TITLE:
Integration of 1H-NMR-Based Metabolomics Approach with Traditional Chinese Pulse Diagnosis to Evaluate the Qi-Enhancing Activity of Herbal Tea
AUTHORS:
Chia-Hsin Lin, Po-Jung Huang, Chung-Hsuan Wang, Mo-Rong Xu, Sheng-Yang Wang
KEYWORDS:
1H-NMR, Metabolomics, Traditional Chinese Pulse Diagnosis, Qi-Enhancing, Herbal Tea
JOURNAL NAME:
Chinese Medicine,
Vol.15 No.3,
August
9,
2024
ABSTRACT: Human metabolism is intricately linked to an individual’s health status. Regardless of living habits, it will be reflected in the metabolic characteristics of urine. The utilization of the 1H NMR-based metabolomics method has enabled examine the metabolomic changes in urine under various physiology conditions, providing valuable insights into metabolites. In this particular study, volunteers were divided into two groups based on the strength of their spleen pulses, using the pulse diagnosis method employed in traditional Chinese medicine. Subsequently, their urine samples were analyzed, revealing notable variances in urea, creatinine, citric acid, succinic acid, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), alanine, hippuric acid, and glycine between the two groups. Interestingly, individuals with weak spleen pulses showed significant improvements after consuming herbal tea. Furthermore, we conducted LC-MS analysis on herbal tea and performed adenosine triphosphate (ATP) activity tests on the C2C12 mouse skeletal muscle cell line. The results indicated that within a reasonable concentration range, exposure to herbal tea led to an increase in the mitochondrial ATP production capacity of C2C12 cells. These findings shed light on the relationship between traditional Chinese medicine pulse diagnosis and urine metabolites, highlighting their potential as non-invasive and straightforward health assessment indicators. They can aid in the preliminary determination of necessary dietary and lifestyle changes to enhance overall bodily health.