Suan-Zao-Ren decoction positively impacts insomnia by improving the metabolic phenotype and affecting key metabolic pathways.
Firstly, a non-targeted metabolomics approach based on high-resolution mass spectrometry was combined with multiple statistical methods to study alterations in potential brain and serum biomarkers and metabolic pathways in rats with modelled insomnia. This process revealed that treatment with the Suan-Zao-Ren decoction promoted significant improvements in the metabolic phenotypes of insomnia.
Fruther analysis, conducted using discriminative analysis in correlation with principal component analysis, termed principal component analysis-discriminate analysis, served to accentuate these effects. Subsequent heatmap (graphical representation of data) analysis helped identify primary biomarkers associated with insomnia.
The results disclosed important alterations in several metabolic pathways linked with insomnia, such as phenylalanine and tryptophan metabolism, among others. This provided a comprehensive understanding of how Suan-Zao-Ren decoction regulates the metabolic phenotype of rats with insomnia, reinforcing the potential of metabolomics as a tool for examining the curative effects and mechanism of traditional Chinese medicines.
