This article was designed to study metabonomic characters of aging induced by d-galactose (d-gal) and the protective effects of green tea polyphenols (GTP). Plasma samples from control, d-gal and GTP treated rats were analysed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS) in positive mode. Coupled with biochemistry and histopathology results, the significant difference in metabolic profiling between d-gal treated group and the GTP treated group by using the principal components analysis (PCA) indicated that changes in global plasma metabolites were occurred. Some significantly changed metabolites like lysophosphatidylcholines, tryptophan, dihydrosphingosine and phytosphingosine have been found and identified. These changes in plasma metabolites are related to the perturbations of lecithin metabolism, amino acid metabolism and phospholipids metabolism, which may be helpful to further understand the action mechanisms of GTP.
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