Urine Metabolomics after Diazepam in Rats by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Benzodiazepines, the second class of psychotropic drugs, are widely used in clinical settings due to their high safety, long duration of action, and good anti-anxiety, sedative-hypnotic and epileptogenic effects. Diazepam is a representative of benzodiazepines. In this study, we developed a urine metabolomic method by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to evaluate the effect of diazepam treated on rats. The rats were divided into three groups. Low-dose diazepam treated group, 1 mg/kg/day was given to rats by intraperitoneal injection for 30 days. High-dose diazepam treated group, 5 mg/kg/day was given to rats by intraperitoneal injection for 30 days. The control group, 1 mL/kg/day normal saline was given to rats by intraperitoneal injection for 30 days. Urine samples were collected from the rats from three groups at 8: 00 a. m. after 30 day. According to the urine metabolomics results, three groups could be distinguished from each other. Compared to the control group, xylopyranoside increased in high-dose diazepam treated group. The results indicate that metabolomic method by GC-MS may be useful to elucidate diazepam treated on rats.