Dynamic observation and analysis of metabolic response to moxibustion stimulation on ethanol-induced gastric mucosal lesions (GML) rats.

BACKGROUND: Gastric mucosal lesion (GML) is the initiating pathological process in many refractory gastric diseases. And moxibustion is an increasingly popular alternative therapy that prevents and treats diseases. However, there are few published reports about developing pathology of GML and therapeutic mechanism of moxibustion treatment on GML. In this study, we investigated pathology of GML and therapeutic mechanism of moxibustion treatment on GML. METHODS: The male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were induced by intragastric administration of 75% ethanol after fasting for 24 h and treated by moxibustion at Zusanli (ST36) and Liangmen (ST21) for 1 day, 4 days or 7 days. Then we applied 1H NMR-based metabolomics to dynamic analysis of metabolic profiles in biological samples (stomach, cerebral cortex and medulla). And the conventional histopathological examinations as well as metabolic pathways assays were also performed. RESULTS: Moxibustion intervention showed a beneficial effect on GML by modulating comprehensive metabolic alterations caused by GML, including energy metabolism, membrane metabolism, cellular active and neurotransmitters function. CONCLUSIONS: Moxibustion can effectively treat gastric mucosal damage and effectively regulate the concentration of some related differential metabolites to maintain the stability of the metabolic pathway.

Dynamic Analysis of Metabolic Response in Gastric Ulcer (GU) Rats with Electroacupuncture Treatment Using 1H NMR-Based Metabolomics.

Gastric ulcer (GU), a common digestive disease, has a high incidence and seriously endangers health of human. According to the previous studies, it has been proved that electroacupuncture at acupoints of stomach meridian had a good effect on GU. However, there are few published studies on metabolic response in gastric ulcer (GU) rats with electroacupuncture treatment. Herein, we observed the metabolic profiles in biological samples (stomach, liver, and kidney) of GU rats with electroacupuncture treatment by 1H NMR metabolomics combined with pathological examination. The male SD rats were induced by intragastric administration of 70% ethanol after fasting for 24 hours and treated by electroacupuncture at Zusanli (ST36) and Liangmen (ST21) for 1 day, 4 days, or 7 days, respectively. And the conventional histopathological examinations as well as metabolic pathways assays were also performed. We found that GU rats were basically cured after electroacupuncture treatment for 4 days and had a complete recovery after electroacupuncture treatment for 7 days by being modulated comprehensive metabolic changes, involved in the function of neurotransmitters, energy metabolism, cells metabolism, antioxidation, tissue repairing, and other metabolic pathways. These findings may be helpful to facilitate the mechanism elucidating of electroacupuncture treatment on GU.

Effect of Moxibustion on Intestinal Microbiome in Acute Gastric Ulcer Rats.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), moxibustion had been used for thousands of years. Many clinical case reports and scientific studies had proved that moxibustion had a good effect in treating acute gastric ulcer (AGU). Some studies had shown that the relative content and species of bacteria in the intestinal would be changed when gastric mucosal injury happened. However, there was little research on the effect of intestinal microbiome with AGU rats that were treating by moxibustion. This study is aimed at analyzing the effect of fecal microbiome in rats with AGU by the 16S rDNA sequencing technology. Male SD rats were established by orally feeding once with 70% ethanol at 4 ml/kg except the control group, then treated by moxibustion in the stomach meridian group ("Liangmen," "Zusanli") and the gallbladder meridian group ("Riyue," "Yanglingquan") for 5 days. The 16S rDNA sequencing technology analysis of feces combined with histopathological methods and molecular biological detection methods was used to evaluate the therapeutic mechanism of moxibustion on AGU. AGU brought cause changes in the number and species of intestinal bacteria. Moxibustion on stomach meridian group could reduce the area of gastric mucosal injury and regulate the relative content of GAS and EGF. Moreover, moxibustion on the stomach meridian group could increase the relative content and species of beneficial bacteria in the intestine of rats with AGU. The relative abundance of intestinal probiotics was significantly upregulated in Alphaproteobacteria, Actinomycetales, and Bacillales. In addition, moxibustion might promote the repair of gastric mucosal injury by increasing the number and species of beneficial bacteria in the intestine.

Difference of Liver and Kidney Metabolic Profiling in Chronic Atrophic Gastritis Rats between Acupuncture and Moxibustion Treatment.

Acupuncture and moxibustion proved to be very effective in chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG). According to the Chinese traditional medicine theory, chronic diseases have an influence on the function of liver and kidney. However, there is little research to demonstrate this theory. This study is aimed at assessing the 1H NMR-based metabolic profiling in liver and kidney of CAG rats and comparing the difference between electroacupuncture and moxibustion treatment. Male SD rats were subjected to CAG modeling by intragastric administration of mixture of 2% sodium salicylate and 30% alcohol coupled with compulsive sporting and irregular fasting for 12 weeks and then treated by electroacupuncture or moxibustion at Liangmen (ST 21) and Zusanli (ST 36) acupoints for 2 weeks. A 1H NMR analysis of liver and kidney samples along with histopathological examination and molecular biological assay was employed to assess and compare the therapeutic effects of electroacupuncture and moxibustion. CAG brought characterization of metabolomic signatures in liver and kidney of rats. Both electroacupuncture and moxibustion treatment were found to normalize the CAG-induced changes by restoring energy metabolism, neurotransmitter metabolism, antioxidation metabolism, and other metabolism, while the moxibustion treatment reversed more metabolites related to energy metabolism in liver than electroacupuncture treatment. CAG did have influence on liver and kidney of rats. Both of these treatments had good effects on CAG by reversing the CAG-induced perturbation in liver and kidney. For regulating the energy metabolism in liver, the moxibustion played more important role than electroacupuncture treatment.

