The hematinic effect of Colla corii asini (Ejiao) using 1H-NMR metabolomics coupled with correlation analysis in APH-induced anemic rats

Abstract

Colla corii asini (Ejiao), a gelatin-like food and drug obtained from Equus asinus Linnaeus, has been widely used in clinical hematic antianemic therapy for more than 2000 years. The elucidation of the characteristic metabolic alterations achieved during its treatment of anemia is critical to the screening of the biomarkers involved in anemia and improving the understanding of the hematinic effects of Ejiao. This work presents the first ¹H-NMR-based metabolomics coupled with a correlation analysis study of the characteristic metabolic profiles of APH-induced anemic rats subjected to Ejiao treatment. Significant differences in the metabolic profiles of the rats in the control, blood deficiency and treatment groups were observed, and the identified serum biomarkers including arginine, aspartate, choline and dimethylglycine, could be used for the diagnosis of anemia. The results also showed that Ejiao may play a hematinic role through regulating the lipid and lipoprotein metabolism, energy metabolism, gut microflora and amino acid metabolism, reflecting the multi-target therapeutic effect of traditional Chinese medicine, which may be helpful for understanding the hematinic mechanism of Ejiao.