Metabonomic analysis of Bombyx mori (Heterocera: Bombysidae) treated with acetaminophen

The feasibility of using Bombyx mori as model animal is attracting more attention. Whether the effect of drugs on the metabolite profiling was consistent with those in mammals was an aspect to evaluate the feasibility of B. mori as model animal. In this study, we used acetaminophen to treat Dazao fifth-instar B. mori, and its metabolites in hemolymph were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The corresponding data were processed and analyzed by total model analysis, principal component analysis, partial least squares-discriminant analysis, orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis, and finally, the difference metabolites between acetaminophen group and control group were selected and identified by our reference material database and the National Institute of Standard and Technology database. The results showed that acetaminophen administration induced elevation of metabolites related to energy source, the intermediate of cholesterol synthesis, and the metabolites related to melanization and also induced the decrease of metabolites in pathway of Krebs cycle, the cholesterol, and sitosterol, which suggested that acetaminophen administration inhibited energy metabolism and promoted the expenditure and imbalance of hormone and melanization.