Wu-tou-tang was applied to treat rheumatoid arthritis,rheumatic arthritis,and joint pain for thousands of years.Aconiti Radix Cocta is the primary component of Wu-tou-tang,and Aconiti Radix and Pinelliae Rhizoma is one of the famous combination taboos in traditional Chinese medicine.A urinary metabonomics method based on the ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) had been established to quantify the changes of the endogenous metabolites in the urine of adjuvant-induced arthritis rats treated by Wutou-tang and Wu-tou-tang and Pinelliae Rhizoma(WP) co-decoctions.There was a clear separation between Wu-tou-tang and WP co-decoction treated groups in the PCA model.16 potential biomarkers had been identified which correlated with how Pinelliae Rhizoma influenced the therapeutic effect made by Wu-tou-tang.Results showed that it could reduce the therapeutic effects or make some side effects when Pinelliae Rhizoma is added in Wu-tou-tang.This is the first time to use metabonomics to investigate the reason of combination taboo.
Yao QiZi-Feng PiShu LiuFeng-Rui SongYing XuNa LinZhi-Qiang Liu
