Our previous studies have shown that Ogaja Acanthopanax sessiliflorus has an important role in decreasing blood pressure, but its biochemical change characteristic has not been clarified completely at the metabolic level. Therefore, in this study, a combination method of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy-based metabonomics and multivariate statistical analyses was employed to explore the metabolic changes of serum samples from spontaneously hypertensive rats treated with Ogaja extracts. In the results of multivariate statistical analysis, the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) groups treated with Ogaja were separated from the SHR group. The group of SHR treated with 200 mg/kg Ogaja was clustered with the positive control (captopril) group, and the 400 and 600 mg/kg Ogaja treatment SHR groups were clustered together. Quantified metabolites were statistically analyzed to find the metabolites showing the effects of Ogaja. Succinate and betaine had variable importance in projection (VIP) scores over 2.0. Succinate, which is related to renin release, and betaine, which is related to lowering blood pressure, increased dose-dependently.
Keywords: NMR spectroscopy; Ogaja (Acanthopanax sessiliflorus) fruits; hypertension; metabonomics; spontaneously hypertensive rat.