A study of the influence of lead pollution on the anticoagulant activity of Whitmania pigra based on pharmacodynamics and metabolomics research
Quality control study published in Journal of Chromatography B (2021)
Abstract
Whitmania pigra Whitman (leech, also called Shuizhi in China, abbreviated as SZ), which has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of blood stasis syndrome (BSS) for a long time, is vulnerable to lead pollution in aquaculture environments. SZ has good anticoagulant activity. However, there are few studies on the influence of lead pollution on it. Therefore, we carried out the following researches to explore the influence of lead pollution on the anticoagulant activity of SZ and its mechanism. Firstly, the acute blood stasis model of rats was established by subcutaneous injection of adrenaline hydrochloride and ice water bath. Then unpolluted SZ (UPS) and lead-polluted SZ (LPS) were extracted. Next, the blood stasis model rats were administrated by gavage and the rats in normal control (NC) group and blood stasis model (BM) group were given the same amount of normal saline. Finally, the blood of the rats was collected to detect the coagulation function and hemorheology indexes. The metabolomics of rat plasma was studied by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with orbitrap mass spectrometry (UPLC-Orbitrap-MS) technology. Principal component analysis (PCA), orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and Hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) were used to perform metabolomics analysis. MetPA analysis was used to search for related metabolic pathways. The results of coagulation function and hemorheology showed that lead pollution could decrease the anticoagulant activity of SZ. The OPLS-DA score plots indicated that the plasma metabolites of rats in LPS group were close to BM group, while UPS group tended to be close to NC group both in the positive and negative ion mode. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) suggested that UPS group and NC group were clustered into a branch, while LPS group and BM group were clustered into a branch. To sum up, lead pollution will reduce the anticoagulant activity of SZ. And lead pollution reduces the anticoagulant activity of SZ probably by influencing the metabolic pathways such as sphingolipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism and energy metabolism in rats.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Summary
UPLC-Orbitrap-MS metabolomics in blood stasis model rats showed that lead pollution of aquaculture-grown Whitmania pigra significantly reduces its anticoagulant activity by altering sphingolipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and energy metabolism pathways.
Why This Matters for Hirudotherapy
This study examined how lead pollution affects the anticoagulant activity of Whitmania pigra (Shuizhi), a leech used in traditional Chinese medicine for blood stasis syndrome, using an adrenaline/ice-water-induced acute blood stasis rat model and UPLC-Orbitrap-MS plasma metabolomics. Coagulation function and hemorheology results showed that lead-polluted W. pigra had reduced anticoagulant activity compared with unpolluted leech, and metabolomic analyses (PCA, OPLS-DA, HCA) suggested the lead-polluted group clustered near the disease model while unpolluted leech clustered near normal controls, implicating sphingolipid, amino acid, and energy metabolism pathways. For ASH, this highlights how environmental contamination of cultured medicinal leeches may compromise therapeutic anticoagulant quality. Caveat: the findings are limited to a rat blood stasis model, involve no leech salivary secretome characterization, and do not directly address live hirudotherapy.
Citation
A study of the influence of lead pollution on the anticoagulant activity of Whitmania pigra based on pharmacodynamics and metabolomics research.
Chen X et al. · Journal of Chromatography B, 2021
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