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Qifu decoction (QFD) is an ancient traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription for the treatment of heart failure. However, the mechanisms and active constituents of QFD are poorly understood. In this study, multi-matrices metabolomics (serum, urine, and myocardial mitochondria) based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOFMS), were employed for exploring the mechanisms of QFD against heart failure in rat model. Twenty-one, seventeen, and fifteen endogenous metabolite biomarkers associated with heart failure were identified from serum, urine, and myocardial mitochondria datasets, respectively. Fourteen, twelve, and ten of the identified serum, urine, and mitochondria biomarkers were significantly reversed by QFD, respectively. QFD-targeted pathways were involved in TCA cycle, branched chain amino acids metabolism, fatty acid β-oxidation, sphingolipid metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, purine metabolism. In addition, QFD-derived constituents in serum were fully analyzed by UHPLC-Q-TOFMS and SUS-plot, and 24 QFD-derived components were identified in serum. Then, the correlation analysis between the QFD-reversed serum biomarkers and QFD-derived constituents in serum was employed to dissect the active constituents of QFD. It was found that eight prototypical components and three metabolites were highly correlated with efficacy and could serve as the active constituents of QFD against heart failure. Finally, neoline and calycosin, which highly correlated with branched-chain amino acid metabolism and fatty acid β-oxidation, were selected to validate in Na 2 S 2 O 4 -induced cell model. It was found that neoline and calycosin provided a significant protective effect against Na 2 S 2 O 4 -induced cell death in a low dose-dependent manner and increased the expressions of the pathway-related protein CPT1B and BCAT2 in the cell model. In conclusions, these findings provided light on the mechanisms and active constituents of QFD against heart failure. Neoline and calycosin could be selected as potential quality-markers of QFD against heart failure., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Bee pollen, which is known as a "full-nutrient food", has outstanding anti-tyrosinase activity. However, the chemical components contributing to this activity remain unknown. To comprehensively elucidate the chemical components of bee pollen inhibiting tyrosinase, we performed the anti-tyrosinase activity evaluation of bee pollen extract (BPE) of eight species, metabolomic analysis of chemical composition, multivariate statistical analysis and correlation analysis. The results revealed that the anti-tyrosinase activity of eight BPEs was significantly different (p < 0.05), with IC 50 value ranging from 10.08 to 408.81 μg/mL. A total of 725 metabolites were detected from these BPEs, and 40 differential metabolites were identified, all of which were phenolamides. All these phenolamides were positively correlated with the anti-tyrosinase activity, among which 26 phenolamides (21 spermidine derivatives and five spermine derivatives) showed particularly high correlations (r > 0.7). This is the first report to reveal the main contributor to the anti-tyrosinase activity of bee pollen., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Follicular fluid is an important external environment for the growth and development of oocytes. A thorough identification of specific components in follicular fluid can better the existing understand of intracellular signal transduction and reveal potential biomarkers of oocyte health in women undergoing assisted reproductive therapy. To study on follicular fluid metabolomics components at different ages based on lipid metabolism, we have adopted a new method of SWATH to MRM(the sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment-ion spectra to multiple reaction monitor)metabolomics to provide extensive coverage and excellent quantitative data. This was done to investigate the differences in follicular fluid of patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer in different age groups and to further explore the relationship between follicular fluid, age and reproductive function., Method: A combination of Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography and high resolution mass spectrometry techniques were used to analyze the follicular fluid of 230 patients enrolled for the IVF cycle. The patients were of different ages grouped into two groups:the younger and older patients.The obtained multidimensional chromatographic data were processed by principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The charge ratios and mass numbers enabled for the identification of different fragments in the samples. Matching information obtained through database search and the fragment information obtained by fragment ion scan structurally identified substances in the samples. This was used to determine the differential compounds., Results: The quality of oocytes decline with age,and the lipid composition in follicular fluid also changes,The lipid metabolism that changes with age may be related to the quality of oocytes.The main differences were in lipid metabolites. Some were up-regulated: Arachidonate, LysoPC(16:1), LysoPC(20:4) and LysoPC(20:3) while others were down-regulated: LysoPC(18:3) and LysoPC(18:1)., Conclusions: Metabolomic analysis of follicular fluid revealed that with the increase in age, several differential metabolites are at play. Among these metabolites, lipid metabolism undergoes significant changes that affect the development of oocytes thus causing reduced fertility in older women. These differential metabolites related to follicular development may provide possible detection and treatment targets for promoting oocyte health, and provide scientific basis for understanding the environment of oocyte development.

