Metabolomic studies of urinary metabolic profiling in Sichuan golden monkey, Rhinopithecus roxellana.

Chinese snub-nosed monkeys (genus Rhinopithecus, subfamily Colobinae) include. three species, R. bieti, R. brelichi and R. roxellana. They represent physiological strategies of adaptation to the environmental stresses, In this study, we investigated urinary metabolomics by GC-MS metabolic profiling approach, to correlate physiological states and metabolic responses of Sichuan golden. monkeys to seasonal variations based on gender differences. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to process the integrated dataset generated from the GC-MS. A total of sixty-one endogenous metabolites were identified in the urine of Sichuan golden monkeys; and six and ten endogenous components were identified to be associated to metabolic responses to gender differences and seasonal variations, respectively. The results provide a preliminary understanding of the metabolic mechanisms of Sichuan golden monkeys. A number of metabolic changes indicate underlying adaptation and survival of these: species; to extraneous environmental factors, which may help improving conservation management strategies.