Application of metabolomics in treating polycystic ovary syndrome with berberine based on ultra high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex, heterogeneous disorder, which seriously impacts the health of reproductive age women. Thus reasonable individual-based treatment is important. In this study, the serum samples of 15 overweight PCOS patients before and after treatment with berberine for three months were collected for clinic biochemical test and metabolomic research. Metabolomic profiling based on ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (q-TOF MS) was used to investigate metabolic changes of PCOS. Compared with before treatment, the patients after berberine treatment can be separated into distinct clusters as displayed by the orthogonal signal correction partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OSC-PLS-DA) score plot with model parameter: R2Y=0.892, Q2(cum)= 0. 577, which indicated changes in metabolites after berberine treatment. The differential metabolites related to berberine treatment were selected when their variable importance values were more than 1, and P<0. 05 with nonparametric test. These differential metabolites were all involved in lipids metabolism, including phosphatidylcholines, sphingomyelin, stearic acid and erucamide. The pharmacological results and metabolomic data revealed that berberine can strengthen the sensitivity of insulin and rectify the dyslip idemia of overweight PCOS patients. This study also illustratees that the LC-MS based metabolomic method is helpful for evaluating the treatment of traditional Chinese medicines.