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Radix Bupleuri (RB), with a Chinese name Chaihu, is one of the most popular Traditional Chinese herbal drug. It can be baked with vinegar to afford vinegar-baked Radix Bupleuri (VBRB), which is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for liver diseases treatment. In the present study, nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolomic approach was used to compare the liver protective effect of RB and two types of VBRBs, which were prepared by two kinds of vinegar. The contents of 14 metabolites in the liver of carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) treated mice were significantly altered in comparison with control group, and VBRB prepared by Shanxi vinegar showed best effect as revealed by the amount and regulatory degree of the perturbed metabolites. The metabolism pathways analysis showed that the liver protective effect was related with the energy metabolism, lipid metabolism, ketone body metabolism, glutathione metabolism, amino acids metabolism and nucleotide synthesis. The results presented here showed that metabolomic approach made it possible to disclose the subtle biological difference between two types of VBRB, which highlight the potential of metabolomic approach to quantitatively compare the pharmacological effect of the herbal drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The metabolites in subjects of PSHS were determined and identified with the combination of GC-MS and LC-MS technology platform. • The "metabolites-pathways-genes-targets-components" network was constructed by combining the experiments and network prediction. • Discovery of potential targets for BDT intervention in the subjects with PSHS were analyzed. Abstract Psychological suboptimal health state (PSHS), a subtype of suboptimal health status (SHS), seriously threatens the physical and mental health of human beings. Baihe Dihuang Tang (BDT), a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, has been used to improve PSHS in clinical and achieve significant efficacy for a long time. Exploring of the underlying mechanism of BDT improving the state of PSHS is of significant importance. In the present work, all subjects were screened in strict accordance with inclusion and exclusion criteria. the UHPLC-Q Exactive Orbitrap-MS and Trace GC-PolarisQ Mass were performed to analyze the metabolic features of BDT improving the state of PSHS. Combined with the experimental results of metabolomics and the predicted results of network pharmacology, the metabolic biological network was constructed to find the potential targets of BDT intervention on PSHS. Finally, A total of 22 differential metabolites have been identified in PSHS group. 15 plasma biomarkers were significantly regulated by BDT. The results indicated that the BDT decoction is of a significant therapeutic effect on the improvement of PSHS primarily through regulating pyruvate metabolism and phenylalanine metabolism. Moreover, it is possible for BDT to improve PSHS through the functional targets including GLO1, MAOA and MAOB, which are closely related to monoamine neurotransmitters. Here, these approaches provide a tractable, powerful tool for understanding the underlying mechanism elucidating of BDT for PSHS management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study aims to find metabolites responsible for antitussive and expectorant activities of Tussilago farfara L. by metabolomic approach. Different parts (roots, flower buds, and leaves) of the title plant were analyzed systematically. The in vivo study revealed that the leaves and flower buds had strong antitussive and expectorant effects. Then 1H NMR spectrometry together with principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant (PLS-DA) analysis were used to investigate the compounds responsible for the bioactivities. PCA was used to find the differential metabolites, while PLS-DA confirmed a strong correlation between the observed effects and the metabolic profiles of the plant. The result revealed that chlorogenic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, and rutin may be closely related with the antitussive and expectorant activities. The overall results of this study confirm the benefits of using metabolic profiling for screening active principles in medicinal plants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]