UHPLC/QTOF-MS-based metabolomics reveal the effect of Melastoma dodecandrum extract in type 2 diabetic rats

Abstract

Context: Melastoma dodecandrum Lour. (Melastomataceae) is a traditional Chinese medicine. This is the first study to report a protective effect of the ethanol extract from M. dodecandrum (MDE) in type 2 diabetic (T2DM) rats.

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic mechanism of MDE in T2DM rats.

Materials and methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a high-fat diet for 6 consecutive weeks, followed by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (30 mg/kg) to induce diabetes. T2DM rats were divided into untreated diabetic, metformin-treated and MDE-treated groups. Additionally, normal rats without treatment served as the control group (n = 6). Metformin (250 mg/kg) and MDE (600 mg/kg) were intragastrically administered to T2DM rats for 5 consecutive weeks. Serum samples were evaluated via ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC/QTOF-MS), followed by principal components analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA).

Results: The 17 identified potential biomarkers were mainly involved in lipid, amino acid, arachidonic acid, taurine and nicotinic acid metabolism. MDE also significantly reduced the level of fasting blood glucose (FBG), oral glucose tolerance, insulin, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), malondialdehyde (MDA), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and urea nitrogen (BUN) in T2DM rats. The high-density lipoprotein (HDL), serum creatinine (Scr), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) levels were elevated in MDE-treated group.

Discussion and conclusion: MDE possesses substantial antidiabetic activity, especially in lipid disorder regulation. This suggests that the use of MDE can be generalized to broader pharmacological studies, such as obesity and hyperlipidaemia.

Keywords:

• Flavonoid
• blood lipid
• blood glucose
• oxidative stress
• streptozotocin

Acknowledgments

This work was completed in the Guangxi Key Laboratory of Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine at the Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by GuangXi Key Laboratory of Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine (Guikejizi[2014]32); Collaborative Innovation Center of Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine (Guijiaokeyan[2013]20); Guangxi first-class discipline of traditional Chinese medicine (ethnic medicine) (Guijiaokeyan[2018]12); GuangXi Key Discipline (Zhuang Ethnic Medicine) (Guijiaokeyan[2013]16); Guangxi special experts project (Guirencaitongzi[2019]13).