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex disorder associated with multiple metabolic disturbance, including defective glucose metabolism and insulin resistance. The altered metabolites caused by the related metabolic disturbance may affect ovarian follicles, which can be reflected in follicular fluid composition. The aim of this study is to investigate follicular fluid metabolic profiles in women with PCOS using an advanced sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment-ion spectra (SWATH) mass spectrometry., Materials and Methods: Nineteen women with PCOS and twenty-one healthy controls undergoing IVF/ET were recruited, and their follicular fluid samples were collected for metabolomic study. Follicular fluid metabolic profiles, including steroid hormones, free fatty acids, bioactive lipids, and amino acids were analyzed using the principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares to latent structure-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model., Results: Levels of free fatty acids, 3-hydroxynonanoyl carnitine and eicosapentaenoic acid were significantly increased (P < 0.05), whereas those of bioactive lipids, lysophosphatidylcholines (LysoPC) (16:0), phytosphingosine, LysoPC (14:0) and LysoPC (18:0) were significantly decreased in women with PCOS (P < 0.05). Additionally, levels of steroid hormone deoxycorticosterone and two amino acids, phenylalanine and leucine were higher in the PCOS patients (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Women with PCOS display unique metabolic profiles in their follicular fluid, and this data may provide us with important biochemical information and metabolic signatures that enable a better understanding of the pathogenesis of PCOS.

Aim of the Study: Sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment-ion spectra (SWATHTM), a powerful high-resolution mass spectrometric data independent acquisition technique, was used to identify differences that relate certain metabolites to endometriosis (EMT) in follicular fluid collected from EMT patients and a control group., Methods: A case-control study was conducted to analyze the EMT-related metabolites and the IVF clinical data of 33 subjects. Subjects were divided between the observation group (17 cases, infertility due to EMT) and the control group (16 cases, infertility due to male factor, such as obstructive azoospermia)., Results: Analysis revealed three metabolites including phytosphingosine, LysoPC(18:2(9Z,12Z)) and LysoPC(18:0), which were closely related to infertility associated withEMT. In the EMT group, LysoPC(18:2(9Z,12Z)) and LysoPC(18:0) were upregulated, while phytosphingosine was downregulated., Conclusions: This study employed, for the first time, the SWATHTM data acquisition mode for the metabolomics study of human follicular fluid in patients with EMT. The differential metabolite profiles of follicular fluid were identified and mapped. These differential metabolites are involved in cell proliferation and apoptosis, energy metabolism, inflammatory responses and angiogenesis. The differential metabolite profile may be a new tool for early noninvasive assessment of the developmental potential of oocytes in patients with EMT.

Objective: We reveal the relationship between progesterone level in follicular fluid and oocyte quality based on sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment-ion spectra (SWATH™), a powerful high-resolution mass spectrometric data independent acquisition technique., Method: Follicular fluid samples were collected from 22 subjects (the level of progesterone > 1.5 ng/mL) of progesterone group, as well as from 22 subjects (the level of progesterone < 1.5 ng/mL) of control group, and analyzed using UPLC-Q-TOF. All methods were performed in accordance with ISO 9001:2008. Novel SWATH acquisition mode on an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid triple quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (with resolving power 20,000-40,000) was investigated for the analysis of human follicular fluid. The principal component variable grouping detects intersample variable correlation and groups variables with similar profiles which simplifies interpretation and highlights related ions and fragments. It can also extract product ion spectra from the data collected by fragmenting a wide precursor ion window., Results: Follicular fluid from the two groups differed with respect to five metabolites. Follicular fluid from the progesterone group contained elevated levels of 8-hydroxyguanosine and 4-hydroxynonenal and reduced levels of ATP, estradiol, and L-carnitine. The increased progesterone level on the day of HCG injection could negatively impact oocyte quality, thus reducing the pregnancy rate of IVF patients.

