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Monitoring the ingredient change during the production of Tan Re Qing capsules from Scutellariae Radix by HPLC-MS/MS
Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies
Abstract
Tan Re Qing (TRQ), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, is composed of Scutellariae Radix and other four herbs (bear bile powder, Caprae Hircus Cornu, Lonicerae japonicae Flos and Forsythiae Fructus) used for the treatment of bronchitis and upper respiratory infection. Chemical constituents in the herb always changed in content during processing. So, in this study, the ingredient change was monitored from three froms of Scutellariae Radix, including original herb, intermediate and product (TRQ capsules) with the same batch by HPLC MS/MS. A total of 98 compounds, including 69 flavonoids, 5 phenylethanoid glucosides, 6 other compounds and 18 unknown components, were tentatively identified in Scutellariae Radix. Most minor components in Scutellariae Radix were disappeared during preparation process, and only 17 of these compounds were detected in TRQ capsules. 5,2’-Dihydroxy-7,8-dimethoxyflavone and one unknown compound were detected in the original herb and intermediate, but disappeared in the TRQ capsules. These findings indicated the productive process control is vital for risk assessment and chemical material basis, as well as the basis for quality control of TRQ capsules.
Since December 2019, the infection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), also known as novel coronavirus, has been responsible for the biggest global public health crisis in recent history, which infected more than 645,925,544 individuals with 6,635,798 deaths in 228 countries and territories. Although few re-purposed anti-COVID-19 drugs and WHO-approved vaccines are now available, side effects, limited potency and efficacy toward new virus variants, public acceptance, availability, and affordability to entire global populations are the major limitations of presently available treatment against this disease. Thus, the demand for medicinal plant-based therapy for this life-threatening disease is still high. Many medicinal plants, traditional herbal therapies, and formulations have been employed and screened on an emergency basis from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to find effective and safer potent plant-derived anti-COVID-19 drug-based treatments against the new COVID-19 pandemic. Besides vaccination programs, several clinical trials of traditional herbal medicines and formulations have also been underway in India, China, and other countries, considering medicinal plants are a viable source of several therapeutic molecules, including antiviral compounds. In this chapter, the potential role of medicinal plants, traditional herbal medicines, and formulations have been reviewed based on literature review-, in silico-, in vitro- and clinical trial-based research, which shows a bright future in the management and/or treatment of this disease following adequate standardization and optimization. The results of such investigations might lead to the identification and characterization of therapeutic molecules or formulations which helps in new drug development in the near future.KeywordsSARS-CoV-2COVID-19Traditional herbal medicineMedicinal plantHerbal formulationIn silico studyClinical trail
Background: Propionic acid is a widely used preservative and has been mainly formed by artificial synthesis or fermentation. In the case of natural products, the presence of propionic acid is viewed as a sign that an additive has been introduced for antimicrobial effects.
Methods: In this work, the propionic acid that occurs in Scutellaria baicalensis roots was studied. A quantification method was developed, validated, and showed good linearity, low limit of detection, and limit of quantification values, as well as fine precision and recovery rate. The developed method was applied to the analysis of S. baicalensis roots collected in South Korea and China.
Results: The detection rate for all samples was 94.0%. The average concentration was 0.41 ± 0.24 mg/g from the China sample and 0.76 ± 0.28 mg/g from the Korea sample.
Conclusion: This study is the first to report that propionic acid exists in S. baicalensis roots and also provides a useful ultra performance liquid chromatography analysis method for its quantification.
Background
This study reported a comprehensive approach (comparing the extraction yields, chemical profiles, antioxidant properties and CYP450-inhibitory effects) to evaluated the effectiveness of various extraction methods [microwave-assisted extraction using water (MAE-W), heat reflux extraction using water (HRE-W), ultrasonic extraction using 70 % ethanol and ultrasonic extraction using ethanol (UE-E)] for Huang-Qin (HQ), the dried root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi.
Results
The HQ extraction efficiency by MAE-W was the best. The chemical profiles of extracts obtained using HRE-W and MAE-W were similar; whereas more flavones but less flavone glycosides were detected in the UE-E extract. There was no difference in the antioxidant properties among different extracts. In vitro human liver microsome assays illustrated that all extracts possessed herb–drug interaction potentials but the UE-E extract are shown with a potent interaction with CYP3A4-metabolized drugs.
Conclusion
MAE-W is a favorable method for the preparation of HQ extracts based on extraction yield, pharmacological properties and safety.
A comprehensive characterization of C-glycosyl flavones in wheat germ has been conducted using multi-stage high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS(n) ) in combination with a mass defect filtering (MDF) technique. MDF performed the initial search of raw data with defined C-glycosyl flavone mass windows and mass defect windows to generate the noise-reduced data focusing on targeted flavonoids. The high specificity of the exact mass measurement permits the unambiguous discrimination of acyl groups (nominal masses of 146, 162 and 176.) from sugar moieties (rhamnose, glucose or galactose and glucuronic acid). A total of 72 flavone C-glycosyl derivatives, including 2 mono-C-glycosides, 34 di-C-glycosides, 14 acyl di-C-glycosides and 7 acyl tri-C-glycosides, were characterized in wheat germ, some of which were considered to be important marker compounds for differentiation of whole grain and refined wheat products. The 7 acylated mono-O-glycosyl-di-C-glycosyl flavones and some acylated di-C-glycosyl flavones are reported in wheat for the first time. The frequent occurrence of numerous isomers is a remarkable feature of wheat germ flavones. Both UV and mass spectra are needed to maximize the structure information obtained for data interpretation.
