A bird's eye view of anisatin induced convulsive seizures in brain by a 1H NMR based metabolic approach

Anisatin is the main convulsant component in plants of the genus Illicium, many of which are important spices or folk medicines. The neurotoxicity of anisatin has been widely investigated, mainly focusing on its action on the γ-amino butyrate (GABA) system; however, little is known about the metabolic alterations that it causes. In this study, a NMR-based metabolomic approach was performed on the extracts of cortexes and cerebellums of mice administered with anisatin to explore the metabolic events associated with its intoxication. Orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) revealed many differential metabolites that indicated metabolic disturbance in neurotransmission and neuromodulation (GABA, glutamate, glutamine, and taurine), stress of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (ascorbate, phosphatidylcholine, choline, and ethanolamine), energy metabolism (NAD+i.e., nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide, lactate, citrate, fumarate, creatine/phosphocreatine, and creatinine), amino acid metabolism (leucine, isoleucine, valine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, alanine, threonine, and glycine) and nucleic acid metabolism (NAD+, nicotinamide/niacinamide, adenosine, and guanosine). This pilot metabolomic study on anisatin intoxication should help to develop a holistic view of convulsive seizures induced by anisatin, and provide a better understanding of the mechanisms.