Genistin, an isoflavone, has been reported to have multiple activities. However, its improvement of hyperlipidemia is still unclear, and the same is true with regard to its mechanism. In this study, a high-fat diet (HFD) was used to induce a hyperlipidemic rat model. The metabolites of genistin in normal and hyperlipidemic rats were first identified to cause metabolic differences with Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Quadrupole Exactive Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS). The relevant factors were determined via ELISA, and the pathological changes of liver tissue were examined via H&E staining and Oil red O staining, which evaluated the functions of genistin. The related mechanism was elucidated through metabolomics and Spearman correlation analysis. The results showed that 13 metabolites of genistin were identified in plasma from normal and hyperlipidemic rats. Of those metabolites, seven were found in normal rat, and three existed in two models, with those metabolites being involved in the reactions of decarbonylation, arabinosylation, hydroxylation, and methylation. Three metabolites, including the product of dehydroxymethylation, decarbonylation, and carbonyl hydrogenation, were identified in hyperlipidemic rats for the first time. Accordingly, the pharmacodynamic results first revealed that genistin could significantly reduce the level of lipid factors (p < 0.05), inhibited lipid accumulation in the liver, and reversed the liver function abnormalities caused by lipid peroxidation. For metabolomics results, HFD could significantly alter the levels of 15 endogenous metabolites, and genistin could reverse them. Creatine might be a beneficial biomarker for the activity of genistin against hyperlipidemia, as revealed via multivariate correlation analysis. These results, which have not been reported in the previous literature, may provide the foundation for genistin as a new lipid-lowering agent.
Keywords: UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS; correlation analysis; genistin; hyperlipidemia; metabolites; metabolomics.