Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease with high incidence and high disability and recurrence rates. Caulophyllum robustum Maxim (C. robustum) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with main effective parts (CRME) commonly used for RA treatment. To explore the mechanism of CRME in RA, we used metabolomics to investigate the effect of CRME intervention on urine metabolism in rats with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). CIA rats were randomly divided into normal control, CIA model, and CRME groups. A metabolomics approach, using Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole-Time-of-Flight/Mass Spectrometry, was developed to perform urinary metabolic profiling. Differential metabolites were identified by comparing the CIA model and CRME groups. Preliminarily, 56 significant differential metabolites were identified in urine, and 20 metabolic pathways were disturbed by the CIA. The amount of 16 different metabolites changed in urine after CRME intervention. The production of these metabolites involves tryptophan, tyrosine, energy, cholesterol, and vitamin metabolism. CRME has anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects in CIA model rats. By examining the endogenous metabolite levels, we identified potential CRME targets and pathways involved in the treatment of RA. The results of our metabolic studies indicate that CRME regulates amino acid, vitamin, energy, and lipid metabolism pathways to treat RA and may provide a new explanation for the anti-RA mechanism of CRME.
Highlights
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune and systemic inflammatory disease that results in joint injury, disability, and decreased quality of life and has distinct signatures of persistent synovitis and hyperplasia [1]
We used a combination of metabonomics and modern analytical techniques to explore the effects of C. robustum Maxim extract (CRME) on the urine metabolic profiles in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rats. en, we explored the role of CRME in regulating small molecular metabolites in the body and metabolic pathways by examining the changes in biomarkers
Rats of the CIA group showed a trend of decreasing weight, and their activity decreased after 12 days (p < 0.01)
Summary
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune and systemic inflammatory disease that results in joint injury, disability, and decreased quality of life and has distinct signatures of persistent synovitis and hyperplasia [1]. Approximately 0.24% of the population suffers from RA. RA has been studied for many years, the pathogenesis of this disease is still incompletely understood. There are no ideal methods or medicines to cure RA. It is known that endogenous metabolism is changed in RA patients [2]. Studies and clinical test results indicate that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can play important roles in alleviating the symptoms of RA [3]
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