. Tanreqing injection (TRQ) is a commonly used herbal patent medicine for treating inflammatory airway diseases in view of its outstanding anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, we explored the signaling pathways involved in contributions of TRQ to LPS-induced airway inflammation in rats.
Methods/Design
. Adult male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats randomly divided into different groups received intratracheal instillation of LPS and/or intraperitoneal injection of TRQ. Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid (BALF) and lung samples were collected at 24 h, 48 h, and 96 h after TRQ administration. Protein and mRNA levels of tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-)
α
, Interleukin- (IL-) 1
β
, IL-6, and IL-8 in BALF and lung homogenate were observed by ELISA and real-time PCR, respectively. Lung sections were stained for p38 MAPK and NF-
κ
B detection by immunohistochemistry. Phospho-p38 MAPK, phosphor-extracellular signal-regulated kinases ERK1/2, phospho-SAPK/JNK, phospho-NF-
κ
B p65, phospho-IKK
α
/
β
, and phospho-I
κ
B-
α
were measured by western blot analysis.
Results
. The results showed that TRQ significantly counteracted LPS-stimulated release of TNF-
α
, IL-1
β
, IL-6, and IL-8, attenuated cells influx in BALF, mitigated mucus hypersecretion, suppressed phosphorylation of NF-
κ
B p65, I
κ
B-
α
, ΙKK
α
/
β
, ERK1/2, JNK, and p38 MAPK, and inhibited p38 MAPK and NF-
κ
B p65 expression in rat lungs.
Conclusions
. Results of the current research indicate that TRQ possesses potent exhibitory effects in LPS-induced airway inflammation by, at least partially, suppressing the MAPKs and NF-
κ
B signaling pathways, in a general dose-dependent manner.
Kouyanqing Granule (KYQG) is a traditional Chinese herbal formula composed of Flos lonicerae (FL), Radix scrophulariae (RS), Radix ophiopogonis (RO), Radix asparagi (RA), and Radix et rhizoma glycyrrhizae (RG). In contrast with the typical method of separating and then biologicalily testing the components individually, this study was designed to establish an approach in order to define the core bioactive ingredients of the anti-inflammatory effects of KYQG based on the relevance analysis between chemical characters and biological effects. Eleven KYQG samples with different ingredients were prepared by changing the ratios of the 5 herbs. Thirty-eight ingredients in KYQG were identified using Ultra-fast liquid chromatography-Diode array detector-Quadrupole-Time-of-flight-Tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC-DAD-Q-TOF-MS/MS) technology. Human oral keratinocytes (HOK) were cultured for 24 hours with 5% of Cigarette smoke extract (CSE) to induce inflammation stress. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were evaluated after treatment with the eleven KYQG samples. Grey relational analysis(GRA), Pearson's correlations (PCC), and partial least-squares (PLS) were utilized to evaluate the contribution of each ingredient. The results indicated that KYQG significantly reduced interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and tumour necrosis factor-α levels, in which lysine, γ-aminobutyric acid, chelidonic acid, tyrosine, harpagide, neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, isoquercitrin, luteolin-7-o-glucoside, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, angoroside C, harpagoside, cinnamic acid, and ruscogenin play a vital role.
Cervical cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) level has been found significantly increased in the serum of patients with ovarian, cervical, and colon cancers. LPA level in cervical cancer patients is significantly higher than in healthy controls. LPA receptors were found highly expressed in cervical cancer cells, suggesting LPA may play a role in the development of cervical cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of LPA on the apoptosis induced by cisplatin (DDP) in cervical cancer cell line and the underlying changes in signaling pathways. Our study found that cisplatin induced apoptosis of Hela cell through inhibiting expression of Bcl-2, upregulating the expression of Bax, Fas-L, and the enzyme activity of caspase-3 (p < 0.05); LPA significantly provided protection against the apoptosis induced by cisplatin by inhibiting the above alterations in apoptotic factor caused by cisplatin (p < 0.05). Moreover, PI3K/AKT pathway was found to be important for the LPA antiapoptosis effect, and administration of PI3K/AKT partially reversed the LPA-mediated protection against cisplatin-induced apoptosis (p < 0.05). These findings have shed new lights on the LPA bioactivity in cervical cancer cells and pointed to a possible sensitization scheme through combined administration of PI3K inhibitor and cisplatin for better treatment of cervical cancer patients, especially those with elevated LPA levels.
