Capillary electrophoresis with field-enhanced stacking for rapid and sensitive determination of strychnine and brucine

A new capillary electrophoresis procedure with field-enhanced stacking concentration for the analysis of strychnine and brucine is established. After optimization of the separation and concentration conditions, the two alkaloids can be separated within 5 min and quantified with high sensitivity (The detection limits were 1.0 ng mL(-1) for strychnine and 1.4 ng mL(-1) for brucine). The method was useful for qualitative and quantitative analysis of strychnine and brucine in Strychnos nux-vomica L with recovery of 105.1% for strychnine and 98.4% for brucine.     

Processing of nux vomica. II. Changes in alkaloid composition of the seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica on traditional drug-processing

In the course of our study on the drug-processing of the seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica L. (Loganiaceae), the alkaloid composition of the heat-treated seeds of S. nux-vomica was compared to that of the untreated seeds. On heat treatment, the contents of the major alkaloids such as strychnine and brucine declined significantly with increases in the amounts of isostrychnine, isobrucine, strychnine N-oxide and brucine N-oxide. The cleavage of an ether linkage and the occurrence of N-oxidation were demonstrated by heat treatment of authentic strychnine and brucine.     

Development and validation of a TLC-densitometric method for the simultaneous quantitation of strychnine and brucine from Strychnos spp. and its formulations

A simple, sensitive, and specific thin-layer chromatography densitometric method has been developed for the simultaneous quantitation of strychnine and brucine. These two marker compounds are quantitated in the seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica, Strychnos ignatii, and its formulations. The method involves densitometric evaluation of strychnine and brucine after resolving it by high-performance TLC on silica gel plate with toluene-ethyl acetate-diethyl amine-methanol (7:2:1:0.3 v/v) as the mobile phase. The method is validated for precision (interday and intraday), repeatability, and accuracy. The relationship between the concentration of standard solutions and the peak response is linear within the concentration range of 160 to 480 ng/spot for strychnine and 80 to 480 ng/spot for brucine. Instrumental precision is found to be 0.54 and 0.78 (% CV), and repeatability of the method is 1.01 and 1.06 (% CV) for strychnine and brucine, respectively. Accuracy of the method is checked by recovery study conducted at three different levels and the average percentage recovery is found to be 99.13% for strychnine and 100.16% for brucine. The proposed HPTLC method for the simultaneous quantitation of strychnine and brucine is found to be simple, precise, specific, sensitive, and accurate, and it can be used for routine quality control of raw material of Strychnos spp. It also can be applied in quantitating any of these marker compounds in other formulations.     

Determination of Strychnine and Brucine in Strychnos nux-vomica L. by Nonaqueous Capillary Electrophoresis

A nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis method with photo diode-array detection was developed for the analysis of strychnine and brucine in Strychnos nux-vomica L. The separation of the two alkaloids was optimized with respect to the concentration of Tris-boric acid, the proportion of methanol and acetonitrile, and applied voltage. Baseline separation was obtained for the two analytes within 10 min using a running buffer containing 25 mM Tris-boric acid, 60% methanol and 20% acetonitrile with acetic acid adjusting pH to 4.0. In this paper, the method was used to determine the contents of strychnine and brucine in raw material and prepared Strychnos nux-vomica L.     

pH区带逆流色谱法分离纯化马钱子中马钱子碱和士的宁

建立了pH区带逆流色谱分离制备马钱子中生物碱类成分马钱子碱和士的宁的方法。溶剂系统为V(甲基叔丁基醚):V(乙腈):V(水)=2:2:3,静置分层后,上相加入三乙胺,使其浓度为10mmol/L,作为固定相;下相加入HCl,使其浓度为10mmol/L,作为流动相。从308mg马钱子总生物碱中分离得到50mg马钱子碱和120mg士的宁,得率分别为72.8%和85.1%;纯度分别为96.8%和98.3%。并采用LC-ESI-MS和13CNMR对目标化合物的结构进行了鉴定。     

TLC Determination of Strychnine and Brucine of Strychnos nux vomica in Ayurveda and Homeopathy Drugs

Strychnos nux vomica is an important plant source for drugs of ayurvedic and homeopathic system of medicine. In this paper a thin layer chromatographic (TLC) method has been developed for the quantitative estimation of the two major alkaloids strychnine and brucine in the plant fruit and in ayurvedic and homeopathic drugs. Chloroform–ethyl acetate–diethyl amine (0.5:8.5:1) as mobile phase gave clear separation with no interference between the bioactive markers. The R _f values for strychnine and brucine were 0.55 and 0.42. The TLC method was found to be precise, rugged, robust and accurate with recovery of strychnine in the range 93.11–99.82% and brucine 96.95–99.48%. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for strychnine were 1.9 and 8.25 ng and for brucine 2.2 and 9.2 ng respectively.     

