Current metabolomics: practical applications.

The field of metabolomics continues to grow rapidly over the last decade and has been proven to be a powerful technology in predicting and explaining complex phenotypes in diverse biological systems. Metabolomics complements other omics, such as transcriptomics and proteomics and since it is a 'downstream' result of gene expression, changes in the metabolome is considered to best reflect the activities of the cell at a functional level. Thus far, metabolomics might be the sole technology capable of detecting complex, biologically essential changes. As one of the omics technology, metabolomics has exciting applications in varied fields, including medical science, synthetic biology, medicine, and predictive modeling of plant, animal and microbial systems. In addition, integrated applications with genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics provide greater understanding of global system biology. In this review, we discuss recent applications of metabolomics in microbiology, plant, animal, food, and medical science.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry based metabolic profiling for the identification of discrimination markers of Angelicae Radix and its application to gas chromatography-flame ionization detector system.

Gas chromatography (GC)-based metabolomics technologies were applied for quality control of Angelicae Radix, an herbal medicine commonly used in Japan and China. Since Angelica roots are priced and graded differently based on their species and cultivation area, there is a need for a simple and reproducible method to discriminate Angelica roots. Here, we used GC-MS profiling data to construct a discrimination method for species and cultivation area of A. Radix. Seventy-six primary metabolites were identified. The quality factors of A. Radix were successfully classified using metabolic profiling and the orthogonal projections to latent structures-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) technique. Sorbitol and a glucose/4-aminobutyric acid combination were chosen as bio-markers from S-plot of OPLS-DA. Application of these selected bio-markers to a more practical and cost-efficient system, namely gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) system were also assessed. As a result, the same separations of sorbitol, glucose and 4-aminobutyric acid in box plots were obtained from GC-FID data. Our results demonstrate that GC-based metabolic markers can be readily applied for the establishment of a practical quality control method for A. Radix.

Metabolic profiling and identification of the genetic varieties and agricultural origin of Cnidium officinale and Ligusticum chuanxiong.

Quality control methods for Cnidium officinale and Ligusticum chuanxiong are lacking because their quality is influenced by multiple factors. Thus, there is a need to develop a multifactorial method for measuring quality that is both standardized and practical. Here, we report a profiling method based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to discriminate among the genetic varieties and agricultural origins of C. officinale and L. chuanxiong. Our metabolome analysis identified 68 metabolites, 13 of which were newly identified in our samples. The S-plot of the OPLS discriminant analysis enabled us to determine significant biomarkers. Using only double-compound biomarkers, the samples were successfully classified into distinct groups defined by genetic variety and cultivation origin. This method will simplify the process of searching for quality control markers that can be used to determine genetic variety and agricultural origin.

Tool from traditional medicines is useful for health-medication: Bezoar Bovis and taurine.

Bezoar Bovis (BB:dried cattle gallbladder stones) has been used empirically in Asia for over 3000 years to treat heart and liver disorders. Yet its therapeutic potential remains unexplored by Western researchers. The aim of this study has been to clarify the actions of BB on cultured cardiomyocytes and to identify its active component(s). BB is a component of 98.7% of the Japanese over the counter (OTC) cardioactive drugs. The water-extract of BB exhibits protection action against arrhythmias produced by low Ca2+ and high Ca2+ in the medium. On the other hand, the Ca(2+)-antagonist, verapamil, did not suppress arrhythmias that developed in cell culture. Rather, it aggravated the beating status of the cardiomyocytes. The major constituents of the BB extract are bile salts (cholate, deoxycholate, taurocholate) and amino acids (taurine, cysteine, leucine, isoleucine). Most cells incubated with bile salts developed morphological damage. However, one of the major constituents of the BB extract, taurine, was effective in protecting against the abnormal beating pattern induced by high Ca2+. Since beta-alanine, an inhibitor of taurine transport, antagonized the protective effects of both BB and taurine, it is likely that the effect of BB is partly mediated by taurine.