The mass spectrometric (MS) analysis of flavone di-C-glycosides has been a difficult task due to pure standards being unavailable commercially and to that the reported relative intensities of some diagnostic ions varied with MS instruments. In this study, five flavone di-C-glycoside standards from Viola yedoensis have been systematically studied by high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem ion trap mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-IT-MSn) in the negative ion mode to analyze their fragmentation patterns. A new MS2 and MS3 hierarchical fragmentation for the identification of the sugar nature (hexoses or pentoses) at C-6 and C-8 is presented based on previously established rules of fragmentation. Here, for the first time, we report that the MS2 and MS3 structure-diagnostic fragments about the glycosylation types and positions are highly dependent on the configuration of the sugars at C-6 and C-8. The base peak (0,2X10,2X2− ion) in MS3 spectra of di-C-glycosides could be used as a diagnostic ion for flavone aglycones. These newly proposed fragmentation behaviors have been successfully applied to the characterization of flavone di-C-glycosides found in V. yedoensis. A total of 35 flavonoid glycosides, including 1 flavone mono-C-hexoside, 2 flavone 6,8-di-C-hexosides, 11 flavone 6,8-di-C-pentosides, 13 flavone 6,8-C-hexosyl-C-pentosides, 5 acetylated flavone C-glycosides and 3 flavonol O-glycosides, were identified or tentatively identified on the base of their UV profiles, MS and MSn (n = 5) data, or by comparing with reference substances. Among these, the acetylated flavone C-glycosides were reported from V. yedoensis for the first time. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi is one of the most widely used traditional Chinese herbal medicines. It has been used for anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antibacterial activities, and so forth. Long-term enhanced ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation caused more effect on leaves than on roots of the plant. Liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-UV-ESI-Q/TOF/MS) method was applied for simultaneous quantitative and qualitative analysis of flavonoids in leaves and roots of S. baicalensis by enhanced UV-B radiation. Both low-intensity radiation and high-intensity radiation were not significantly increaseing the contents of baicalin, wogonoside, and wogonin in roots. However different intensity of radiation has different effects on several flavonoids in leaves. Both low-intensity radiation and high-intensity radiation had no significant effect on contents of baicalin and tectoridin in leaves; the content of scutellarin was significantly decreased by low-intensity radiation; chrysin was detected in low-intensity radiation and high-intensity radiation, and chrysin content is the highest in low-intensity radiation, but chrysin was not detected in control group. Different changes of different flavonoids under enhanced UV-B radiation indicate that induction on flavonoids is selective by enhanced UV-B radiation.
water. The aqueous extract was concentrated, precipitated with acetone, and centrifuged. The precipitate was separated. The supernatant was concentrated and passed successively through columns of KU-2-8 cation exchanger (H + -form, 0.5 mm, H 2 O eluent) and ASD-4-5p anion exchanger (Cl - -form, 0.25 mm, HCOOH eluent, 1 M). The effluent from the anion exchanger was concentrated to a volume of 10-12 mL and separated by preparative PC [FN-16, BuOH:HCOOH (85%), 3:1, system 1, three times to a height of 30 cm]. The preparative separation and recrystallization from water isolated six compounds that were identified as tartaric (Tar), citric (Cit), malic (Mal), malonic (Mln), succinic (Suc), and fumaric acids (Fum). The isolated compounds were identified from the melting points of the starting compound, their anilides, and a mixed sample with authentic samples; molecular weight; specific rotation; chromatographic mobility [PC, system 1, development by a mixture of alcoholic bromcresol green (0.08%) and bromphenol blue (0.03%) with KMnO 4 (0.25%) in aqueous Na 2 CO 3 (0.5%), 9:9:2], and IR and 13 C NMR spectroscopy. The study of the group composition of the OA complex [10] found that they occurred primarily in the bound form. The coefficients of the forms k f [11] were always less than unity for all vegetative phases (Table 1). During plant development, the content of free acids decreased from 1.88 to 0.63%. The maximum (12.58%) accumulation of total OA occurred during flowering. The same phenomenon was observed for bound forms of OA (11.48%). The k f value fell during vegetation, reaching its minimum in senescent plants (0.07). The individual profile of OA underwent significant changes during development of the aerial part of S. baicalensis (Table 2). Only citric acid, the dominant component of the total OA complex (40.43-100% of the total OA content) was observed in the free state in all vegetative phases. The content of tartaric acid was lowest at the start of vegetation. Fuma ric acid was not observed. The picture changed during budding. Citric and tartaric acids made up more than 80% of the total content. This tendency persisted during flowering. Fumaric acid was found only during this plant development period. We found tartaric and citric acids in a 1:5-6 ratio during fruiting. Only citric acid was present in senescent plants. All compounds were isolated from S. baicalensis for the first time. Malonic acid was observed for the first time among representatives of the family Lamiaceae.
A combinative method using fingerprint analysis (FA) and multi-ingredients quantification (MIQ) was developed and validated for the quality control of Yinhuang (YH) preparations including granule, capsule, and lozenge by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). Common peaks with or without standard references in FA were confirmed or identified by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). The chromatographic separations were achieved on a Sepax GP-C(18) column (250 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm) with a gradient elution using a mixture of 0.1 % formic acid methanol solution and 0.1 % formic acid water solution. In quantitative analysis, nine bioactive constituents (chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, luteoloside, baicalin, luteolin, wogonoside, baicalein, wogonin, and oroxylin A) were simultaneously determined. The detection wavelength was set at 275 nm, 320 nm, and 350 nm according to the absorption properties of the nine quantified compounds. The linearity, recovery, intraday and interday precision, accuracy, limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ), repeatability and stability were all tested and good results were obtained. In the FA, 320 nm was selected. The correlation coefficients of similarity were determined on the basis of the relative retention time (RRT) and relative peak area (RPA) of 20 common peaks in chromatographic fingerprints. Results indicated that both the RRT and RPA of 20 common peaks shared a close similarity. From the 20 common peaks, 18 compounds, including the nine quantified compounds, were identified or tentatively characterized by comparing their retention times, UV spectra, and MS spectra with those of standard compounds or literature data. The study not only presents a powerful and reliable analytical tool for the quality control of YH preparations, but also provides the chemical evidence for revealing the material basis of their therapeutic effects.