马钱子与甘草配伍前后生物碱成分的变化规律

采用电喷雾质谱技术和高效液相色谱法分别对马钱子配伍甘草前后主要生物碱的变化规律进行了系统研究。实验结果表明,马钱子配伍甘草后其主要生物碱士的宁和马钱子碱的含量均有不同程度的降低,其中士的宁的含量下降显著。电喷雾质谱的实验结果与高效液相色谱的结果相吻合,为进一步阐明甘草解马钱子类药物毒性和马钱子合理配伍用药提供了科学的实验依据。     

Combination of hollow fiber-based liquid-phase microextraction with sweeping techniques in micellar electrokinetic chromatography for the determination of Strychnos alkaloids in human urine

A new method for the enrichment of Strychnos alkaloids in biological samples via liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) based on porous polypropylene hollow fibers in combination with on-line sweeping in micellar electrokinetic chromatography was developed. The calibration curve was linear over the range of 20-200 ng mL-1 for both strychnine and brucine in human urine sample. The detection limits (S/N=3:1) for strychnine and brucine were 1 ng mL-1 and 2 ng mL-1, respectively. The LPME-sweeping method has been successfully applied to the analysis of strychnine and brucine in real urine samples.     

Rapid separation of strychnine and brucine on a dynamically modified poly(dimethylsiloxane) microchip followed by electrochemical detection

A method has been developed for rapidly separating and detecting strychnine and brucine using a poly(dimethysiloxane) (PDMS) microchip and electrochemical (EC) detection. PDMS microchannels dynamically modified by Brij35 are shown to be more efficient than native ones. The two analytes are well separated within 90 s in 70 mmol/L acetate buffer (pH 5.5) containing 0.01% (v/v) Brij35. Detection limits were found to be 1.0 μmol/L for strychnine and 0.2 μmol/L for brucine at S/N=3. The method was used to determine trace strychnine and brucine in rat serum, and the results obtained correlate well with those obtained via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).      

Toxicokinetics of strychnine and brucine after the oral administration of Biqi capsule to rats by RRLC–MS/MS

Biqi capsule is a well‐known traditional Chinese medicine formula that has been widely applied for the clinical treatment of such diseases as rheumatoid arthritis, scapulohumeral periarthritis and cervical spondylopathy. However, there is concern regarding the toxicity of Biqi capsule owing to its active ingredients, strychnine and brucine. To investigate the toxicokinetics of strychnine and brucine after oral administration of Biqi capsule to rats, a sensitive and simple rapid‐resolution liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method was developed to determine the levels of strychnine and brucine in rat plasma. Chromatographic separation was performed on a Capcell Pak C₁₈ MG II (3.0 μm, 2.0 × 35 mm) column by gradient elution with acetonitrile and 0.2% formic acid as the mobile phase. The method was validated over the range of 0.25–250 ng/mL for strychnine and 0.025–25 ng/mL for brucine. The intra‐ and inter‐day accuracies of strychnine and brucine in rat plasma were 100.3–106.6 and 90.75–106.1% respectively, and the precisions were within 14.2%. The established method was successfully applied to the toxicokinetic study of strychnine and brucine after single and multiple oral administration of Biqi capsule to male and female rats at 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 g/kg doses. The results showed different toxicokinetic characteristics in the different groups.     

Hollow fiber-based liquid-phase microextraction combined with on-line sweeping for trace analysis of Strychnos alkaloids in urine by micellar electrokinetic chromatography

A new method for the enrichment of Strychnos alkaloids in biological samples via liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) based on porous polypropylene hollow fibers combined with on-line sweeping in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) was developed. Strychnos alkaloids were first extracted from urine sample which was adjusted to alkaline conditions (0.5 mol l(-1) NaOH). The unionized analytes were subsequently extracted into 1-octanol impregnated in the pores of hollow fibers, and then into an acidic acceptor solution (100 mmol l(-1) H3PO4) inside the hollow fiber. The extract was analyzed directly by on-line sweeping in MEKC. In the method, the compound berberine was used as the internal standard (I.S.) for the improvement of the experimental reproducibility. The calibration curve was linear over a range of 20-200 ng ml(-1) for both strychnine and brucine in human urine sample, with a correlation coefficient of 0.996 and 0.997, respectively. The detection limits (S/N=3:1) for strychnine and brucine were 1 and 2 ng ml(-1), respectively. The LPME-sweeping method has been successfully applied to the analysis of strychnine and brucine in real urine sample, indicating that LPME-sweeping-MEKC is a promising combination for analysis of basic drugs present at low levels in some biological matrices.     

