UPLC-Q-Exactive/MS–based metabonomics revealed protective effect of Zingiberis rhizome and its processed product on deficiency-cold and hemorrhagic syndrome rats

Zingiberis rhizome carbonisata (ZRC) is the processed product of Zingiberis rhizome (ZR). ZR is mainly used for warming the spleen and stomach to dispel cold, whereas ZRC is commonly applied as a treatment for deficiency-cold and hemorrhagic syndrome (DCHS). Although they have long been used to serve different clinical purposes, the specific action mechanism of the drugs and molecular changes underlying ZR processing are not clear. In this study, metabolomics study was carried out to analyze the alterations in endogenous metabolites in serum and urine samples of DCHS rat models using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-Exactive mass spectrometry technique and constructed principal component analysis score plots that showed that the ZRC group was completely separated from the DCHS and ZR groups but demonstrated a highly close plotting to the normal control group. The results revealed that both ZR and ZRC intervened in the metabolic pathways of DCHS models but to varying degrees and with different influencing factors. In addition, ZRC was found to function as a treatment for the metabolic disorders of DCHS through 15 pharmacodynamic biomarkers involving a series of pathways, such as glycine, serine, and threonine metabolic pathway, as well as arachidonic acid metabolic pathways. This study showed that metabolomics method based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-Exactive mass spectrometry could preliminarily illuminate the therapeutic mechanism of ZR and ZRC on DCHS and the changes in ZR processing from the molecular-level perspective. The results also provided new insight into further research on DCHS treatment.