Profiling analysis of amino acids from hyperlipidaemic rats treated with Gynostemma pentaphyllum and atorvastatin

Context Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.) Makino has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of hyperlipidaemic with a long history.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of Gynostemma pentaphyllum (GP) and atorvastatin on amino acids from the plasma and liver tissue of hyperlipidaemic rats. Materials and methods The rats were fed a high-fat diet continuously for 11 weeks for the construction of hyperlipidaemic model. The hyperlipidaemic rats were treated with Gynostemma pentaphyllum (120 mg/kg) and atorvastatin (1.8 mg/kg) for 4 weeks, and the rats were intragastric administration one time every day. Chromatographic separation was performed on a Shim-pack XR-ODSIII C18 analytical column (75 mm × 2.0 mm i.d., 1.6 μm, Shmadazu Corp., Tokyo, Japan). The biomarkers of amino acids were identified by principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Results After feeding with a high-fat diet, the TC and LDL-C values of the hyperlipidaemic mode rats increased dramatically (p < 0.01). The established method allowed a target analysis of 12 kinds of amino acids. PCA studies showed that the plasma amino acids had not returned to normal after GP treatment, but those had recovered slightly after atorvastatin treatment. GP has almost no impact on the metabolism of amino acids, while atorvastatin can modify the metabolism of amino acids via self-regulatory mechanisms. Discussion and conclusion UPLC/DAD combined with SCX-SPE can be successfully used for profiling analysis of amino acids. By the comparison of biomarkers following treatment with GP and atorvastatin, the influence of the two drugs on biomarkers is revealed.