Ulcerative colitis (UC), often known as UC, is an inflammatory disease of the intestines that has frequent and long-lasting flare-ups. It is unknown precisely how the traditional Chinese drug Indigo Naturalis (IN) heals inflammatory bowel disease, despite its long-standing use in China and Japan. Finding new metabolite biomarkers linked to UC could improve our understanding of the disease, speed up the diagnostic process, and provide insight into how certain drugs work to treat the condition. Our work is designed to use a metabolomic method to analyze potential alterations in endogenous substances and their impact on metabolic pathways in a mouse model of UC. To determine which biomarkers and metabolisms are more frequently connected with IN's effects on UC, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of the serum metabolomics of UC mice and normal mice was performed. The outcomes demonstrated that IN boosted the health of UC mice and reduced the severity of their metabolic dysfunction. In the UC model, it was also found that IN changed the way 17 biomarkers and 3 metabolisms functioned.

Keywords: Indigo Naturalis; LC-MS/MS; arachidonic acid metabolism; primary bile acid biosynthesis; ulcerative colitis; unsaturated fatty acids metabolism.