In-depth investigation of the therapeutic effect of Tribulus terrestris L. on type 2 diabetes based on intestinal microbiota and feces metabolomics.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The fruit of Tribulus terrestris L. (TT) is extensively documented in the Tibetan medical literature 'Si Bu Yi Dian', has been used to treat diabetes mellitus for more than a thousand years. However, the underlying mechanisms and comprehensive effects of TT on diabetes have yet to be investigated. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of the study was to systemically elucidate the potential mechanisms of TT in treating diabetes mellitus, and further investigate the therapeutic effects of the water extract, small molecular components and saccharides from TT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fecal metabolomics was employed to draw the metabolic profile based on UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS. The V3-V4 hypervariable regions of the bacteria 16S rRNA gene were amplified to explore the structural changes of the intestinal microbiome after TT intervention and to analyze the differential microbiota. The microbial metabolites SCFAs were determined by GC-MS, and the BAs and tryptophan metabolites were quantified by UPLC-TQ-MS. Spearman correlation analysis was carried out to comprehensively investigate the relationship among the endogenous metabolites profile, intestinal microbiota and their metabolites. RESULTS: TT exhibited remarkably therapeutic effect on T2DM rats, as evidenced by improved glucolipid metabolism and intestinal barrier integrity, ameliorated inflammation and remission in insulin resistance. A total of 24 endogenous biomarkers were screened through fecal metabolomics studies, which were mainly related to tryptophan metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, bile acid metabolism, steroid hormone biosynthesis and arachidonic acid metabolism. Investigations on microbiomics revealed that TT significantly modulated 18 differential bacterial genera and reversed the disordered gut microbial in diabetes rats. Moreover, TT notably altered the content of gut microbiota metabolites, both in serum and fecal samples. Significant correlation among microbial community, metabolites and T2DM-related indicators was revealed. CONCLUSIONS: The multiple components of TT regulate the metabolic homeostasis of the organism and the balance of intestinal microbiota and its metabolites, which might mediate the anti-diabetic capacity of TT.

Treatment effects of Radix ginseng-Schisandra chinensis herb pair on Alzheimer's disease: An investigation of MS-based metabolomics investigation.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays a synergistic and comprehensive pharmacodynamic role of multi-channel and multi-target through its multi-components, showing unique therapeutic advantages in chronic and multi-gene complex diseases. Herb pair is a unique combination of two relatively fixed herbs, which embodies the integrity of TCM theory. In this study, untargeted fecal metabolomics based on MS was used to investigate the action mechanism of Radix ginseng and Schisandra chinensis (GS) herb pair on the complex disease of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and further analyze the therapeutic effects of small molecular components and saccharides of GS on AD. Quantitative analysis of bile acids (BAs) and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) further verified the conclusion of untargeted metabolomics. The results of the pharmacodynamics evaluation showed that the AD model was successfully constructed, and each TCM group had a different degree of improvement compared with the AD group. PCA analysis based on untargeted fecal metabolomics showed that the metabolic disorders in AD rats changed significantly over time, and there were different degrees of callback in each TCM group. The result indicated that the GS herb pair can regulate metabolic disorders of AD. Further analysis of therapeutic biomarkers showed that GS mainly regulated the metabolism of bile acid biosynthesis, sphingolipid metabolism, porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, etc. to treat AD. This study will help to further understand the pathogenesis of AD from metabolomics, and provide beneficial support for the further study of GS and the clinical treatment of complex diseases with TCM.