OBJECTIVE  To investigate the effect of Ilex pubescens triterpene saponins (IPTS) on fecal and urine metabolomics in atherosclerotic (AS) rats.

  METHODS  AS model rats were induced by high-fat diet combined with intraperitoneal injection of vitamin D₃. The rats were divided into control group, model group and IPTS group. The contents of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in the serum were tested. The fecal and urine samples of the rats were taken for metabolomic analysis using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology.

  RESULTS  After administration of IPTS, the content of TG significantly decreased (P < 0.05), and the content of HDL-C significantly increased (P < 0.05) in rat serum. The result of metabonomics analysis showed that the differential metabolites up-regulated in the model group mainly included amino acids (leucine, ketooleucine, guanidoacetate) and intestinal flora-related metabolites (choline, betaine, trimethylamine oxide, etc.). The down-regulated metabolites included the tricarboxylic acid cycle products (succinate, fumarate and glutarate), nucleotides (adenine, scutellaria, etc.) and amino acids (tryptophan, kynurenine, etc.), which showed that the energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, nucleotide metabolism and intestinal flora-host co-metabolism of the model group rats were disturbed. After administration of IPTS, some products of TCA cycle, nucleotide metabolites, amino acid metabolites, and metabolites of gut microbiota were corrected, which indicated IPTS could ameliorate the metabolic disorders caused by atherosclerosis.

  CONCLUSION  IPTS can partly regulate the differential metabolites of fecal and urine samples in AS rats and have a good therapeutic effect on AS rats.