Serum metabolomics in mice after paraquat posioning

Abstract

BackgroundsParaquat is toxic to humans and there is no antidote for paraquat poisoning. Moreover, the mechanisms of paraquat toxicity have not been clearly defined.MethodsIn this study, we developed a serum metabolomic method using gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to evaluate the effects of paraquat poisoning on mice. Pattern recognition analysis, including both principal component analysis and cross orthogonal partial least squares-discriminate analysis revealed that paraquat poisoning induced energy/redox cycle and metabolic perturbations.ResultsCompared with the control group, the levels of creatinine, citric acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid and glycine in the sub acute paraquat poisoning group increased (P < 0.05), while the levels of alpha-Tocopherol, 6-phosphogluconic acid and palmitoleic acid decreased (P < 0.05).ConclusionThese findings provide an overview of systematic responses to paraquat exposure and metabolomic insight into the toxicological mechanism of paraquat. Our results demonstrate that the metabolomic method based on GC-MS can be a useful tool to elucidate the mechanism of PQ toxicity, and provide a new direction for its clinical diagnosis and treatment.