On-line two-step stacking in capillary zone electrophoresis for the preconcentration of strychnine and brucine

An on-line sample preconcentration method by two-step stacking i.e., sweeping and micelle to solvent stacking, in capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) has been developed for the determination of strychnine and brucine in traditional Chinese herbal medicines. After experimental optimizations, the best separation was achieved by using 75 mM phosphate buffer (pH 2.5) with 30% methanol (v/v). Compared with normal CZE injection, 51- and 38-fold improvement in concentration sensitivity was achieved for strychnine and brucine, respectively. The calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.1–5.0 μg mL⁻¹ for both strychnine and brucine, with the correlation coefficients of 0.9998 and 0.9997, respectively. The limits of detection (S/N = 3) for both alkaloids were 0.01 μg mL⁻¹. The inter-day (n = 8) and intra-day (n = 5) reproducibilities expressed as the relative standard deviations for corrected peak area were less than 9.5%. The method was applied to determine strychnine and brucine in two Chinese herbal medicines, with recoveries ranging from 94.2% to 105.4%. The results indicated that the method is simple, rapid, reliable, and can be applied to determine strychnos alkaloids in traditional Chinese herbal medicines.     

Physicochemical characterization of the Strychnos alkaloids by capillary zone electrophoresis.

A capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method has been developed for investigating the physicochemical characteristics of five Strychnos alkaloids in Strychnos nux-vomica L. Firstly, the dissociation constants of the five Strychnos alkaloids were determined, based on the relation between the effective mobility of the solutes and the buffer pH. The mathematical relationship was strictly deduced from the fundamental electrophoretic theory and the dissociation equilibrium. Secondly, an equation describing the relation between the migration time of alkaloids of similar structure and their molecular weights was developed and used to predict the migration order and to calculate the electrosomotic velocity. The results predicted by the theory agreed with those from experiments.     

In Process Citation

The effect of brucine on the reduction of strychnine to hydrostrychnine has been studied and a new method proposed for the separation of brucine and strychnine sulphates before determination of the strychnine by reduction.     

Rapid and sensitive determination of strychnine and brucine in human urine by capillary electrophoresis with field‐amplified sample stacking

A simple, rapid, sensitive and low‐cost method using capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with field‐amplified sample stacking (FASS) has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of strychnine and brucine residues in human urine. Before sample loading, a water plug (3.5 kPa, 3 s) was injected to contain sample cations and to permit FASS. Electrokinetic injection at a voltage (20 kV, 25 s) was then used to introduce cations. Separation was performed using 20 mM acetate buffer (pH 3.8) with an applied voltage of 20 kV. The calibration curves were linear over a range of 8.00–2.56 ∞ 10² ng/mL (r = 0.9995) for strychnine and 10.0–3.20 × 10² ng/mL (r = 0.9999) for brucine. Extraction recoveries in urine were greater than 79.6 and 82.8% for strychnine and brucine, respectively, with an RSD of less than 4.9%. The detection limits (signal‐to‐noise ratio 3) for strychnine and brucine were 2.00 and 2.50 ng/mL, respectively. A urine sample from one healthy female volunteer (26 years old, 50 kg) was pretreated and analyzed. Strychnine and brucine levels in urine could be detected 24 h after administration. On these grounds, this method was feasible for application to preliminary screening of trace levels of abused drugs for both doping control and forensic analysis. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

HPLC分离化学发光检测药物中的马钱子碱、士的宁和麻黄类生物碱

在KMnO₄-H⁺-还原剂体系中研究了马钱子碱、士的宁和麻黄类生物碱的化学发光(CL)行为,建立了其快速灵敏的流动注射化学发光分析方法,将此法与HPLC联用,实现了上述物质的选择性测定,该方法的检出限为1.0×10^-10g/mL马钱子碱、1.0×10^-8g/mL士的宁、1.0×10^-5g/mL麻黄碱和伪麻黄碱,测定的相对标准偏差小于3%,HPLC流动相的脉动及其中的溶解氧不影响测定的精密度。此法已用于一些药物中马钱子碱等生物碱的测定,回收率为94%～101%.     

