Gout Party is a Chinese medicine prescription composed of Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparaia, Aconiti Radix Cocta, Cremastrae Pseudobulbus Pleiones Pseudobulbus, Smilacis Glabrae Rhizoma, Rehmanniae Radix, and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, which can relieve joint pain caused by gouty arthritis (GA) and rheumatoid, and has a therapeutic effect on acute gouty arthritis (AGA). However, little information is available on the molecular biological basis and therapeutic mechanism of Gout Party for the treatment of AGA. AGA model was established by injecting sodium urate, and colchicine served as a positive control drug. We established a metabolomic method based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC–Q–TOF/MS) to analyze the plasma samples of model group rats and blank group rats. Multiple statistical analyses, including principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square discrimination analysis (PLS-DA), were used to examine metabolite profile changes in plasma samples. Finally, we identified 2–ketobutyric acid, 3–hexenedioic acid, but–2–enoic acid, and so on; 22 endogenous metabolites associated with AGA. After successful molding, we found that 2–ketobutyric acid, 3–hexenedioic acid, but–2–enoic acid, argininic acid, galactonic acid, lactic acid, equol 4′–O–glucuronide, deoxycholic acid glycine conjugate, glycocholic acid, sphinganine 1–phosphate, LPE (0:0/20:3), LPE (0:0/16:0), LPC (15:0) decreased significantly (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01), alanine, erythrulose, 3–dehydrocarnitine, m–methylhippuric acid, 3–hydroxyoctanoic acid, p–cresol sulfate, estriol 3–sulfate 16–glucuronide, 10–hydroxy–9–(phosphonooxy)octadecenoate, docosahexaenoic acid increased significantly (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). After Gout Party treatment, 14 biomarkers had a tendency to normal conditions. These above biomarkers were mainly involved in fatty acid metabolism, bile acid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and energy metabolism pathways. These results suggested that Gout Party exerted therapeutic effects of treating AGA by improving energy metabolism disorder and amino acid metabolism dysfunction, and attenuating fatty acid metabolism abnormal and inflammation. The results of this experiment provided a reference for revealing the metabolic mechanism produced by Gout Party in the treatment of AGA, but the subsequent studies need to be further improved and supported by relevant cell experiments and clinical experiments.

Background: The traditional habitat of the Chinese medicinal plant Cistanches Herba (CH) is the deserts of northwestern China. Recently, CH cultivation has been introduced to saline-alkali land (SAL) in the Yellow River delta region. However, the effects of this SAL environment on the accumulation of secondary metabolites in CH remain unclear. Objective: This research aims to systematically characterize the chemical profiles of CH grown in SAL and to identify key chemical markers associated with the SAL environment. Methods: CH samples were collected from both SAL and traditional sandy land (SL). Untargeted metabolomics was performed using ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS) to characterize the global metabolic profiles of CH from two habitats. Chemical markers associated with SAL environments were screened via weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), targeted quantification by ultra performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-TQ-MS), and compound loading contributions of principal component analysis (PCA). Subsequently, desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (DESI-MSI) was employed to visualize the in situ spatial distribution of partial screened constituents in mouse organs. Results: Untargeted UPLC-QTOF-MS metabolomics identified 74 chemical constituents from CH samples, including 40 phenylethanoid glycosides, 13 iridoid glycosides, 9 lignans, and other minor constituents. Orthogonal projections to latent structures-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) clearly separated the SAL and SL sample groups, with 30 constituents showing prominent contributions to the discrimination. WGCNA revealed 23 metabolites correlated with SAL. By integrating these two screening methods, 12 constituents were preliminarily selected as candidate markers associated with SAL. Subsequently, combining PCA loading coefficients (with the PCA model validated by Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin and Bartlett’s sphericity tests) and targeted UPLC-TQ-MS quantification, 4 constituents-verbascoside, echinacoside, isoacteoside, and pinoresinol- were ultimately identified as characteristic chemical markers, all exhibiting significantly higher levels in SAL samples. DESI-MSI results further demonstrated that echinacoside predominantly accumulated in brain tissue, whereas verbascoside or isoacteoside displayed the strongest ion signal in the lung. Conclusion: This study developed an integrated strategy that combines hierarchical filtering of mass spectrometry data to successfully identify 4 characteristic chemical markers of CH associated with SAL. This strategy provides a scientific basis for future quality control and resource development.