metabolome characteristics of B16-F10 melanoma-bearing mice. UPLC/Q-TOF MS combined with pattern recognition approaches were employed to examine the comprehensive metabolic signatures and differentiating metabolites. The results demonstrated that FAE exhibited remarkable antitumor activity against B16-F10 melanoma in C57BL/6 mice and restored the disturbed metabolic profile by tumor insult. We identified 17 metabolites which were correlated with the antitumor effect of FAE. Most of these metabolites are involved in glycerophospholipid metabolisms. Notably, several lysophosphatidylcholines (LysoPCs) significantly decreased in tumor model group, while FAE treatment restored the changes of these phospholipids to about normal condition. Moreover, we found that lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 1 (LPCAT1) and autotaxin (ATX) were highly expressed in melanoma, and FAE markedly down-regulated their expression. These findings indicated that modulation of glycerophospholipid metabolisms may play a pivotal role in the growth of melanoma and the antitumor activity of FAE. Besides, our results suggested that serum LysoPCs could be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of melanoma and other malignant tumors.

Metabolite Variation in Lean and Obese Streptozotocin (STZ)-Induced Diabetic Rats via 1H NMR-Based Metabolomics Approach

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is considered as a complex metabolic disease because it affects the metabolism of glucose and other metabolites. Although many diabetes studies have been conducted in animal models throughout the years, the pathogenesis of this disease, especially between lean diabetes (ND + STZ) and obese diabetes (OB + STZ), is still not fully understood. In this study, the urine from ND + STZ, OB + STZ, lean/control (ND), and OB + STZ rats were collected and compared by using ¹H NMR metabolomics. The results from multivariate data analysis (MVDA) showed that the diabetic groups (ND + STZ and OB + STZ) have similarities and dissimilarities for a certain level of metabolites. Differences between ND + STZ and OB + STZ were particularly noticeable in the synthesis of ketone bodies, branched-chain amino acid (BCAA), and sensitivity towards the oral T2DM diabetes drug metformin. This finding suggests that the ND + STZ group was more similar to the T1DM model and OB + STZ to the T2DM model. In addition, we also managed to identify several pathways and metabolism aspects shared by obese (OB) and OB + STZ. The results from this study are useful in developing drug target-based research as they can increase understanding regarding the cause and effect of DM.

Untargeted metabolomic analysis using LC-TOF/MS and LC-MS/MS for revealing metabolic alterations linked to alcohol-induced hepatic steatosis in rat serum and plasma

Untargeted LC-MS metabolomics to screen differential metabolites in rat serum and plasma, and reveal metabolic alterations linked to AHS.