An UPLC-MS-based metabolomics investigation on the anti-fatigue effect of salidroside in mice.

An ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight-based metabolomic approach was developed to study influence of salidroside, an anti-fatigue ingredient from Rhoiola rosea, on urinary metabolic profiling of rats to a single dose of 180 mg/kg per day. Unsupervised principal component analysis (PCA) and supervised orthogonal pre-projection to latent structures discriminate analysis (OPLS-DA) on metabolite profiling revealed obvious differentiation between the salidroside treated groups and controls in both positive and negative ion modes. Eleven urinary metabolites contributing to the differentiation were identified as anti-fatigue biomarkers: N-acetylserotonin, 2-Methoxyestrone 3-glucuronide, Taurine, Melatonin, Sorbitol, Geranyl diphosphate, Z-nucleotide, Cortisone, Dihydrocortisol, Sebacic acid, Pregnenolone sulfate. The physiological significance of these biomarkers is discussed. The work showed that metabolomics is a powerful tool in studying the anti-fatigue effects of natural compound salidroside on multiple targets in vivo.