title: Metabolomics study on the hepatoprotective effect of scoparone using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
abstract: Scoparone is an important constituent of Yinchenhao (Artemisia annua L.), a famous medicinal plant, and displayed bright prospects in the prevention and therapy of liver injury. However, the precise molecular mechanism of hepatoprotective effects has not been comprehensively explored. Here, metabolomics techniques are the comprehensive assessment of endogenous metabolites in a biological system and may provide additional insight into the mechanisms. The present investigation was designed to assess the effects and possible mechanisms of scoparone against carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-Q-TOF/MS) combined with pattern recognition approaches including principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were integrated to discover differentiating metabolites. Results indicate five ions in the positive mode as differentiating metabolites. Functional pathway analysis revealed that the alterations in these metabolites were associated with primary bile acid biosynthesis, pyrimidine metabolism. Of note, scoparone has a potential pharmacological effect through regulating multiple perturbed pathways to the normal state. Our findings also showed that the robust metabolomics techniques are promising for getting biomarkers and clarifying mechanisms of disease, highlighting insights into drug discovery.
authors.affiliation: National TCM Key Lab of Serum Pharmacochemistry, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, and Key Pharmacometabolomics Platform of Chinese Medicines, Heping Road 24, Harbin 150040, China.
authors.forename: Aihua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Shengshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dou
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Xiuhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xijun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / Q000517:prevention & control; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003374:Coumarins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019610:Cytoprotection / Q000187:drug effects*; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D003374:Coumarins; C018145:scoparone