Simultaneous determination of seven ginsenosides in rat plasma by high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled to time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry: application to pharmacokinetics of Shenfu injection

A high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled to time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (HPLC‐TOF MS) method was successfully developed and validated for the identification and determination of seven ginsenosides, R_e, R_f, R_b1, R_c, R_b2, R_o and R_d, in a Chinese herbal preparation, Shenfu injection, and rat plasma. Based on the method, the pharmacokinetic profiles of the seven ginsenosides were investigated following intravenous administration of single dose of Shenfu injection to six rats. The established method had high linearity, selectivity, sensitivity, accuracy and precision. The pharmacokinetic results showed that R_b1, R_c and R_b2 had similar pharmacokinetic profiles and relatively long half‐life values (19.29 ± 6.36, 29.54 ± 22.91 and 35.60 ± 30.66 h). The half‐lives of R_f and R_d were 4.21 ± 3.68 and 8.49 ± 5.20 h, respectively, indicating that they could be metabolized more rapidly than R_b1, R_c and R_b2. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

人参皂苷正相薄层色谱二维分离的优化

 在薄层色谱分离人参皂苷的两种互补性的流动相组分比例与皂苷比移值呈相关关系的基础上 ,以薄层色谱分离中距离最小的两点之间的距离Dmin为优化标准 ,对人参皂苷的二维分离结果进行预测和优化。通过计算机扫描不同流动相组成下的Dmin值得到的三维网络图显示出的最大Dmin下的二维流动相的组成 ,即为达到最佳二维分离结果的流动相组成。以优化的流动相对皂苷进行二维展开 ,分离结果与预测结果吻合 ,且比一维展开分离出了更多的新的皂苷组分。     

Transformation of Ginsenosides Rg1 and Rb1, and Crude Sanchi Saponins by Human Intestinal Microflora

Fractions major in ginsenosides Rg₁ and Rb₁ from Sanchi saponins were transformed by human fecal flora. This study yielded the corresponding aglycone, protopanaxatriol, in 49.4% from Rg₁, protopanaxadiol 20‐O‐glucoside in 54.8% from Rb₁, and dihydroprotopanaxadiol 20‐O‐glucoside in 87.6% from dihydro Rb₁, by incubation with healthy feces for 70 h in subgram level. Never the less large‐scale incubation of crude Sanchi saponins revealed the complete biotransformation of Rb₁ and the almost unchanged Rg₁. A small amount of Rg₁ was found to be converted into 20 R‐ginsenoside Rh₁ and its dehydration product, 20(22) Z‐ginsenoside Rh₄.     

Development of a sensitive LC‐MS/MS method for simultaneous quantification of eleven constituents in rat serum and its application to a pharmacokinetic study of a Chinese medicine Shengmai injection

A sensitive LC‐MS/MS method was developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of 11 constituents, ginsenoside Rg1, Re, Rf, Rg2, Rb1, Rd, Rc, ophiopogonin D, schisandrin, schisandrol B and schizandrin B, in rat serum using digoxin as the internal standard (IS). The serum samples were pretreated and extracted with a two‐step liquid–liquid extraction. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a C₁₈ analytical column with a proper gradient elution using 0.02% acetic acid aqueous solution and 0.02% acetic acid–acetonitrile as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. MS detection was performed using multiple reaction monitoring via an electrospray ionization source. Good linearity was observed in the validated concentration range for every analyte (r² ≥0.9929), and the lower limits of quantitation of the analytes were in the range of 0.044–1.190 ng/mL in rat serum. Intra‐ and inter‐day precisions were <14.2%. The accuracy expressed as recovery was within the range of 85.1–112.8%. The extraction recoveries were >75.8%.The validated method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of all analytes in rats after single intravenous administration of Shengmai injection. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

密闭式微波降解法促进常见人参皂苷向稀有人参皂苷转化的规律

采用密闭微波技术对7种常见人参皂苷单体(Rb1,Rb2,Rb3,Rc,Rd,Re和Rg1)进行降解,通过高效液相色谱(HPLC)分析并与相同条件下非微波降解物对比,研究了密闭微波降解人参皂苷的产物在化学结构及组成上的变化规律,以期快速、高效地制备生物活性高的稀有人参皂苷.结果表明,密闭式微波降解法能够使常见人参皂苷基本降解完全,而相同条件下非微波降解法则基本不发生降解.原人参二醇型人参皂苷易水解掉C20位糖,并发生C20位构型变化,生成20(R)-Rg3和20(S)-Rg3,其中20-(R)为优势构型,C20位羟基进一步脱水产生稀有人参皂苷Rk1和Rg5.同时,20(S/R)-Rg3失去C3位的1分子葡萄糖转化为20(S/R)-Rh2,C20位羟基再进一步脱水生成了Rk2和Rh3.此外,人参皂苷C20位所连的糖种类与构型影响了降解产物中各稀有皂苷的组成与比例,但7种原人参二醇型人参皂苷密闭式微波降解产物中Rg5含量均为最高.密闭式微波降解对原三醇型人参皂苷的转化作用与原二醇型人参皂苷具有相似的规律,人参皂苷Re和Rg1的密闭式微波降解产物中Rh4含量均为最高.本文结果进一步说明在相同的降解条件下,密闭式微波降解法的降解效率远高于高温高压非微波降解法,密闭式微波降解可明显促进常见人参皂苷向稀有人参皂苷转化,因此采用密闭微波技术对常见人参皂苷进行降解可以大量获得稀有人参皂苷.     