Comparative metabolomics study on therapeutic mechanism of electro-acupuncture and moxibustion on rats with chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG).

Some studies have proved that both acupuncture and moxibustion are very effective for the treatment of CAG. However, little is known about therapeutic mechanism of electro-acupuncture and moxibustion on CAG as well as the difference between them. On the other hand, metabolomics is a 'top-down' approach to understand metabolic changes of organisms caused by disease or interventions in holistic context, which consists with the holistic thinking of electro-acupuncture and moxibustion treatment. In this study, the difference of therapeutic mechanism between electro-acupuncture and moxibustion on CAG rats was investigated by a 1H NMR-based metabolomics analysis of multiple biological samples (serum, stomach, cerebral cortex and medulla) coupled with pathological examination and molecular biological assay. For all sample types, both electro-acupuncture and moxibustion intervention showed beneficial effects by restoring many CAG-induced metabolic changes involved in membrane metabolism, energy metabolism and function of neurotransmitters. Notably, the moxibustion played an important role in CAG treatment mainly by regulating energy metabolism in serum, while main acting site of electro-acupuncture treatment was nervous system in stomach and brain. These findings are helpful to facilitate the therapeutic mechanism elucidating of electro-acupuncture and moxibustion on CAG rats. Metabolomics is promising in mechanisms study for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Investigation on the antidepressant effect of sea buckthorn seed oil through the GC-MS-based metabolomics approach coupled with multivariate analysis.

Depression is one of the prevalent and serious mental disorders and the number of depressed patients has been on the rise globally during the recent decades. Sea buckthorn seed oil from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is edible and has been widely used for treatment of different diseases for a long time. However, there are few published reports on the antidepressant effect of sea buckthorn seed oil. With the objective of finding potential biomarkers of the therapeutic response of sea buckthorn seed oil in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rats, urine metabolomics based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) coupled with multivariate analysis was applied. In this study, we discovered a higher level of pimelic acid as well as palmitic acid and a lower level of suberic acid, citrate, phthalic acid, cinnamic acid and Sumiki's acid in urine of rats exposed to CUMS procedures after sea buckthorn seed oil was administered. These changes of metabolites are involved in energy metabolism, fatty acid metabolism and other metabolic pathways as well as in the synthesis of neurotransmitters and it is helpful to facilitate the efficacy evaluation and mechanism elucidating the effect of sea buckthorn seed oil for depression management.

Plasma-metabolite-biomarkers for the therapeutic response in depressed patients by the traditional Chinese medicine formula Xiaoyaosan: A (1)H NMR-based metabolomics approach.

BACKGROUND: Depression is one of the most prevalent and serious mental disorders. Xiaoyaosan, a well-known Chinese prescription, has been widely used for the treatment of depression in China. Both clinical studies and animal experiments indicate that Xiaoyaosan has an obvious antidepressant activity. Additionally, a large number of candidate biomarkers have emerged that can be used for early disease detection and for monitoring ongoing treatment response to therapy because of their correlations with the characteristics of the disease. However, there have been few reports on biomarkers that measure the treatment response to the clinical use of Xiaoyaosan using a metabolomics approach. The current study is aimed at discovering biomarkers and biochemical pathways to facilitate the diagnosis of depression and the efficient evaluation of Xiaoyaosan using plasma metabolomics profiles based on (1)H NMR. METHODS: Sixteen depressed patients diagnosed by standard methods (HAMD and CGI-SI) and sixteen healthy volunteers were recruited. (1)H NMR-based metabolomics techniques and multivariate statistical methods were used to analyze the plasma metabolites of the depressed patients before and after treatment and to compare them with healthy controls. RESULTS: The plasma levels of trimethylamine oxide, glutamine and lactate in depressed patients increased significantly (p≤0.05) compared with healthy controls, whereas the levels of phenylalanine, valine, alanine, glycine, leucine, citrate, choline, lipids and glucose decreased significantly (p≤0.05). Additionally, alanine, choline, trimethylamine oxide, glutamine, lactate and glucose were returned to normal levels after Xiaoyaosan treatment. These statistically significant perturbations are involved in energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism and gut microbiota metabolism. LIMITATIONS: Additional experimentation with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) or liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is required to confirm our findings. CONCLUSIONS: Application of these biomarkers in clinical practice may help to optimize the diagnosis of depression and to evaluate the efficacy of Xiaoyaosan. Metabolomics is promising as a biomarker discovery tool.