Scutellaria is a geographically widespread and diverse genus of the Lamiaceae family of herbaceous plants commonly known as skullcaps.
Scutellaria is used widely as an ethnobotanical herb for the treatment of various ailments ranging from cancers, cirrhosis, jaundice,
hepatitis, anxiety and nervous disorders. We used (1) reverse-phase liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array detector
(LC-DAD), and (2) multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) using mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to quantify the levels of acteoside,
scutellarin, scetellarein, baicalin, baicalein, wogonin, wogonoside, apigenin, chrysin, and oroxylin A in aqueous methanolic
extracts of roots, shoots and leaves of S. baicalensis, S. lateriflora, S. racemosa, S. tomentosa and S. wrightii. Our results indicate that both methods (LC-DAD and LC-MS/MS) were robust for the detection of the 10 analytes from Scutellaria extracts although greater sensitivities were achieved using LC-MS/MS in MRM mode. MRM enabled the detection of low levels
of analytes which were otherwise undetected using LC-DAD. The baicalin content of S. wrightii roots were 5-fold higher than the commonly used S. baicalensis. Additionally, we also showed that leaves of both S. wrightii and S. tomentosa are good sources of scutellarin compared to S. baicalensis. Our data clearly demonstrated that previously uncharacterized species, S. wrightii and S. tomentosa are both good sources of flavonoids, particularly scutellarin, baicalin, wogonin and baicalein.
KeywordsScutellaria–Flavonoid–Phenolics–LC-DAD-MS
The diagnosis of inherited disorders of amino acids (AA) metabolism is usually performed on automated analysers by ion-exchange chromatography and quantification after ninhydrin derivatisation of about 50 different AA. A single run liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method for these molecules can be an alternative to this time-consuming technique. The first step of this development is the infusion study of the fragmentation of 79 molecules of biological interest in electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS), in positive and in negative ionisation mode. Among them, three molecules can be detected only in negative ionisation mode, 38 only in positive mode and 38 in the two modes. All the most abundant fragmentations are presented, with optimisation of the MS/MS parameters. The positive ionisation mode was retained for the simultaneous analysis of 76 molecules. One sensitive and/or specific transition is proposed for the monitoring of each molecule. Improvement in sensitivity of detection was obtained with the use of an acidic mobile phase. Flow injection analysis studies led us to highlight a number of interferences-due to isobaric molecules, to in-source collision-induced dissociation, or to natural isotopic distribution of the elements-which are listed. For a reliable quantification method, these molecules have to be separated by LC before analysis in the tandem mass spectrometer. Ion-pairing reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) using perfluorinated carboxylic acids as ion-pairing agents has already been found suitable for analysis of AA in MS/MS positive ionisation mode and is under development.
Targeted identification of potentially bioactive molecules from herbal medicines is often stymied by the insufficient chromatographic separation, ubiquitous matrix interference, and pervasive isomerism. An enhanced targeted identification strategy is presented and validated by the selective identification of flavonoid O-glycosides (FOGs) from Carthamus tinctorius. It consists of four steps: i) enhanced separation and detection by offline two-dimensional liquid chromatography/LTQ-Orbitrap MS (offline 2D-LC/LTQ-Orbitrap MS) using collision-induced dissociation (CID) and high-energy C-trap dissociation (HCD); ii) improved identification of the major aglycones by acid hydrolysis and LC-SPE-NMR; iii) simplified spectral elucidation by high-resolution diagnostic product ions/neutral loss filtering; and iv) more convincing structural identification by matching an in-house library. An offline 2D-LC system configuring an Acchrom XAmide column and a BEH Shield RP-18 UPLC® column enabled much better separation of the easily co-eluting components. Combined use of CID and HCD could produce complementary fragmentation information. The intensity ratios of the aglycone ion species ([Y0-H]⁻/Y0⁻ and [Y0-2H]⁻/Y0⁻) in the HCD-MS² spectra were found diagnostic for discriminating the aglycone subtypes and characterizing the glycosylation patterns. Five aglycone structures (kaempferol, 6-hydroxykaempferol, 6-methoxykaempferol, carthamidin, and isocarthamidin) were identified based on the ¹H-NMR data recorded by LC-SPE-NMR. Of the 107 characterized flavonoids, 80 FOGs were first reported from C. tinctorius. Unknown aglycones, pentose, and novel acyl substituents were discovered. A new compound thereof was isolated and fully identified, which could partially validate the MS-oriented identification. This integral strategy can improve the potency, efficiency, and accuracy in the detection of new compounds from medicinal herbs and other natural sources.