超声波半微量提取快速测定人参总皂甙

应用超声波半微量提取法建立了人参中总皂甙的快速测定方法。与索氏提取测定法相比 ,本方法测定单一样品所用时间由 2～ 3个工作日缩短到 1～ 2h ,样品用量由 2 .0g减少到 0 .1g ,并节省大量试剂 ,工作效率提高数 1 0倍。与索氏法对照分析表明 ,本法可满足人参中总皂甙的快速测定要求。     

三七皂苷NMR研究Ⅱ——3个原人参二醇型双糖链配糖体的NMR信号全归属

运用2D NMR技术，如DQF ¹H-¹H COSY，HMQC，HMBC，TOCSY等，对3 个原人参二醇型双糖链配糖体人参皂甙-Rd,三七皂甙-E和七叶胆皂甙XVII的氢和碳的化学位移首次进行了全归属.     

液质联用测定人参与五灵脂、莱菔子配伍的人参皂苷

采用液质联用(HPLC-ESI-MSn)技术,对不同比例的人参、五灵脂和人参、莱菔子的水煎液、沉淀和药渣进行研究,共鉴定了10种人参皂苷,并对这10种人参皂苷配伍前后的变化进行了系统的研究。实验结果表明,在共煎液中,除Ro外,其它皂苷的含量都有所下降。五灵脂或莱菔子的加入对人参皂苷的影响不同,莱菔子影响人参皂苷的溶出,而与五灵脂配伍,部分人参皂苷生成沉淀。     

Adsorption and desorption characteristics of ginsenosides from Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer on middle‐pressure chromatogram isolated gels

Four types of middle‐pressure chromatogram isolated gels are evaluated for adsorption or desorption characteristics of ginsenosides from Panax ginseng. Among them, SP207SS and SP2MGS were selected for dynamic investigations based on their static adsorption or desorption capacity of total ginsenoside. Their adsorption kinetics was better explained by pseudosecond‐order model and isotherms were preferably fitted to Langmuir model. Dynamic breakthrough experiments indicated an optimum sample loading speed of 4 bed volume/h for either SP207SS or SP2MGS. Desorption speed was determined to be 2 bed volume/h according to desorption amount of total ginsenoside in their effluents. Eight ginsenosides were identified and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography‐triple quadropole‐mass spectrometry in total ginsenoside extract and different fractions during stepwise dynamic elution. For SP207SS, 27.62% of loaded ginsenosides was detected in 40% ethanol fraction, while 59.12% of them were found in 60% ethanol fraction. As on SP2MGS, the number went to 53.71 and 44.43%, respectively. Recovery rate of ginsenosides were calculated to 78.65% for SP207SS and 89.53% for SP2MGS, respectively. Intriguingly, content of Rg1 and Re in 40% ethanol fraction from SP207SS became 20.1 and 18.6 times higher than that in total ginsenoside extract by one‐step elution, which could be leveraged for the facile enrichment of these two ginsenosides from natural sources.     

Neurorescue Effects of Frondoside A and Ginsenoside Rg3 in C. elegans Model of Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a currently incurable neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and α-synuclein aggregation. Accumulated evidence indicates that the saponins, especially from ginseng, have neuroprotective effects against neurodegenerative disorders. Interestingly, saponin can also be found in marine organisms such as the sea cucumber, but little is known about its effect in neurodegenerative disease, including PD. In this study, we investigated the anti-Parkinson effects of frondoside A (FA) from Cucumaria frondosa and ginsenoside Rg3 (Rg3) from Panax notoginseng in C. elegans PD model. Both saponins were tested for toxicity and optimal concentration by food clearance assay and used to treat 6-OHDA-induced BZ555 and transgenic α-synuclein NL5901 strains in C. elegans. Treatment with FA and Rg3 significantly attenuated DAergic neurodegeneration induced by 6-OHDA in BZ555 strain, improved basal slowing rate, and prolonged lifespan in the 6-OHDA-induced wild-type strain with downregulation of the apoptosis mediators, egl-1 and ced-3, and upregulation of sod-3 and cat-2. Interestingly, only FA reduced α-synuclein aggregation, rescued lifespan in NL5901, and upregulated the protein degradation regulators, including ubh-4, hsf-1, hsp-16.1 and hsp-16.2. This study indicates that both FA and Rg3 possess beneficial effects in rescuing DAergic neurodegeneration in the 6-OHDA-induced C. elegans model through suppressing apoptosis mediators and stimulating antioxidant enzymes. In addition, FA could attenuate α-synuclein aggregation through the protein degradation process.