The metabonomic study of Shaoyao-Gancao decoction in a rat model of acute bronchial asthma by 1H NMR

Abstract

Shaoyao-Gancao decoction (SGD), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, was originally described in the Treatise on Cold Pathogenic Diseases and is composed of Paeoniae Radix alba and Glycyrrhiza Radix et rhizoma. It has been widely used in treating spasmolysis and asthma. In the present study, the therapeutic effects of SGD were assessed, and the detailed mechanisms of SGD for asthma treatment were investigated. We established a rat asthma model and analyzed the changes in the metabonomic profiles of plasma and urine after SGD administration. The metabonomic variations were characterized in control, model, and SGD treatment groups through a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and multivariate statistical analysis. Seventy-four metabolites were detected in rat plasma and urine and analyzed using the orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminate analysis (OPLS-DA). The results showed that some physiological changes and also metabolic disorders were induced in model rats. SGD treatment reduced the injury and maintained metabolic balance, possibly by the regulation of energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and metabolism of other metabolites. These findings provide new insights into the pathways associated with the pathogenesis of asthma and the effects of SGD on the endogenous metabolism in rats.