The traditional use of extracts of Euphrasia rostkoviana to relieve ocular inflammation or infections is well documented and supported by clinical studies. Various classes of chemical compounds such as iridoids, phenylethanoids, flavonoids and hydroxycinnamic acids have been reported. The present work aims to assess the chemical diversity among seven populations of Euphrasia rostkoviana found in northern Italy. A meticulous separation of components led to the isolation and structural characterization of two previously unrecorded phenylethanoids methoxycrassifolioside and deoxycrassifolioside and one previously undescribed terpene glucoside (1E,6E)-8-hydroxy-3,7-dimethyl-octa-1,6-dienyl 1-O-β-D-glucopyranoside. We have also identified known phenylethanoids and iridoids that are reported in this genus for the first time. Finally, a targeted quantitative analysis for the standardization of herbal preparations revealed that iridoids occur in all populations whereas the presence and the levels of rutin and phenylethanoids are highly variable.
Tanreqing injection (TRQ), a well-known traditional Chinese medicine formula, is commonly used to treat respiratory diseases. In the present study, a rapid, selective, and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated to simultaneously determinate the plasma contents of 5 major constituents of TRQ, including chlorogenic acid (CHA), caffeic acid (CFA), baicalin (BA), ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) in rats after intravenous administration of TRQ. Chromatographic separation was performed on an Agilent Zorbax SB-C18 column (3.5 μm, 100 mm × 2.1 mm), with acetonitrile and 0.1% aqueous formic acid as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.3 mL·min⁻¹. The calibration curves were linear over the ranges of 27.0–13 333.0 ng·mL⁻¹ for CFA, 30.0–14 933.0 ng·mL⁻¹ for CHA, 50.0–50 333.0 ng·mL⁻¹ for BA, 550.0–55 000.0 ng·mL⁻¹ for UDCA, and 480.0–48 000.0 ng·mL⁻¹ for CDCA, respectively. Intra- and inter-day precisions (relative standard deviations, RSDs) were from 3.11% to 14.08%. The extraction recoveries were greater than 71% and accuracy (relative recovery) was from 89% to 137% for all analytes, except endogenous bile acids. This validated method was successfully applied to the first pharmacokinetic study of CFA, CHA, BA, UDCA and CDCA in rat plasma after intravenous administration of TRQ.
Acteoside, which belongs to the family of phenylethanoid glycosides (PhGs), has extensive biological activities, including strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotect, and cell apoptosis regulation. Like other PhGs compounds, the fate of acteoside in the gut for both parent polyphenols and their degradation products, small phenolic acid and aromatic catabolites cannot be ignored. Therefore, in this work, expanded and systematical investigation for metabolism characteristic profiles of acteoside in vivo by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/ quadrupole-time-of-flight and a new MSE data collection technology had been studied. This was equivalent to non-slective MS/MS scans and helpful to explore new metabolites. After oral administration of 200 mg/kg acteoside, He et al. (2011) a total of 44 metabolites was detected and identified, and 37 of them were reported for the first time. Among them, 35 were parent drug metabolites classified in 14 groups. Owen et al. (2003) Through the comprehensive metabolites study in plasma, urine and feces, acteoside systemical metabolites profiles and characteristics elaborated firstly. The relative content of metabolites research showed that acteoside could exist stably and the process for biotransformation of acteoside in blood keep extreme short time. Pan and Hori (1996) The significant new transformation of isomerization from acteoside to isoacteoside had been firstly found and confirmed. The results of this work provided new information for the clarification of the metabolism of acteoside and rendered a very valuable theoretical basis for the development of novel ideal dosage forms of acteoside in the future.
Structural identification of natural products by tandem mass spectrometry requires laborious spectral analysis. Herein, we report a targeted post-acquisition data processing strategy, key ion filtering (KIF), to analyze untargeted mass spectral data. This strategy includes four steps: (1) untargeted data acquisition by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid quadrupole orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC/orbitrap-MS); (2) construction of a key ion database according to diagnostic MS/MS fragmentations and conservative substructures of natural compounds; (3) high-resolution key ion filtering of the acquired data to recognize substructures; and (4) structural identification of target compounds by analyzing their MS/MS spectra. The herbal medicine Huang-Qin (Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi) was used to illustrate this strategy. Its extract was separated within 20 min on a C18 column (1.8 μm, 2.1 × 150 mm) eluted with acetonitrile, methanol, and water containing 0.1% formic acid. The compounds were detected in the (−)-ESI mode, and their MS/MS spectra were recorded in the untargeted manner. Key ions were then filtered from the LC/MS data to recognize flavones, flavanones, O-/C-glycosides, and phenylethanoid glycosides. Finally, a total of 132 compounds were identified from Huang-Qin, and 59 of them were reported for the first time. This study provides an efficient data processing strategy to rapidly profile the chemical constituents of complicated herbal extracts.
