Objective：To apply 1HNMR spectroscopic analysis and principal components analysis(PCA) for investigating the fluctuation of metabolites between hydrocortisone-induced kidney deficiency syndrome(Shenxu Zheng) rats and the normal rats.Methods: Using 1HNMR based metabolic profiling and PCA,we investigated the difference of urine metabolites between the normal rats and rats with hydrocortisone-induced kidney deficiency syndrome.We also explained the changes of the related metabolic pathway or metabolic network.Results: The changes following hydrocortisone intervention of rats could be identified by PCA,and the kidney deficiency syndrome rats entered a state of “hyperfunction”,involving a series of changes in metabolic pathway and metabolic network.The response integral area of lactic acid(δ 1.37) increased，indicating the accumulation of metabolites of lactic acid.The amount of dimethylamine(δ 2.72) also increased,indicating that the disorder of kidney function was related to kidney-deficiency syndrome.The response of creatinine(δ 3.87),asparaginic acid(δ 2.83),taurine(δ 3.44,3.28),and hippurate(δ 7.84,7.56,7.64,3.97) all decreased significantly,indicating that the hydrocortisone might cause adrenal cortex excretion injury.The response integral area of succinate(δ 2.41) and citric acid(δ 2.53,2.68) decreased,which was usually caused by disorder of the mitochondrial function.Conclusion: It is suggested that the metabonomic approach can be used to investigate the pathophysiological changes under certain physiopathologic conditions.This study provides evidence for understanding “Shenxu Zheng”(kidney deficiency syndrome) in traditional Chinese medicine and for diagnosis and therapy of such diseases.