Chinese herbal Formula Q attenuates letrozole-induced polycystic ovary syndrome through modulating multiple metabolic processes in female adult rats.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is driven by multiple factors, but detailed mechanisms in the setting of PCOS remains unclear. Our study is to comprehensively clarify the potentially molecular mechanisms of effect Formulae Q (Traditional Chinese Medicine) on PCOS. A model of PCOS-liked rats induced by letrozole (1 mg/kg/d) for 21days was performed. Formulae Q (20 g/kg/d) was orally gavaged twice daily to rats as a pretreatment, and metformin (100 mg/kg/d) was orally gavaged daily as a positive control. HE stains were performed to assess pathological changes of the ovaries, and the number of corpuses luteum and cysts were assessed. Biochemistry test was used to measure testosterone, E2, FSH, LH, AMH and LH/FSH in serum. All the target proteins were identified by proteomics and bioinformatics analyses, and then verified by qPCR. The core components of Formulae Q identified by UPLC-MS/MS were subjected to molecular docking with target proteins.As a result, Formulae Q had a obviously protective-effect against PCOS by reversing alters of hormone levels in serum and pathology in ovary tissues. Proteomics data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD057910. Formula Q significantly inhibited Zp family related indexes (Zp2, Zp3 and Zp4). Furthermore, pharmachologic effectts of Formula Q were closely related to steroidogenesis metabolism (Cyp17a1, Ass1 and Apoc1), synthesis and metabolism processes (Cbr1l1, Fdx1 and Dpep1), signaling and cellular processes (Calb2, Dcn and Reep6), and the other biological processes (Fdx1, Hdgfl3, Lgals1 and Tagin). The Cbr1l1 protein showed strong binding affinity with the four core components of Formulae Q.These findings suggest that Formulae Q may hold promise as a potential candidate for PCOS management.