Metabolomics analysis of herb-partitioned moxibustion treatment on rats with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome

Background Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder, which is commonly treated with antidiarrhoeal, antispasmodics, serotonergic agents or laxative agents. These treatments provide relief for IBS symptoms but may also lead to undesired side effects. Previously, herb-partitioned moxibustion (HPM) treatment has been demonstrated to be effective in ameliorating symptoms of IBS. However, the underlying mechanism of this beneficial treatment is yet to be established. The aim of the current study was to systematically assess the metabolic alterations in response to diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D) and therapeutic effect of HPM. Methods Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR)-based metabolomics approach was used to investigate fecal and serum metabolome of rat model of IBS-D with and without HPM treatment. Results The current results showed that IBS-induced metabolic alterations in fecal and serum sample include higher level of threonine and UDP-glucose together with lower levels of aspartate, ornithine, leucine, isoleucine, proline, 2-hydroxy butyrate, valine, lactate, ethanol, arginine, 2-oxoisovalerate and bile acids. These altered metabolites potentially involve in impaired gut secretory immune system and intestinal inflammation, malabsorption of nutrients, and disordered metabolism of bile acids. Notably, the HPM treatment was found able to normalize the Bristol stool forms scale scores, fecal water content, plasma endotoxin level, and a number of IBS-induced metabolic changes. Conclusions These findings may provide useful insight into the molecular basis of IBS and mechanism of the HPM intervention. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13020-019-0240-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.