Metabolic characterization of the early stage of hepatic fibrosis in rat using GC-TOF/MS and multivariate data analyses.

The aim of this study was to explore the changes in the urine metabolic spectrum in rats with the early stage of liver fibrosis using gas chromatography-time of flight/mass spectrometry (GC-TOF/MS), try to search for potential biomarkers and elucidate the probably metabonomic pathogenesis. The early stage of liver fibrosis was established with a single subcutaneous injection of carbon tetrachloride twice each week for 4 weeks continuously. At the end of the experiment, GC-TOF/MS technology with multivariate statistical approaches such as principal component analysis, partial least squares-discriminant analysis and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis was used to analyze the changes in the metabolic spectrum trajectory and identify potential biomarkers. Twelve potential biomarkers in the model group, such as succinic acid, threonine and lactose, were selected, which indicate that the metabonomic pathogenesis of the early stage of liver fibrosis may be related to disorders of energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism and fatty acid metabolism.