Representative compounds with a 1,3-dihydroxybenzene substructure belonging to different important polyphenol classes (stilbenes, flavones, isoflavones, flavonols, flavanones, flavanols, phloroglucinols, anthraquinones and bisanthraquinones) were investigated based on detailed high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry measurements with an Orbitrap system under negative ion electrospray conditions. The mass spectral behaviour of these compound classes was compared among each other not only with respect to previously described losses of CO, CH2 CO and C3 O2 but also concerning the loss of CO2 and successive specific fragmentations. Furthermore, some unusual fragmentations such as the loss of a methyl radical during mass spectral decomposition are discussed. The obtained results demonstrate both similarities and differences in their mass spectral fragmentation under MS(n) conditions, allowing a characterization of the corresponding compound type. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
In order to explore the possibility to process Korean Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (Hwang Gum) to produce a high quality functional food, biologically active substances were analyzed. Four different mixtures of polyphenol components were isolated from the flower, leaf, stem, and root of S. baicalensis Georgi via methanol extraction followed by silica gel column chromatography. The polyphenol components of these mixtures were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) and compared with reported data. Among the 46 characterized components, seven constituents were identified for the first time. The compounds were validated and quantified based on a representative standard from the same group. The antioxidant activity of the polyphenol mixtures of the four tissues was determined. The antioxidant activity of the root was the highest, followed by the leaf, stem and flower.
A novel free radical reaction combined with high-performance LC-photodiode array-ESI-MS/MS screening method was developed for the detection and identification of natural antioxidants from whole Scutellariae. Six compounds and whole Scutellariae extracts were found to possess a potential antioxidant capacity, and their free radical-scavenging activities were investigated in detail. The six compounds were identified as baicalin, baicalein, scutellarin, scutellarein, wogonoside and chrystin-7-glucoronide. The present study reveals that the radical-scavenging capacities of the whole Scutellariae extracts are as follows: hydroxyl radical > superoxide radical > peroxy radical. Wogonoside showed the strongest capability for scavenging hydroxyl radical. Baicalein not only showed the strongest capability for scavenging superoxide radical but also showed capability for lipid radical; Scutellarein (Peak 5) exhibited the highest reactivity in the lipid peroxidation processes. Based on these studies, the current paper accomplishes the evaluation of activities of some important anti-radical substances extracted from the radix, stem and leaf of the whole Scutellariae.
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The purpose of this study is to systematically investigate the pharmacokinetic (PK) behaviors of radix Sophorae tonkinensis (S. tonkinensis) using oxymatrine (OMT) and matrine (MT) as the target markers (2mg/kg OMT and 1.3mg/kg MT, oral administration). The PK characteristics in radix S. tonkinensis extracts were also compared with those of pure OMT. A fast ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed. OMT absorption was very fast, and no significant differences were observed (p>0.05) in tmax, CL, and t1/2 for both pure OMT and extracts. Cmax and AUC0→∞ of pure OMT were significantly higher than those of S. tonkinensis extracts (Cmax, 61.64±6.65 vs. 43.24±10.14ng/mL; AUC, 9894.48±2234.99 vs. 4730.30±3503.8minng/mL) (p<0.05). However, the absolute OMT bioavailability of pure OMT was higher than that of the compound in radix S. tonkinensis extracts (6.79±2.52% vs. 1.87±2.66%). By contrast, the bioavailability of total alkaloids (OMT+MT) after pure OMT administration was 81.14±8.83%, similar to that of radix S. tonkinensis extracts (69.36±17.37%) (p>0.05). It was presumed that OMT absorption has no effect on the bioavailability of the two alkaloids. Other constituents in radix S. tonkinensis extracts can influence the transformation of OMT to MT, which directly leads to variations in the PK behavior of OMT. In addition, the protein binding of OMT and MT in plasma was very low (4.80%-8.95% for OMT, 5.10-10.55% for MT). In conclusion, OMT in radix S. tonkinensis extracts exhibits different PK behaviors with pure OMT through the transformation of OMT to MT due to other complex ingredients.
Much Literature is available with respect to the collision-induced dissociation (CID) of different subtypes of flavonoid aglycones. However, a simultaneous comparison study of the common flavonoid subtypes under unified conditions is rarely reported, which is of crucial significance for their rapid structural elucidation. This study depicted the negative CID of 40 free flavonoids (comprising nine different subtypes) utilizing electrospray ionization ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-IT-MSn). High-accuracy quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was employed to confirm the chemical formula of proposed key fragments. Specific fragmentation features were discovered among different flavonoid subtypes in terms of the essential collision energy, base peak, RDA fragmentation, and diversity of fragmentation pathways: CID of flavanones, chalcones and flavanonols was in need of lower Levels of collision energy [<40%) and exhibited simplified fragmentation pathways; overriding neutral loss of CO2 was detected for flavones, aurones and xanthones, while isoflavones preferred neutral loss of CO; 1,2A- and 1,3A- fragments were respectively dominant for flavonols and flavanones/chalcones, white homoisoflavones underwent specific radical elimination of ring B or methylene-ring B. These differentiated fragmentation characteristics integrating UV absorption resulted in the establishment of a decision tree to characterize and distinguish the common flavonoid subtypes. This study firstly revealed remarkable differentiations in the negative CID behavior of nine common flavonoid aglycone subtypes and the proposed determination strategy would much benefit the screening and rapid characterization of flavonoids from complicated matrixes by tandem mass spectrometry.
