Zingiber officinale and Panax ginseng ameliorate ulcerative colitis in mice via modulating gut microbiota and its metabolites

• Published in: Journal of chromatography. B, Analytical technologies in the biomedical and life sciences Vol. 1203; p. 123313
• Main Authors: Wan, Yue, Yang, Lei, Li, Huifang, Ren, Hui, Zhu, Ke, Dong, Zhiling, Jiang, Shu, Shang, Erxin, Qian, Dawei, Duan, Jinao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.07.2022
• Subjects: Animals; Colitis, Ulcerative - drug therapy; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Gut microbiota; Metabolomics; Mice; Panax - chemistry; Panax ginseng; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - analysis; Ulcerative colitis; Zingiber officinale; Gut microbiota; PCoA; Metabolomics; LDA; Panax ginseng; MPO; SASP; UC; TCMs; ESI; Zingiber officinale; AA; UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS; DSS; H&E; OPLS-DA; DAI; PCA; LEfSe; ZO; ZP; PG; F/B; VIP; Ulcerative colitis
• ISSN: 1570-0232; 1873-376X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2022.123313

•Ulcerative colitis could be notably ameliorated by Zingiber officinale-Panax ginseng herb pair.•The disorder of gut flora and its metabolic profiles in ulcerative colitis mice was significantly restored by Zingiber officinale-Panax ginseng herb pair.•Integrated analysis of microbiome and metabolomics was useful to reveal the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis. Zingiber officinale and Panax ginseng, as well-known traditional Chinese medicines, have been used together to clinically treat ulcerative colitis with synergistic effects for thousands of years. However, their compatibility mechanism remains unclear. In this study, the shift of gut microbiome and fecal metabolic profiles were monitored by 16S rRNA sequencing technology and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis, respectively, which aimed to reveal the synergistic mechanism of Zingiber officinale and Panax ginseng on the amelioration of ulcerative colitis. The results showed that the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria (such as Muribaculaceae_norank, Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group and Akkermansia) was significantly increased and the abundance of pathogenic bacteria (such as Bacteroides, Parabacteroides and Desulfovibrio) was markedly decreased after the intervention of Zingiber officinale-Panax ginseng herb pair. And a total of 16 differential metabolites related to ulcerative colitis were identified by the metabolomics analysis, which were majorly associated with the metabolic pathways, including arachidonic acid metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, and steroid biosynthesis. Based on these findings, it was suggested that the regulation of the gut microbiota-metabolite axis might be a potential target for the synergistic mechanism of Zingiber officinale-Panax ginseng herb pair in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. Furthermore, the integrated analysis of microbiome and metabolomics used in this study could also serve as a useful template for exploring the mechanism of other drugs.