Determination of strychnine and brucine in traditional Chinese medicine preparations by capillary zone electrophoresis with micelle to solvent stacking

A novel micelle to solvent stacking on-line sample preconcentration technique in capillary zone electrophoresis（MSS-CZE） has been developed to determine the strychnine and brucine in traditional Chinese medicine preparations.The optimal running buffer was 30 mmol/L H₃PO₄ containing 20%acetonitrile at pH 4.0.The sample matrix was 8 mmol/L H₃PO₄ containing 5 mmol/L sodium dodecyl sulfate（SDS） at pH 3.0.The established MSS-CZE method afforded more than 50-fold improvements in concentration sensitivity compared with typical CZE-UV analysis.The calibration curve was linear in the range from 0.2 to 15.0μg/ mL for both strychnine and brucine,with correlation coefficients of 0.9984 and 0.9976,respectively.The limits of detection（5/ N = 3:1） for strychnine and brucine were 0.02 and 0.05μg/mL,respectively.The MSS-CZE method has been successfully applied to the analysis of strychnine and brucine in Chinese medicinal preparations.     

Determination of strychnine,brucine, strychnine N‐oxide,and brucine N‐oxide in plasma samples after the oral administration of processed semen strychni extract by high‐performance liquid chromatography with ultrasound‐assisted mixed cloud point extraction

A sensitive and efficient mixed cloud point extraction combined with high‐performance liquid chromatography was developed for the simultaneous separation and determination of four alkaloids (strychnine, strychnine N‐oxide, brucine, and brucine N‐oxide) in plasma after the oral administration of processed semen strychni extract. Tergitol TMN‐6 and cetyl‐trimethyl ammonium bromide were chosen as the mixed surfactants, and ultrasound was employed to enhance the extraction efficiency. Some important parameters affecting the mixed cloud point extraction efficiency, such as the content of Tergitol TMN‐6 and cetyl‐trimethyl ammonium bromide, pH, salt effect, extraction temperature, and ultrasound time were studied and optimized. Under optimum conditions, the linear range of four alkaloids was from 1.0 to 1000 ng/mL. All correlation coefficients of the calibration curves were higher than 0.9993. The intraday and interday precision were below 8.65% and the limits of detection for the four alkaloids were less than 1.0 ng/mL (S/N = 3).     

Ultra‐performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric assay for the simultaneous determination of brucine,strychnine and brucine N‐oxide in rat plasma: application to a pharmacokinetic study

A rapid, simple and sensitive UHPLC‐MS/MS method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of brucine, strychnine and brucine N‐oxide in rat plasma using huperzine A as an internal standard (IS) after protein precipitation with methanol. The analytes were separated on a Purospher® STAR RP₁₈ UHPLC column (2 µm, 2.1 × 100 mm) by gradient elution using a mobile phase composed of methanol and water (containing 0.1% formic acid) at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. Brucine, strychnine, brucine N‐oxide and IS were detected in positive ion multiple reaction monitoring mode by means of an electrospray ionization interface (m/z 395.2 → 324.1, m/z 335.2 → 184.1, m/z 411.2 → 394.2, m/z 243.1 → 226.1). The calibration curve was linear over the range of 1–500 ng/mL for brucine and strychnine and 0.2?50 ng/mL for brucine N‐oxide. The intra‐ and inter‐day precisions of these analytes were all within 15% and the accuracy ranged from 85 to 115%. The stability experiment indicated that the plasma samples at three concentration levels were stable under different conditions. The developed method was successfully applied for the first time to pharmacokinetic studies of brucine, strychnine and brucine N‐oxide following a single oral and intravenous administration of modified total alkaloid fraction in rats. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparative separation and purification of two highly polar alkaloids derived from Semen Strychni extracted with dichloromethane by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography

Brucine chloromethochloride and strychnine chloromethochloride, the two chloromethochloride derivatives formed during the extraction of Semen Strychni in which dichloromethane was used as the extracting solvent, were isolated and purified by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography for the first time. The two‐phase solvent system composed of chloroform/methanol/0.3 mol/L hydrochloric acid (4:3:2, v/v/v) was selected for separation. From 300 mg of the crude extracts, 56.2 mg of brucine chloromethochloride and 60.2 mg of strychnine chloromethochloride were obtained with the purity of 99.78 and 96.99%, respectively, and the structures were confirmed by mass spectrometry, ¹H, ¹³C, and two‐dimensional NMR spectroscopy. The results indicated that the present method is a powerful technology for large‐scale isolation of alkaloids from Semen Strychni.