Metabonomic analysis of quercetin against the toxicity of chronic exposure to a mixture of four organophosphate pesticides in rat plasma

1.?A metabonomics approach was performed to investigate the effect of quercetin on the toxicity of chronic exposure to a mixture of four organophosphate pesticides (OPs) at their corresponding no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL). The rats were divided into six groups (n?=?10/group): control, two different doses of quercetin, OPs mixture and different doses of quercetin plus OPs mixture-treated groups.

2.?Nine metabolites, including two quercetin metabolites and seven endogenous metabolites were identified in plasma. The intensities of metabolites significantly changed in the OP mixture-treated group compared with the control group (p?p?3.?The results indicated that quercetin elicited partial protective effects against the toxicity induced by a mixture of OPs, which include regulation of lipid metabolism, improvement of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle disorders, enhancement of antioxidant defence system to protect the liver.