A comprehensive study on the relieving effect of Lilium brownii on the intestinal flora and metabolic disorder in p -chlorphenylalanine induced insomnia rats

Abstract

Context The bulb of Lilium brownii F. E. Brown (Liliaceae) (LB) is a common Chinese medicine to relieve insomnia. Objective To investigate the molecular mechanism of LB relieving insomnia. Materials and methods Insomnia model was induced by intraperitoneally injection p -chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) in Wistar rats. Rats were divided into three groups: Control, PCPA (400 mg/kg, i.p. 2 days), LB (598.64 mg/kg, oral 7 days). The levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), norepinephrine (NE), melatonin (MT), and the expression of GABA A , 5-HT1A and MT receptors, as well as pathological changes in hypothalamus, were evaluated. 16S rDNA sequencing and UPLC-MS/MS were used to reveal the change of the intestinal flora and metabolic profile. Results The adverse changes in the abundance and diversity of intestinal flora and faecal metabolic phenotype altered by PCPA in rats were reversed after LB treatment, accompanied by the up-regulated levels of 5-HT as 8.14 ng/mL, MT as 16.16 pg/mL, 5-HT1A R and GABA A R, down-regulated level of NE as 0.47 ng/mL, and the improvement of pathological phenomena of cells in the hypothalamus. And the arachidonic acid metabolism and tryptophan metabolism pathway most significantly altered by PCPA were markedly regulated by LB. Besides, it was also found that LB reduced the levels of kynurenic acid related to psychiatric disorders and trimethylamine- N -oxide associated with cardiovascular disease. Conclusion The mechanism of LB relieving insomnia involves regulating flora and metabolites to resemble the control group. As a medicinal and edible herb, LB could be considered for development as a health-care food to relieve increasing insomniacs in the future.

Influence of warm acupuncture on gut microbiota and metabolites in rats with insomnia induced by PCPA

“…The alteration of the gut microbiota in insomnia rats was accompanied by the disorders of serum metabolome, as described in other studies [ 38 – 40 ]. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the metabolites elevating in insomnia rats, such as Amide c18, Benzoyl chloride, Cytosine, and N, n-dimethylarginine were positively associated with the abundance of Clostridium XlVa and Blautia , which characterized the insomnia rats.…”

Gut microbiota-generated short-chain fatty acids are involved in para-chlorophenylalanine-induced cognitive disorders

“…The gut microbiota plays a crucial role in numerous host physiological processes and the development of various diseases ( Li et al, 2020 ; Si et al, 2022b ; Zhou et al, 2022a ). Many studies have identified the relationship between gut microbiota and NCDs ( Arnoriaga-Rodríguez and Fernández-Real, 2019 ; Liu et al, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2021 ).…”

Two New Isospirostanol‐Type Saponins from the Bulbs of Lilium Brownii and Their Anti‐Hepatocarcinogenic Activity

“…L. brownii is used directly by herbalists as a treatment for symptoms such as coughing and insomnia. [23] In a previous study conducted by our team, it was discovered that L. brownii extract had a significant ameliorative effect on PCPA-induced insomnia in rats by modulating a variety of intestinal flora in rats, including Porphyromonadaceae, Lactobacillus and Escherichia, as well as modulating multiple metabolic pathways in the hypothalamus, serum and hippocampus, such as tryptophan metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, and serotonergic synapse, etc.. [1,2] Additionally, our subsequent characterization of the chemical composition of L. brownii led to the identification of several new phenolic acid glycerides and steroidal saponins. The wide range of anticancer activities of steroidal saponins from genus Lilium [24,25] prompted us to screen two new steroidal saponins for anticancer activities.…”

“…[1] Baihe Dihuang decoction, a classical Chinese prescription which is composed of LILII BULBUS and REHMANNIAE RADIX, has been used for thousands of years to treat emotional diseases, and the medicinal diet of Baihe Lianzi porridge was used in Chinese folk for regimen and health care. [2] L. brownii has been extensively studied for its chemical composition and pharmacological activity because of its broad development prospects in edible and medicinal areas. Phytochemical studies have shown that L. brownii contain steroidal saponins, [3,4] sterol, [5] phenolic glyceride, [6] flavonoids, [7] phenylpropanoid, [8] alkaloids [9] and polysaccharides.…”