Cinnabar, an important traditional Chinese
mineral medicine, has been widely used as a Chinese
patent medicine ingredient for
sedative therapy. However, the
pharmaceutical and toxicological effects of
cinnabar, especially in the whole organism, were subjected to few investigations. In this study, an NMR-based metabolomics approach has been applied to investigate the toxicological effects of
cinnabar after intragastrical administration (dosed at 0.5, 2 and 5 g/kg
body weight) on male Wistar rats. Liver and kidney histopathology examinations and serum clinical chemistry analyses were also performed. The 1H NMR spectra were analyzed using multivariate pattern recognition techniques to show the time- and dose-dependent biochemical variations induced by
cinnabar. The metabolic signature of urinalysis from
cinnabar-treated animals exhibited an increase in the levels of
creatinine,
acetate,
acetoacetate,
taurine,
hippurate and
phenylacetylglycine, together with a decrease in the levels of trimethyl-N-
oxide,
dimethylglycine and Kreb's cycle intermediates (
citrate,
2-oxoglutarate and
succinate). The metabolomics analyses of serum showed elevated concentrations of
ketone bodies (3-d-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate),
branched-chain amino acids (
valine,
leucine and
isoleucine),
choline and
creatine as well as decreased
glucose,
lipids and
lipoproteins from
cinnabar-treated animals. These findings indicated
cinnabar induced disturbance in energy metabolism,
amino acid metabolism and gut microflora environment as well as slight injury in liver and kidney, which might indirectly result from
cinnabar induced oxidative stress. This work illustrated the high reliability of NMR-based metabolomic approach on the study of the biochemical effects induced by
traditional Chinese medicine.