Metabolomics study of cerebrospinal fluid from diabetic rats with cognitive impairment simultaneously treated with Panax quinquefolius and Acorus gramineus

A metabolomics approach was used to explore the effects of Panax quinquefolius (PQ) and Acorus gramineus (AG) on learning and memory in rats with diabetic-induced cognitive impairment. Thirty Wistar rats were divided into three groups, namely the normal-group, model-group, and Panax quinquefolius-Acorus gramineus-group (PQ-AG-group, 1.80g/kg/d). Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 65mg/kg). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was collected via cisterna magna puncture, and the Morris water maze method was used to evaluate learning and memory in rats after 11 weeks of PQ-AG treatment. Metabolic profiling of CFS samples wasperformed by using UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. Compared to the normal-group, the escape latency of the Morris water mazewas significantly prolonged in model-group rats after 12 weeks (p<0.01). Compared with the model-group, however, the escape latency was significantly shortened in PQ-AG-group rats (p<0.05). In multivariate statistical analysis, we identified 33 potential biomarkers, and six biomarkers were alteredby PQ-AG. These biomarkers were involved in the metabolism of pyrimidine; nicotinate and nicotinamide; glycine, serine, and threonine; and ascorbate and aldarate. Taken collectively, our results indicate that PQ-AG can attenuate diabetic-induced cognitive impairment by affecting a variety of metabolic pathways. Our results provide an experimental basis for studying the mechanism of action of PQ-AG.