Metabolomics research on the effect of dexamethasone‐induced chronic stress in serum of rabbits

Abstract

Stress is a common factor that reduces production performance. However, the physiology of stress is not fully understood. In this study, 40-day-old rabbits were injected 1.0 mg/kg BW Dexamethasone to induce stress. A metabolomic study on serum of stress-induced rabbits was performed to research the metabolism mechanism of stress by using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS). Clear separations between stress rabbits and control rabbits were observed by principal component analysis (PCA) based on the data obtained using both analytical techniques and 90 significantly changed metabolites were identified as potential biomarkers of stress. Stress rabbits were characterised by altered levels of serum lysophosphatidylcholines, amino acids, phosphatidyl choline, and nucleosides, which were related to multiple perturbed metabolic pathways and contributed to the elucidation of the complex mechanism of stress. These were main linked to three different pathways: pyrimidine metabolism, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, and biosynthesis of amino acid. In summary, we provided a comprehensive understanding of metabolic alterations in the main stress-targeted tissues, helping to understand the potential mechanisms underlying stress. HIGHLIGHTS Stress alters the metabolic composition of serum in rabbits. In rabbits, dexamethasone‐induced chronic stress alters 90 metabolites in serum.