Metabolomics Studies into The Role of Dendrobium nobile Lindl. in Lipid Metabolism

In an earlier study, we had demonstrated ameliorative effects of Dendrobium nobile Lindl. on dyslipidemia and fatty liver in mouse fed a high fat diet. In the present study, we have examined the effect of D. nobile on the lipid metabolism in normal healthy rats after intragastric treatment for four times a day for five days. The treatment followed a metabolomics analysis of the plasma samples for metabolites by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy and the expression levels of genes for lipid metabolism. The metabolite profiles were substantially altered by D. nobile. Through Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways enrichment analysis, metabolic pathways were ranked first in terms of the number of referenced metabolites. There were 112 metabolites that were changed significantly in the pathways. The results revealed that D. nobile increased the content of epoxy-octadecenoic acids in plasma more than 19-folds. Moreover, the expression of genes Cyp1a2, Cyp2e1, Cyp2j2, Cyp3a1, Pparγ, Lpl, Acsl1, and Hmgcs2 were all induced in D. nobile treatment group (P < 0.05). Our results supported that D. nobile has a significant role in regulating lipid metabolism in healthy rats. Therefore, it is tempting to speculate that D. nobile would be beneficial in protecting human against the disorders of lipid metabolism.