Urine metabolomics study of Bushen Huoxue Prescription on diabetic retinopathy rats by UPLC–Q‐exactive Orbitrap–MS

Abstract Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a common microvascular complication of diabetes and remains one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. Previous studies have shown that Bushen Huoxue Prescription (BP) possesses an effect on preventing and treating DR, but the mechanisms of action are not entirely clear. In order to clarify the mechanisms, the pharmacodynamical assessments of BP were investigated. Combining the pharmacodynamical studies, it was found that BP could inhibit high expression of VEGF and HIF‐1 α , indicating significant therapeutic effects on DR. In order to further investigate the mechanism of BP in treating DR, a urine metabolomics method based on ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with Q‐exactive quadrupole‐electrostatic field Orbitrap mass spectrometry was established to observe the metabolic variations in DR rats and investigate the therapeutic effect of BP on DR. As a result, nine potential biomarkers associated with DR were found. The metabolic pathways related to these compounds were explored, and the results showed that these biomarkers were mainly associated with gut microbial metabolism, lipid metabolism and tryptophan metabolism. The results for the pharmacodynamics and metabolomics provided a theoretical basis for clarifying the mechanism of BP in the treatment of DR.