The effect of Jiegeng decoction on lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury in mice based on metabolomics

One of the traditional prescriptions for treating lung diseases, Jiegeng decoction (JGT), is still unknown in terms of its chemical makeup and mechanism. In this study, Q-Exactive-Orbitrap MS technology was used to identify the chemical constituents of JGT, and metabolomics was used to examine the effect of JGT on metabolites in the lung tissue of mice with acute lung injury (ALI) model. The potential biomarkers were screened by fold change (FC) > 1.5 or FC < 0.67 and P < 0.05, and enriched for metabolic pathways. A total of 40 compounds, including triterpenoid saponins, flavonoids and glycosides, were identified by mass spectrometry analysis of JGT. All animal experiments were approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. TCM-LAEC2021106). The results showed that JGT improved the lung coefficient, and lung tissue morphology of mice with ALI, lowered the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and reduced myeloperoxidase (MPO) content in lung tissue. The metabolomic results showed that JGT could regulate 22 metabolites associated with ALI, among which leukotriene D4, docosapentaenoic acid, hypoxanthine, L-5-oxoproline, and other metabolites were mainly associated with the body′s inflammatory response and oxidative stress, and were enriched in the pathways of glutathione metabolism, purine metabolism, and primary bile acid biosynthesis. This study analyzed the potential mechanism of JGT in the treatment of ALI through metabolomics, providing an important theoretical basis for the clinical application of JGT.