title: Comparative metabolism of Radix scutellariae extract by intestinal bacteria from normal and type 2 diabetic mice in vitro.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used in clinical practice for several thousand years. TCM has played an indispensable role in the prevention and treatment of disease, especially the complicated and chronic ones. In TCMs, many ingredients which are known to have biological effects just pass through the gut, they do not get into the bloodstream. Study on interactions of these active ingredients with the intestinal bacteria is very helpful to unravel how TCM works. Radix scutellariae was widely used alone or in combination with other medicinal herbs to the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus for a long time in China even in Asia. Additionally, the incidence of type 2 diabetes is closely related to the changes of intestinal flora. In this paper, the metabolism of baicalin in Radix scutellariae extract by normal and type 2 diabetic mice intestinal bacteria were firstly investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ultra performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/QTOF-MS) technique combined with Metabolynx(TM) software was used for analysis of the metabolic profile of baicalin in Radix scutellariae extracts by the intestinal bacteria from normal and type 2 diabetic mice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The amount of baicalin׳s aglycone (baicalein) in type 2 diabetic mice samples were remarkably more than that in normal mice samples and oroxylin A only existed in type 2 diabetic mice samples. Intestinal bacteria produced not only a small amount of baicalein, but also some conjugates such as hydrogenated baicalin and methylated baicalin.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We proposed that β-d-glucuronidases contributed to the deglycosylation prior to absorption. Intestinal bacteria from pathological state mice produced more baicalein, which was well absorbed contributing to the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Additionally, the pharmacological effects of oroxylin A were associated with type 2 diabetes. Hence, the production of metabolites of baicalin might influence the effects of traditional medicines. Thus the study on the metabolism of baicalin by intestinal bacteria from normal and type 2 diabetic mice was of great importance to understanding the effects of traditional medicines. Furthermore, this work demonstrated the potential of the ultra performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry approach with MetaboLynx for quite rapid, simple, reliable and automated identification of metabolites of natural products.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Dawei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Er-xin
authors.initials: EX
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Nanjing 210023, PR China. Electronic address: jiangshu2000@163.com.
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Nanjing 210023, PR China. Electronic address: dja@njutcm.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jin-ao
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Leyue
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Du
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D051379:Mice; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D018517:Plant Roots; D031364:Scutellaria baicalensis
chemical_list: D005419:Flavonoids; D010936:Plant Extracts; C038044:baicalin
keywords: Baicalin; Intestinal bacteria; Radix scutellariae; Type 2 diabetes; UPLC-Q-TOF/MS