Metabolomics study of type 2 diabetes and therapeutic effects of Tianqijiangtang-capsule using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Tianqijiangtang-capsule (TQC) is a famous Chinese prescription which has displayed bright prospects in the prevention and therapy of type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, its precise molecular mechanism has not been comprehensively explored. Metabolomics is the comprehensive assessment of low-molecular-weight endogenous metabolites in a biological system and may provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of diseases. In this study, urinary metabolomics based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS) was used to evaluate the efficacy and mechanism of TQC. UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS combined with pattern recognition approaches including principal components analysis and partial least squares-discriminant analysis were integrated to discover differentiating metabolites. Results indicate 12 ions in the negative mode as differentiating metabolites. Of note, TQC has potential pharmacological effect through regulating multiple perturbed pathways to the normal state. The changes in urine metabolites suggest that the disorders of starch and sucrose metabolism, pentose and glucuronate interconversions are related to T2D and the potential effect of TQC on all of these metabolic pathways. This work will provide better understanding of the mechanism of TQC in clinical use. It also demonstrated that the metabolomics method is a potentially powerful tool to study the essence of T2D and therapeutic effect mechanism of TQC.