OBJECTIVE To investigate the changes in serum metabolites of mice with radiation-induced intestinal injury under the intervention of baicalein and the changing characteristics of endogenous biological small molecules during the process of baicalein's participation in the prevention and treatment of radiation-induced intestinal injury through the metabolomics method based on GC-MS technology, in order to explore the potential regulatory mechanism of baicalein.
METHODS A mouse radioactive intestinal injury model was established and randomly divided into normal control group, model group, low-dose baicalein group and high-dose baicalein group. Baicalein was administered by gavage. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technology was used to analyze the serum samples of mice in each group, and differential metabolites were screened through partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Potential metabolic pathways were analyzed with MetaboAnalyst.
RESULTS The pathological sections of mouse intestinal tissue showed that the high-dose and low-dose baicalein groups had a certain protective effect on radiation-induced intestinal damage. Metabolomic analysis showed that there were significant differences in the metabolic profiles of the blank control group, model group, low-dose and high-dose baicalein administration groups. After intragastric administration of baicalein, the endogenous metabolites in mice with radiation intestinal injury tended to normalize. The study screened out a total of 11 potential metabolic markers and 5 related metabolic pathways, among which pathways related to glucose metabolism, glutathione pathway, and ammonia metabolism were particularly significant.
CONCLUSION Baicalein has a certain preventive and therapeutic effect on radiation-induced intestinal injury; baicalein participates in glucose metabolism and glutathione metabolism, and improving the endogenous substance disorder caused by radiation is its potential mechanism of action.
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