Buzhongyiqi Decoction Protects Against Loperamide-Induced Constipation by Regulating the Arachidonic Acid Pathway in Rats

Abstract

Constipation is a common gastrointestinal disorder without effective treatment approach. Buzhongyiqi decoction (BZYQD) is a classical formula that has been commonly used for gastrointestinal disorders for nearly 1,000 years. In this study, we aimed to investigate the protective effect of BZYQD against loperamide-induced constipation and its potential mechanism. Rats with loperamide-induced constipation were orally administered BZYQD. BZYQD treatment obviously increased the small intestinal transit rate and alleviated colon tissue pathological damage. Subsequently, serum metabolomics study was performed to identify the metabolites affected by BZYQD. Metabolomics identified that the levels of 17 serum metabolites, including prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2), arachidonic acid (AA), and inositol, were significantly changed in BZYQD-treated group compared with those in the loperamide-induced group. Pathway analysis revealed that those metabolites were mainly associated with arachidonic acid metabolism, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, inositol phosphate metabolism. Additionally, BZYQD treatment down-regulated the cyclooxygenase-2 expression and decrease production of the proinflammatory mediator PGE 2. Further study revealed that BZYQD administration decreased serum levels of the inflammatory factors IL-1b and TNF-a, inhibited phosphorylation of the nuclear transcription factor NF-kB, and down-regulated expression of the inflammatory factors IL-1b and IL-6 in the constipated rat colon. Moreover, BZYQD treatment also increased serum levels of inositol, motilin and gastrin, and promoted gastrointestinal motility. In conclusion, the present study suggested that BZYQD exerted a protective effect against loperamide-induced constipation, which may be associated with its role in regulation of multiple metabolic pathways.

Combining lipidomics and efficacy‐oriented compatibility revealed that Qi Ge decoction compatibility improved lipid metabolism in hyperlipidemic rats

“…It is widely used to explore the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms and assess the therapeutic effects of drugs (Watkins, 2004). More importantly, lipidomic characterization is in excellent agreement with the holistic view and systematic theory of TCM (Ju et al, 2020; Liu et al, 2021). Therefore, lipidomics has attracted considerable interest in TCM research, including disease diagnosis, pathological mechanisms, efficacy, and safety evaluation (Chen et al, 2016; Wu et al, 2017).…”

UPLC-QTOF-MS-Based Metabolomics Reveal the Effect of Polysaccharides from Danggui-Shaoyao-San in Type 2 Diabetic Male and Female Rats

“…The purpose of metabolomics is to measure metabolite concentrations in cells, tissues, organs, and biological systems to study the chemical processes involved in metabolism in a systematic fashion [12,13], which is consistent with the concept of "wholism" in TCM [14]. Mass Spectrometry (MS) is a tool widely used for metabolomics research, and Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Mass Spectroscopy (UPLC-MS) can detect a wide range of low-molecular-weight compounds, such as secondary metabolites [15].…”

Metabolic Insight Into the Neuroprotective Effect of Tao-He-Cheng-Qi (THCQ) Decoction on ICH Rats Using Untargeted Metabolomics

“…Data Processing The metabolite annotation of the LC-MS data was performed with the Compound Discoverer program 3.1 (Thermo Fisher Scientific) with reference to the mzCloud database ( www.mzCloud.org ). The identified ions were queried in the mzCloud database ( www.mzCloud.org ), the Human Metabolome Database ( www.hmdb.ca ), Metlin ( metlin.scripps.edu ), MassBank ( www.massbank.jp ), and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes ( http://www.genome.jp/kegg/ligand.html ) ( Liu et al, 2017 ; Huang et al, 2019 ; Ju et al, 2020 ). Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were performed with MetaboAnalyst 4.02 ( http://www.metaboanalyst.ca/ ).…”