Metabolomics analysis of the effects of quercetin on hepatotoxicity induced by acrylamide exposure in rats

Acrylamide (AA) widely exists in the human diet, which makes the public inevitably exposed to AA in daily life. This study aimed to investigate the effects of quercetin on AA-induced hepatotoxicity utilizing metabolomics technology. Sixty male Wistar Rats were randomly divided into six groups: control, two dosages of quercetin intervention [10 and 50 mg/kg body weight (bw)], AA-treated [5 mg/kg bw], and two dosages of quercetin combined with AA intervention. AA and quercetin were given to rats via drinking water and gavage respectively. After 16 weeks of treatment, liver samples were collected for metabolomics analysis. 16 metabolites were finally identified, the intensities of glutathione and NADP were decreased (p < 0.01), whereas the intensities of taurodeoxycholic acid, glycocholic acid, cholic acid, sphingosine, sphingosine1-phosphate, stearidonyl carnitine, N-undecanoylglycine, cholesterol, 13,14-Dihydro-15-keto-PGE2, LysoPE (20:5), LysoPE (18:3), LysoPC (20:4), and PC (22:5) were increased (p < 0.01) in the AA-treated group than those in the control group. After high-dose quercetin (50 mg/kg bw) plus AA treated concurrently to rats, the contents of the above 16 metabolites were significantly restored. This research showed that 50 mg/kg quercetin can alleviate AA-induced hepatotoxicity by reducing oxidative stress and inflammatory injury and regulating lipid metabolism.