Cinnamic acid (AC) and cinnamic aldehyde (AL) are two chemicals enriched in cinnamon and have been previously proved to improve glucolipid metabolism, thus ameliorating metabolic disorders. In this study, we employed transcriptomes and proteomes on AC and AL treated db/db mice in order to explore the underlying mechanisms for their effects. Db/db mice were divided into three groups: the control group, AC group and AL group. Gender- and age-matched wt/wt mice were used as a normal group. After 4 weeks of treatments, mice were sacrificed, and liver tissues were used for further analyses. Functional enrichment of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were performed using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases. DEPs were further verified by parallel reaction monitoring (PRM). The results suggested that AC and AL share similar mechanisms, and they may improve glucolipid metabolism by improving mitochondrial functions, decreasing serotonin contents and upregulating autophagy mediated lipid clearance. This study provides an insight into the molecular mechanisms of AC and AL on hepatic transcriptomes and proteomes in disrupted metabolic situations and lays a foundation for future experiments.

肉桂酸 (AC) 和肉桂醛 (AL) 是两种富含肉桂的化学物质，之前已被证明可以改善糖脂代谢，从而改善代谢紊乱。在这项研究中，我们在 AC 和 AL 处理的 db/db 小鼠上使用了转录组和蛋白质组，以探索其影响的潜在机制。Db/db小鼠分为三组：对照组、AC组和AL组。性别和年龄匹配重量/重量小鼠作为正常组。治疗 4 周后，处死小鼠，肝组织用于进一步分析。使用基因本体论 (GO) 和京都基因和基因组百科全书 (KEGG) 数据库对差异表达基因 (DEG) 和差异表达蛋白 (DEP) 进行功能富集。通过平行反应监测 (PRM) 进一步验证了 DEP。结果表明，AC 和 AL 具有相似的机制，它们可能通过改善线粒体功能、降低血清素含量和上调自噬介导的脂质清除来改善糖脂代谢。这项研究提供了对 AC 和 AL 在代谢紊乱情况下对肝脏转录组和蛋白质组的分子机制的深入了解，并为未来的实验奠定了基础。