Antithrombotic pharmacodynamics and metabolomics study in raw and processed products of Whitmania pigra Whitman

Hongqian Kui; Yan Lei; Chunxue Jia; Quancheng Xin; Rustam Tursun; Miao Zhong; Chuanxin Liu; Ruijuan Yuan

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27828

Antithrombotic pharmacodynamics and metabolomics study in raw and processed products of Whitmania pigra Whitman

Heliyon. 2024 Mar 19;10(7):e27828. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27828. eCollection 2024 Apr 15.

Authors

Hongqian Kui¹, Yan Lei¹, Chunxue Jia¹, Quancheng Xin¹, Rustam Tursun¹, Miao Zhong¹, Chuanxin Liu^{1

2}, Ruijuan Yuan¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, China.
² Department of Metabolism and Endocrinology, Endocrine, and Metabolic Disease Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan, University of Science and Technology, Medical Key Laboratory of Hereditary Rare Diseases of Henan, Luoyang Sub-center of National Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, Luoyang, China.

Abstract

Objective: As a traditional Chinese medicine, leech has obvious pharmacological activities in anticoagulantion and antithrombosis. Whitmania pigra Whitman (WP) is the most commonly used leech in the Chinese market. It is often used in clinical applications after high-temperature processing by talcum powder to remove the fishy taste and facilitate crushing. The anticoagulant and thrombolytic active ingredients are protein and polypeptide, which may denaturate and lose activity after high-temperature processing. The rationality of its processing has been questioned in recent years. This study aims to investigate the effect of talcum powder scalding on the antithrombotic activity of WP in vivo and to discuss its pharmacodynamic mechanism in vivo.

Methods: Raw and talcum-powdered processed WP were administered intragastrically for 14 days, and carrageenan was injected intraperitoneally to prepare a mouse model of tail vein thrombosis. The incidence rate of tail vein thrombosis and the thrombus area under pathological tissue sections were calculated to evaluate the antithrombotic effect between raw and processed WP. Non-targeted metabolomics was conducted using UPLC-Q-TOF/MS technology to analyze the changes of small molecule metabolites in the body after administration of WP.

Results: After intragastric administration, both the raw product and the processed product of WP could inhibit the thrombosis induced by carrageenan, and the processed product had a more apparent antithrombotic effect than the raw product. The administration of WP could regulate the changes of some small molecular metabolites, such as amino acids, lipids, and steroids, in Sphingolipid metabolism and Glycerophospholipid metabolism.

Conclusions: Based on the results of pharmacodynamics and metabolomics, processed WP will not reduce the antithrombotic activity of WP. This study provided a scientific basis for the rational use of leeches.

Keywords: Antithrombotic; Leech; Metabolomics; Processed traditional Chinese medicine; Whitmania pigra Whitman.