Comprehensive HPLC-MS metabolomics analysis of brain tissue reveals age, region, and gender-specific effects of Centella asiatica.

摘要

Centella asiatica (CA) has been used for hundreds of years in Ayurvedic medicine, as a medicinal herb to improve memory and cognition. Several studies in humans and rodent models have indicated its potential use in Alzheimer's disease. Our in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that the water extract of CA leaves (CAW) is responsible for the observed memory-enhancing properties. However, the molecular neuroprotective mechanisms and the metabolic pathways that are altered by CAW have remained unexplained. In this report, we describe our comparative age, regionand gender-specific brain tissue metabolomics studies of C57BL6 mice in response to CAW, using a comprehensive metabolomics workflow based on high-resolution mass spectrometry coupled to HPLC for metabolite detection and quantification. Metabolites were extracted from hippocampus tissue of young (3 months) and old (21 months), female and male, control and CAW-treated mice, by using a water/methanol/acetonitrile solvent system. Quality control samples were prepared by pooling aliquots of the tissue extract samples.