Gegen-Qinlian-Wan (GQW) is a popular traditional Chinese patent medicine for the treatment of diarrhea. It is composed of four herbal medicines, Puerariae Radix, Scutellariae Radix, Coptidis Rhizoma, and Glycyrrhizae Radix. In this study, a rapid and sensitive method based on ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array detection and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-DAD-qTOF-MS) was established to characterize the chemical constituents and rats metabolites of GQW. Samples were separated on an Agilent Zorbax Eclipse Plus-C(18) column (100mm×2.1mm, 1.8μm) by gradient elution using acetonitrile and water containing 0.1% formic acid as the mobile phase. On the basis of UV and qTOF high-accuracy mass spectral analysis, a total of 62 compounds were identified or tentatively characterized from GQW, including 42 flavonoids, 8 alkaloids, 6 triterpenoids, 3 phenylethanoid glycosides, and 3 other types. Among them, 27 compounds were confirmed by comparing with reference standards. Furthermore, metabolites in rats plasma and urine after oral administration of GQW were also analyzed. A total of 42 compounds were identified, including 29 prototypes and 13 metabolites through metabolic pathways of demethylation, methylation, hydrolysis, sulfate conjugation, and glucuronide conjugation. Glucuronidated flavonoids were the main constituents in the plasma, and were then transformed into aglycones and excreted from urine. This is the first systematic study on the chemical constituents and metabolic profiling of GQW.
A high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry
(HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS2) method was firstly developed for a chemical fingerprint analysis of Scutellariae Radix and rapid identification of major
compounds in the fingerprints. The experimental data for chromatography were used for hierarchical clustering analysis and
similarity calculation, and those for UV and MS spectra were applied for identifying characteristic peaks. Twenty samples
including S. baicalensis Georgi., S. viscidula Bge. and S. amoena C. H. Wright were classified into three groups. By comparing the UV and MS spectra data with those of the authentic standards
and literature, 20 main peaks in the fingerprints were identified for the first time. The developed fingerprint assay was
specific and could be readily utilized for comprehensive evaluation of Scutellariae Radix.
Eleven naturally occurring flavonoid aglycones, belonging to the representative flavone, flavonol, and flavanone types were separated by high performance liquid chromatography and analyzed on-line with negative ion electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). In order to resolve the MS/MS spectra obtained, each compound was reinvestigated by direct loop injections using an ion trap mass spectrometer. The MSn
spectra obtained allowed us to propose plausible schemes for their fragmentation supported by the analysis of five complementary synthetic flavonoid aglycones. The negative ion ESI-MS/MS behavior of the different aglycones investigated in this study revealed interesting differences when compared with the previously described patterns obtained using various ionization techniques in positive ion. Thus, concerning the retro Diels-Alder (RDA) fragmentation pathways, several structurally informative anions appeared highly specific of the negative ion mode. In addition, a new lactone-type structure, instead of a ketene, was proposed for a classic RDA diagnostic ion. We also observed unusual CO, CO2, and C3O2 losses which appear to be characteristic of the negative ion mode. All these results and these unusual neutral losses show that the negative ion mode was a powerful complementary tool of the positive ion mode for the structural characterization of flavonoid aglycones by ESI-MS/MS.
Radix Scutellariae is the dried root of the medicinal plant Scutellariae baicalensis Georgi. It exhibits a variety of therapeutic effects and has a long history of application in traditional formulations as well as in modern herbal medications. It has been confirmed that flavonoids are the most abundant constituents and induce these therapeutic effects. Six flavones are proven to be the major bioactive flavones in Radix Scutellariae existing in the forms of aglycones (baicalein, wogonin, oroxylin A) and glycosides (baicalin, wogonoside, oroxylin A-7-glucuronide). All six flavones are pharmacologically active and show great potential in the treatment of inflammation, cancers and virus-related diseases. The current review covers the preparation of the herb Radix Scutellariae, quantification of its major bioactive ingredients, and pharmacological effects of the proposed six bioactive flavones. In addition, this review summarizes the pharmacokinetic profiles of the bioactive flavones reported so far that could be used for further improvement of their pharmacokinetic study. Moreover, due to abundant co-occurring bioactive components in Radix Scutellariae, our review further documents the pharmacokinetic interactions among them.
Scutellaria (HUANG QIN) (Lamiaceae), which includes about 350 species commonly known as skullcaps, is widespread in Europe, the United States and East Asia. Some species are taken to clear away the heat-evil and expel superficial evils in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The present paper reviews the ethnopharmacology, the biological activities and the correlated chemical compounds of Scutellaria species. More than 295 compounds have been isolated, among them flavonoids and diterpenes. Studies show that Scutellaria and its active principles possess wide pharmacological actions, such as antitumor, anti-angiogenesis, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, anticonvulsant, antibacterial and antiviral activities. Currently, effective monomeric compounds or active parts have been screened for pharmacological activity from Scutellaria in vivo and in vitro. Increasing data supports application and exploitation for new drug development.
Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi is a well-known medicinal plant widely used in China and other East Asian countries. High performance liquid chromatography combined with diode array detection and electrospray ion trap mass spectrometry was used to determine the flavonoid profile of S. baicalensis. Under the optimized experiment conditions, 32 flavonoids were clearly detected. Eighteen main ones were doubtless identified by comparing their retention time, UV and MS (MS(n)) data with isolated or commercial standards. The UV characteristics of these 18 known standards were studied in detail. The rules summarized provided valuable indications for the subsequent on-line identification processes. By interpreting both the MS and the UV data in detail, other 13 minor flavonoids in S. baicalensis were on-line identified successfully.
High-performance liquid chromatography coupled to positive ion electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (MS) and diode array detection was employed to identify the polyphenol C-glycosides in the extract of Swertia franchetiana, a traditional Chinese/Tibetan herb. The neutral loss scan of the extract of S. franchetiana using the characteristic losses of 120 and 150 u provided a detailed profile of the polyphenol C-glycosides in the complex mixture. On-line UV spectroscopy along with MS-MS and MS-MS-MS mass spectra analysis produced with and without in-source collision induced dissociation was contributed to discriminate and identify the polyphenol C-glycosides. Three xanthone C-glycosides (i.e., mangiferin, isomangiferin, and 1,6,7-trihydroxyl-2-C-glucosexanthone) and three flavone C-glycosides (i.e., isoorientin, isovitexin, and swertisin) were tentatively identified. Isomangiferin and 1,6,7-trihydroxyl-2-C-glucosexanthone were for the first time found in this plant.
Fragmentation pathways of nine flavone compounds have been studied by using electrospray ionization multi-stage tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MSn). Analyzing the product ion spectra of flavonoids and aglycones, we observed some diagnostic neutral losses, such as CH3, H2O, residue of glucose and gluconic acid, which are very useful for the identification of the functional groups in the structures. Furthermore, specific retro Diels-Alder (RDA) fragments for flavones with different hydroxyl substitution have also been discussed. The information is helpful for the rapid identification of the location site of hydroxyl substitution on flavones. Fragmentation pathways of C-glycosidic flavonoid have also been discussed using ESI-MSn, demonstrating ions [M-H-60]-, [M-H-90]-, [M-H-120]- are characteristic ions of C-glycosidic flavonoid. According to the fragmentation mechanism of mass spectrometry and HPLC-MS data, the structures of seven flavones in Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi have been identified on-line without time-consuming isolation. The HPLC-ESI-MSn method for analyzing constituents in the Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi has been established.
The root of Scutellaria baicalensis, called Huangqin in Chinese, is one of the most commonly used traditional Chinese medicines for the treatment of hepatitis, tumors, diarrhea, and inflammatory diseases. The major chemical constituents of Huangqin are flavonoids. In the present paper, HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS(n) was used to analyze flavonoids in the roots of S. baicalensis. A total of 26 flavonoids were identified or tentatively characterized, including 5 C-glycosides, 12 O-glycosides, and 9 free aglycones. Two C-glycosides, apigenin-6-C-glucyl-8-C-arabinoside and chrysin-6,8-di-C-glucoside, together with some O-glycosides, are reported from S. baicalensis for the first time. This method is simple, reliable and sensitive, and could be used for the quality control of Huangqin and its related preparations.
PHY906 is a Chinese medicine formulation prepared from four medicinal herbs for adjuvant cancer chemotherapy. In this paper, liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-TOFMS) was used to clarify the chemical composition of PHY906. The aqueous extract of PHY906 was separated on a Waters Atlantis C(18) column, and was eluted with acetonitrile/0.05% (v/v) formic acid. The separated compounds were identified with pure standards, or tentatively characterized by analyzing their mass spectra recorded in both negative and positive ion polarity modes. Further structural information was obtained from in-source fragmentation. Based on the LC/MS analysis, we proposed the structures for 64 bioactive compounds, including flavonoids, triterpene saponins, and monoterpene glycosides. All the compounds identified from PHY906 were further assigned in the four individual herbs, and some of them are reported for the first time.
Six flavone mono-C-glucosides, four standards (beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 --> C-6)- and -(1 --> C-8)- apigenin and luteolin) and two others from lemon juice (beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 --> C-6)- and -(1 --> C-8)-diosmetin) have been studied in order to analyze their fragmentation patterns. Initial separation was carried out using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC/DAD) coupled to an electrospray ionization (ESI) interface and a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Several systematic differences between collision-induced dissociation tandem mass (CID-MS/MS) spectra of C-6- and C-8-isomers have been found and some general guidelines and two new diagnostic product ions have been proposed for the differentiation of C-6- and C-8-flavonoid glycosides. These results have been successfully applied to the characterization of two flavone C-glycosides found in lemon juice, and mass spectra of a flavone di-C-glycoside detected in lemon juice have been studied and interpreted.
Comparison of Chemical Compositions between Tanreqing Capsule and Tanreqing Injection by HPLC-MS/MS
- Z Zhang
- P Zhong
- Y Xu
Preparation of Flavonoid Reference Standards from Scutellariae Radix under the Guidance of High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Analysis. Chin
- H Guo
- X Yang
- J Liu
- W Zheng
Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry for Analyses of Alkaloids in Sophoraflavescens ait
- H Chen
- F Han
- P Du
- Y Chen
Assay of Amino Acid in Cornu Caprae Hircus Extract
- S Liu
- D Xue
- J Li
- B Wang
- Z Zhang
- M Miao