Little is known about the cooking characteristics and the overall changes in nutrient metabolites in economically valuable and nutritious black rice (BR) under parboiling treatment. Here, we reported parboiling treatment could promote water absorption while cooking, thus shortening the cooking time and leading to a softer texture of cooked BR. On this basis, we compared metabolites between untreated BR (UBR) and parboiled BR (PBR) through widely targeted metabolomics. Compared with UBR, PBR had significant increases in 129 differential metabolites, such as six tricin derivatives (5.8–1941-fold changes). KEGG analysis revealed that these changes in metabolites may be related to variations in the metabolism of phenylalanine, tyrosine and various secondary metabolites. indicating that parboiling can improve the nutrition of BR. More importantly, the nutritional advantages of 78 differential metabolites were still maintained in PBR after cooking, despite of a certain loss of anthocyanins possibly due to degradation into aglycones and phenolic acids. These results suggest that parboiling treatment is a good strategy to improve the cooking characteristics and nutrition of BR. [Display omitted] • Parboiling improved the water absorption and texture of cooked black rice. • Parboiling increased the contents of 129 differential metabolites in black rice. • Phenolic acids, flavonoids and amino acids were main differential metabolites. • Parboiling promoted the synthesis of phenolic acids. • Parboiling promoted the interconversion of flavonoid aglycones and glycosides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. We reveal the relationship between progesterone level in follicular fluid and oocyte quality based on sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment-ion spectra (SWATH™), a powerful high-resolution mass spectrometric data independent acquisition technique. Method. Follicular fluid samples were collected from 22 subjects (the level of progesterone > 1.5 ng/mL) of progesterone group, as well as from 22 subjects (the level of progesterone < 1.5 ng/mL) of control group, and analyzed using UPLC-Q-TOF. All methods were performed in accordance with ISO 9001:2008. Novel SWATH acquisition mode on an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid triple quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (with resolving power 20,000–40,000) was investigated for the analysis of human follicular fluid. The principal component variable grouping detects intersample variable correlation and groups variables with similar profiles which simplifies interpretation and highlights related ions and fragments. It can also extract product ion spectra from the data collected by fragmenting a wide precursor ion window. Results. Follicular fluid from the two groups differed with respect to five metabolites. Follicular fluid from the progesterone group contained elevated levels of 8-hydroxyguanosine and 4-hydroxynonenal and reduced levels of ATP, estradiol, and L-carnitine. The increased progesterone level on the day of HCG injection could negatively impact oocyte quality, thus reducing the pregnancy rate of IVF patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Qi-Yu-San-Long Decoction (QYSLD) has been used to treat lung carcinoma for over twenty years in clinical practices, and its curative effect is considered credible. However, the therapeutic mechanism of this effect has not been thoroughly elucidated to date. In this study, a MTT dye reduction assay and DAPI staining were first used to evaluate the cell viability and apoptosis of A549 cells with and without QYSLD-treatment, respectively. The weight/volume of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) sarcoma was used to assess the therapeutic effect of QYSLD on LLC mice. Second, an UPLC-QTOF/MS-based untargeted metabolomics method was employed to identify and relatively quantify functional metabolites that were responsible for the intervention effect of QYSLD on LLC. As a result, the MTT dye reduction assay and DAPI staining demonstrated that QYSLD could inhibit the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of A549 cells. The weight/volume test of LLC sarcoma showed that QYSLD could restrain the development of LLC. Next, 21 potential biomarkers that could contribute to the curative mechanism of QYSLD on LLC were screened by the untargeted metabolomics method. The down-regulated metabolites induced by QYSLD included PC(16:0/22:6(4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z,19Z)), PC(20:2(11Z,14Z)/16:0), PC(22:4(7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z)/14:0), PC(22:5(7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z,19Z)/14:0), arachidonic acid, gamma-glutamylisoleucine, cholesterol sulfate, CL (8:0/10:0/11:0/a-13:0) and CDP-DG (16:0/18:1(11Z)). The up-regulated metabolites were LysoPC(16:0), LysoPC(18:0), LysoPE(18:2(9Z,12Z)/0:0), LysoPE(22:0/0:0), LysoPE(22:1(13Z)/0:0), LysoPE(22:2(13Z,16Z)/0:0), triglylcarnitine, 1‑arachidonoylglycerophosphoinositol, 1‑palmitoylglycerophosphoinositol, 2‑stearoylglycerophosphoinositol, sphingosine 1‑phosphate(d19:1-P) and SM(d18:0/16:1(9Z)). The metabolic pathway analysis revealed that the potential biomarkers were primarily involved in glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, steroid hormone biosynthesis, fatty acid degradation and arachidonic acid metabolism. This study demonstrated that QYSLD has a good antitumor effect and that a UPLC-QTOF/MS-based untargeted metabolomics method is a promising means of elucidating the intervention mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine formulas. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • A Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) tumor-bearing mouse model was successfully established. • QYSLD was identified to have positive effects on LLC in vitro and in vivo. • Metabolomics offered a strategy to evaluate the therapeutic effects of QYSLD. • QYSLD that cure LLC were primarily linked to the regulation of lipid metabolism. • The changes in biomarkers were used to explain the underlying mechanism of QYSLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]