Analysis of the physiological and chemical bases of musk secretion mechanisms has become an important issue in musk research; however, current understanding of related factors remains limited, particularly the connection between musks and blood metabolites [13]. Based on the hypothesis that musk secretion by FMD is related to a series of different metabolic processes [7], metabolomics may be a valuable tool for improving our understanding of the complex mechanism of musk secretion. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research to use high-throughput metabolomics to study musk secretion from FMD.
According to the KEGG functional annotation and differential metabolite enrichment analysis, we found that the following significantly enriched pathways deserve focused discussion. We focus on the two pathways related to P450, drug metabolism - cytochrome P450 and metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, because Cytochrome P450 plays an important role in the secretion of forest musk deer [14]. Two choline-related pathways also worth discussion, because choline plays an important role in cancer-related pathways, and the similarity between cancer and musk secretion has been focused on [8]. Axon regeneration also worth discussion, because we think it is potentially related to the abnormal behavior of forest musk deer when secreting musk [15].
Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) belongs to a large family of self-oxidizing heme proteins [14]. Drug metabolism-cytochrome P450 and the metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450 pathways were significantly enriched in the serum of musk deer during the musk secretion period, indicating that in the synthesis of male hormones (i.e., C19 steroids) in musk components, P450 in the blood during the musk secretion period may have played a role in the further modification or transformation of its precursors.
As a terminal oxygenase, P450 is involved in sterol synthesis. We found that in the drug metabolism-cytochrome P450 metabolic pathway, there was significant enrichment of several branches, such as methadone, tamoxifen, felbamate, and valproic acid. The basic function of eukaryotic class I enzymes in the P450 family is related to the mitochondrial inner membrane, which catalyzes several steps in steroid hormone and vitamin D biosynthesis [14]. In animals, it has many physiological functions in the biosynthesis and catabolism of signaling molecules, lipid oxides, and steroid hormones [14]. Previous studies have shown that P450 plays a role in the metabolism of xenobiotics and endogenous substrates involved in the metabolism of steroids, fatty acids, prostaglandins, and even ketones [16]. It can be speculated that the high P450 pathway activity of musk deer during the musk secretion period may be closely related to the synthesis of musk ketone, cyclopentadecanone, cholesterol, 3a-hydroxy-5b-androstane-17-one, cholesterol, 1,2-cyclododecanediol, and other musk components. Previous studies have found that several important steroid oxidation reactions occur in mitochondria, including the steroid oxidation reaction catalyzed by cholesterol side chain lyase (now known as P450 11A1), which initiates the entire process of steroid production [17]. This suggests that the synthesis of steroids, the most important major component of musk, may be significantly affected by P450-related pathways (Figure 4).
Notably, several studies have examined the role of cytochrome P450 in herbal plants. Plants and animals share common metabolic pathways and secondary metabolites at the cellular level. Using in vitro and in vivo methods, previous studie have identified many herbs and natural compounds isolated from herbs as substrates, inhibitors, and/or inducers of cytochrome P450 enzymes [18]. Moreover, the regulation of CYPs in animals by herbal products appears to be complex, depending on the type, dosage, administration route, target organs, and species [20]. Recent studies have shown that feeding Chinese herbal medicines to FMD can supplement their nutrition [19]. Therefore, the association between herbal medicine and P450 may provide an optimization strategy for the nutrition of FMD and improving their aroma secretion ability.
Owing to the rapid proliferation of aromatic cells during the rapid growth period of the gland, this process is similar to that in malignant tumors. Therefore, some researchers have regarded it as cancer-like growth [8]. The gradual growth of muscle glands from the non-secretion period to the secretion period requires cytokines to closely regulate cell growth. We found that the Choline metabolism in cancer (Figure 5-1) and glycerophospholipid metabolism (Figure 5-2) were significantly enriched during aroma secretion. Among these, the concentrations of choline, phosphocholine, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and 3-(O-geranylgeranyl)-sn-glycerol 1-phosphate metabolites were significantly increased (Figure 5), which may have been positively correlated with gland growth. Choline is an essential nutrient that plays important roles in cellular metabolism and normal function [20; 21]. The liver is the central organ responsible for choline metabolism. Many studies have emphasized the importance of glycerophosphocholine in cancer [22]. Active enzymes in the GPC degradation pathway are often overexpressed in cancer cells, and may cause cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion [23]. The decrease in the activity of the ferroptosis pathway observed in this study (Figure 3-1) may also have been related to this phenomenon.
Upregulation of the axon regeneration pathway can explain the musk-secreting behavior of FMD. Our experiments revealed that metabolites such as anandamide and oxitriptan were significantly enriched (Figure 6). Anandamide affects sleep and eating patterns, enhances happiness, and relieves pain [24]. Oxitriptan reduces food intake in rats, and slows food intake and improves exercise performance in dogs [15]. Previous studies have shown that estrogen induces precocious axonogenesis in the developing rat brain [25]. It can be speculated that these neuromodulatory metabolites increase the degree of stress during the estrous period in FMD, which is closely related to high alertness and reduced eating behavior during the secretion period [26]. Previous studies have shown that bile volume in male musk deer is negatively correlated with musk secretion; the greater the stress, the smaller the bile volume of the FMD [27]. Therefore, it can be speculated that the axon regeneration pathway promotes musk secretion by enhancing stress and reducing the bile volume in FMD.
Due to the protection level of forest musk deer and the vulnerability to panic stress, it is difficult to take blood samples, so the amount of samples we obtained is small, which is not enough to support more in-depth analysis. On the one hand, metabolomics studies on blood only locate the pathways vaguely with abnormal expression in the secretory phase and some metabolic components. Revealing the secretion mechanism requires more targeted localization experiments for specific metabolites in these metabolic pathways. On the other hand, due to the wide range of labeled metabolites and pathways in metabolomics, we could not explain the correlation between all the significantly changed pathways and musk secretion of forest musk deer. However, we still present these results in the text, rather than omitting them in order to prevent induced argument. It is very important to reveal the secretion mechanism of forest musk deer, because it helps to alleviate the protection pressure caused by the use of musk on forest musk deer by restoring the incense production process in vitro. If a library of musk components of forest musk deer can be established, and then a transformation path library can be established, and then compared with the metabolomics components involved in this work, then, even through the enumeration method, a complex interactive relationship between the blood metabolite group and the musk component group can be accurately established.