Effects of Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Berit. on the metabolomic profiles of placenta and amniotic fluid in pregnant rats

Ethnopharmacological relevance Banxia (BX) is the root of Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Berit. Its processed products, such as Jiang Banxia (JBX), have been clinically used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat vomiting, coughing, and inflammation. However, data for their safety for pregnant women are contradictory and confusing. Aim of the study To further explore the safety of BX, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) metabolomics approach was used to evaluate the metabolic perturbation in pregnant rats caused by BX and JBX. Materials and methods Placenta and amniotic fluid samples were collected from control Sprague-Dawley pregnant rats and exposed to BX suspension and JBX decoction (1.434 g/kg/day). Samples were analyzed using LC–MS and GC–MS. The acquired MS data of above samples were further subjected to multivariate data analysis, and the significantly altered metabolites were identified. The associated pathways were constructed using MetaboAnalyst 3.0. Results The weight and histopathology of the placenta from each group of rats had no definite difference. However, we found 20 differential endogenous metabolites that changed significantly in the placenta and amniotic fluid samples. The alterations of identified metabolites indicated a perturbation in glycerophospholipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism in pregnant rats exposed to BX and JBX. Conclusion In summary, this work suggested that oral administration of BX and JBX may induce disturbances in the intermediary metabolism in pregnant rats. This work contributes to further understanding the safety of BX and its processed products.