Identification of Metabolites and Metabolic Pathways Related to Treatment with Bufei Yishen Formula in a Rat COPD Model Using HPLC Q-TOF/MS

As a traditional Chinese medicine, Bufei Yishen Formula (BYF) is widely used in China as an effective treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Because of the component complexity and multiple activities of Chinese herbs, the mechanism whereby BYF affects COPD is not yet fully understood. Herein, pulmonary function experiments and histomorphological assessments were used to evaluate the curative effect of BYF, which showed that BYF had an effect on COPD. Additionally, a high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC QTOF/MS) metabonomics method was used to analyze the mechanism of the actions of BYF on rats with COPD induced by a combination of bacteria and smoking. Partial least squares discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) was used to screen biomarkers related to BYF treatment. Candidate biomarkers were selected and pathways analysis of these metabolites showed that three types of metabolic pathways (unsaturated fatty acid metabolism-related pathways, phenylalanine metabolism-related pathways, and phospholipid metabolism-related pathways) were associated with BYF treatment. Importantly, arachidonic acid and related metabolic pathways might be useful targets for novel COPD therapies.