Metabolomics Profiling to Investigate the Pharmacologic Mechanisms of Berberine for the Treatment of High-Fat Diet-Induced Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Abstract

Objective. Berberine has been used to treat nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which has been addressed in many studies. In this study, we investigated the molecular pharmacology mechanisms of berberine using metabolomic techniques. Methods. Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups (10 rats in each group): (i) normal control group; (ii) high-fat diet- (HFD-) induced NASH model group; and (iii) HFD berberine-treated group (i.d. 200 mg/kg). The handling procedure lasted eight weeks. Then, UPLC-Q-TOF/MS techniques coupled with histopathology and biochemical analyses were adopted to explore the mechanisms of berberine on the protective effects against NASH. Key Findings. (i) According to conventional test results, berberine treatment plays a fighting role in HFD-induced NASH due to its beneficial effects against insulin resistance, inflammation, and lipid metabolism. (ii) Based on UPLC-Q-TOF/MS techniques, metabolic profiles that involved sphingomyelin (SM), phosphatidylcholine (PC), lysophosphatidylcholine (LysoPC), 13-hydroperoxy-9, 11-octadecadienoic acid (13-HpODE), eicosatrienoic acid, docosatrienoic acid, and eicosenoic acid could provide potential metabolic biomarkers to address the pharmacological mechanisms of berberine. Conclusions. The parts of molecular pharmacological mechanisms of berberine for NASH treatment are related to the regulation of metabolic disruption involving phospholipid and unsaturated fatty acids in rats with NASH.

Effects of dietary n‐3HUFA on different growth stages of the white shrimp,Litopenaeus vannamei: Growth, haematological characteristics, enzyme activities and fatty acid profiles

“…Cholesterol and TG can reflect the lipid metabolism in the whole body of shrimps. The CHOL concentration increased rapidly when hepatocyte dysfunction and structural damage occurred (Chen, Wang, et al, ; Li, Liu, et al, , Li, Wang, et al ). High‐density lipoprotein (HDL) is the "scavenger" of cholesterol in the body, which is responsible for the transport of cholesterol back to the hepatopancreas for metabolizing (Ueda et al, ).…”

Metabolomic and Lipidomic Biomarkers for Premalignant Liver Disease Diagnosis and Therapy

“…Elevated glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol were indicative of insulin resistance. Altered lipid metabolites involved sphingomyelin (SM), phosphatidylcholine (PC), 13-hydroperoxy-9,11-octadecadienoic acid (13-HpODE), and fatty acids (FA) 20:3, 22:3, 20:1 and phytomonic acid (11,12-methyleneoctadecanoic acid) (Table 4) [233]. This last fatty acid is an unusual finding and, if confirmed, could be evaluated in human samples as a potential biomarker for NASH.…”

“…Unusual metabolites such as the globotrioseacylceramide Gb3(d18:1/22:1), which was highly statistically significantly elevated in the livers of mice fed a high-fat high-cholesterol diet [228], could not be further evaluated because their serum concentrations were not determined. Another unusual metabolite, phytomonic acid (11,12-methyleneoctadecanoic acid), reported in serum of HFD-induced NASH in rats [233] may also not be useful as human biomarkers of NAFLD, because it may be produced by the gut microbiota, given that its older name is lactobacillic acid. The C8 and C16 acyl carnitines were elevated in liver tissue of mice fed a high-fructose high-trans-fat diet [229] similar to human findings referred to above [184].…”

Effect of the dietary phosphatidylcholine at different growth stages of Pacific white shrimps,Litopenaeus vannamei

“…MDA and GST indexes were wildly used as biomarkers for oxidative damage tissues (Li, Liu, et al, 2015;Li, Wang, Chen, et al, 2015;Li, Wang, Song, et al, 2015). GST, as an important antioxidant enzyme, has the ability to scavenge free radicals and remove lipid peroxides and detoxify, which would be induced to increase by chemical contaminants, lipid metabolism and some pathological conditions (Xu et al, 2016;Zhang et al, 2013).…”