Resveratrol (Res), 3,5,4'-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene, is an antioxidant found in the skin of red grapes and in several other plants. This phenolic compound has been recently reported to possess cancer chemopreventive activity that inhibits the process of carcinogenesis. However, the mechanisms underlying its anticancer effects remain largely unresolved. In this study, we investigated the chemoprotective effects of dietary Res in an azoxymethane (AOM) induced precancerous colorectal lesion model in male Wistar rats. The metabolic alterations in urine, sera, and colonic tissues of experimental rats perturbed by AOM intervention as well as the Res treatment were measured by a gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS) analysis. Significant alterations of metabolites were observed in AOM group in urine, sera, and colonic tissues, which were attenuated by Res treatment and concurrent with the histopathological improvement with significantly decreased aberrant crypt foci (ACF) incidence. Representative metabolites include depleted glucose, β-hydroxybutyrate (ketone body), hypoxanthine, and elevated branched chain amino acids (isoleucine and valine) and tryptophan in colonic tissue, as well as elevated serum aminooxyacetate and urinary 4-hydroxyphenylacetate and xanthurenate. These metabolic changes suggest that the preventive effect of Res is associated with attenuation of impaired glucose and lipid metabolism and elevated protein breakdown in colonic tissues from AOM-exposed rats. It also appears that Res induced significant metabolic alterations independent of the AOM-induced metabolic changes. The significantly altered metabolites identified in Res-AOM group relative to AOM group include arachidonate, linoleate, glutamate, docosahexaenoate, palmitelaidate, 2-aminobutyrate, pyroglutamate, and threonate, all of which are involved in inflammation and oxidation processes. This suggests that Res exerts the chemopreventive effects on ACF formation by anti-inflammatory and antioxidant mechanisms in addition to amelioration of AOM-induced mitochondrial disruption.

The brainstem, the core of the central nervous system, plays a vital role in controlling arterial blood pressure and its elevation of hypertension subtypes, especially essential hypertension. Integrative metabolic and proteomic profiling was performed on the brainstem samples of 11 week old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and age-matched normotensive Wistar rats, using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography quadrupole/ time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HILIC-Q/TOFMS) (PeptideAtlas: PASS01621) and nano-liquid chromatography−high-resolution−MS (nano-LC−high-resolution) combined with quantitative tandem mass tags (ProteomeXchange: PXD021210). The results showed a potentially significant measure of metabolic disorders in the brainstem of SHRs, including purine and pyrimidine metabolism and carnitine and acylcarnitine deficiency. By integrating the differential metabolites (VIP > 1 and p < 0.1) with the differentially expressed proteins (>1.2-fold and p < 0.05), the results revealed aberrant insulin signaling in the brainstem of SHRs, including reduced carnitine and acetylcarnitine; increased arginine; and increased flotillin-1 (FLOT1), hemoglobin subunit alpha-1/2, and hemoglobin subunit beta-2 proteins verified by the parallel reaction monitoring analysis (PeptideAtlas: PASS01622). The aberrant insulin signaling pathway in the brainstem of SHRs might help explain the correlation between essential hypertension and insulin resistance. These findings on the brainstem of SHRs could provide new insights into the dysregulation of the central nervous system in hypertension, especially as it relates to metabolite and protein levels.

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AimLimited investigations on metabolic responses to exercise training in female adolescent volleyball athletes exist. The aim of this study was to obtain serum and urine metabolite markers in female adolescent volleyball athletes within 2-week strength-endurance training using a metabolomics approach coupled with biochemical analysis, which would be potential biomarkers for evaluating the physiological state of athletes.MethodsTwelve female adolescent volleyball athletes were recruited for 2-week strength-endurance training. Differential serum and urine metabolic profiles between the pre- and post-training group were obtained on gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and data subsequently underwent orthogonal partial least-squares analysis (OPLS).ResultsStrength-endurance training exerted a significant influence on the athletes' serum and urine metabolic profiles. The changed metabolites were primarily involved in energy metabolism, lipid metabolism and amino acids metabolism. Results support the hypothesis that female athletes displayed an increased propensity to oxidize lipids as the major energy source. Exposure to strength-endurance training also led to a significant increase in cortisol, but a decrease in testosterone, indicating disordered hormone adjustment. Exercise-induced oxidative stress occurred, as was evidenced by the decrease in reduced glutathione, and increases in blood malondialdehyde and oxidized glutathione. Since the muscle damage markers creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase did not show significant changes, the training might not cause cell membrane damage and the athletes did not cross the adaptive injury level.ConclusionBy measurement of endogenous metabolites, the metabolomics study has the potential to reveal the global physiological changes in response to exercise training.

Hypertrophic scar (HS) is a typical pathological response during skin injury, which can lead to pain, itching, and contracture in patients and even affect their physical and mental health. The complexity of the wound healing process leads to the formation of HS affected by many factors. Several treatments are available for HS, whereas some have more adverse reactions and can even cause new injuries with exacerbated scarring. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a rich source, and most botanical drugs have few side effects, providing new ideas and methods for treating HS. This paper reviews the formation process of HS, the therapeutic strategy for HS, the research progress of TCM with its relevant mechanisms in the treatment of HS, and the related new drug delivery system of TCM, aiming to provide ideas for further research of botanical compounds in the treatment of HS, to promote the discovery of more efficient botanical candidates for the clinical treatment of HS, to accelerate the development of the new drug delivery system and the final clinical application, and at the same time, to promote the research on the anti-HS mechanism of multiherbal preparations (Fufang), to continuously improve the quality control and safety and effectiveness of anti-HS botanical drugs in clinical application.