Objective To explore the potential biological basis of qi deficiency pattern through metabolomics. Methods Twenty SD rats were randomly divided into a normal control group and a qi-deficiency model group with 10 rats in each group. Restricted diet combined with exhausting swimming were used to develop a qi-deficiency model; rats in control group was free to drink water and take normal diet. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry（UHPLC-QE-MS） was used to detect the urine metabolites of rats in each group. Principal component analysis（PCA） and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA） were performed on the differential metabolites by SIMCA（V15.0.2） software

and the corresponding score maps were drawn. The differential metabolites were further subjected to metabolic pathways for topological analysis

and significantly enriched pathways were identified. Results There were significant differences in scores of PCA and OPLS-DA of metabolic profiles between normal control group and model group. Thirty-two differential metabolites belonging to 9 metabolic pathways were identified in the model group

of which pyrimidine metabolism pathway

pentose glucuronate interconversion pathway

and pentose phosphate pathway were the mostly enriched ones. Conclusion The urinary metabolites of qi-deficiency rats mainly involve amino acids

pyrimidines

peptides

carbohydrates

and others; the differential metabolites may act as important markers of qi deficiency pattern.