Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Metabolism and Chemodiversity
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1471729

Geographical Variation in Metabolite Profiles and Bioactivity of Thesium chinense Turcz. Revealed by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS-Based Metabolomics

Provisionally accepted
Guanglei Zhang Guanglei Zhang 1Fang Zhang Fang Zhang 1Cong Wang Cong Wang 2Haonan Xu Haonan Xu 1Ke Che Ke Che 1Tingting Sun Tingting Sun 1Qisheng Yao Qisheng Yao 3Youyi Xiong Youyi Xiong 1Niannian Zhou Niannian Zhou 1Mengyuan Chen Mengyuan Chen 4Hao Yu Hao Yu 1,5Hao Chen Hao Chen 1,3,4*
  • 1 Anhui Science and Technology University, Chuzhou, China
  • 2 Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 3 Jiuhua Huayuan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Chuzhou, China
  • 4 Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
  • 5 Bozhou University, Bozhou, Anhui, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study aims to investigate the impact of geographical origin on the metabolite composition and bioactivity of Thesium chinense Turcz. (TCT), and to establish a quality assessment model based on metabolomics. TCT, a member of the Apiaceae family with a long-standing role in traditional Chinese medicine, is celebrated for its wide range of pharmacological properties such as antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects. This study employs a non-targeted metabolomics approach via ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) to investigate the metabolite differences and quality characteristics in wild TCT specimens collected from seven provinces in China. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were applied to identify and differentiate the metabolite profiles of TCT samples, revealing 54 differential metabolites, predominantly flavonoids and alkaloids. The study further employed KEGG pathway analysis. This analysis indicated the greatest variations in the biosynthesis pathways of flavonoids and flavanols among the samples. Correlating the metabolite content with the geographical origins, a strong association was observed, suggesting that the bioactivity of TCT is significantly influenced by its provenance. The study also validated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of TCT, which were found to be highly predictive of the total flavonoid content (TFC). The findings of this research not only provide a comprehensive quality analysis and control framework for herbal medicine but also offer critical theoretical support for the evaluation of TCT quality from different regions. This work highlights the potential of metabolomics in discerning the subtleties of plant metabolomes.

    Keywords: Thesium chinense Turcz., UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS, Geographical variations, non-targeted metabolomics, Total flavonoid content, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory

    Received: 28 Jul 2024; Accepted: 13 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhang, Zhang, Wang, Xu, Che, Sun, Yao, Xiong, Zhou, Chen, Yu and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hao Chen, Anhui Science and Technology University, Chuzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.