A highly sensitive LC–MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of glycyrrhizin and its active metabolite glycyrrhetinic acid: Application to a human pharmacokinetic study after oral administration

A highly sensitive liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method for simultaneous determination of glycyrrhizin (GL) and its active metabolite, glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), from human plasma was validated and applied to a human pharmacokinetic study. The analytes were extracted from human plasma using an Oasis MAX cartridge and chromatographic separation was performed on an Inertsil ODS‐3 column. The detection was performed using an API 4000 mass spectrometer operating in the positive electrospray ionization mode. Selected ion monitoring transitions of m /z 823 → 453 for GL and m /z 471 → 149 for GA were obtained. The response was a linear function of concentration over the ranges of 0.5–200 ng/mL for GL and 2–800 ng/mL for GA (both R ² > 0.998). Using this method, the pharmacokinetics of GL after single oral administration of a clinical dose (75 mg) to six healthy male Japanese volunteers were evaluated. GL was detected in the plasma of all subjects and the average peak concentration was 24.8 ± 12.0 ng/mL. In contrast, peak concentration of GA was 200.3 ± 60.3 ng/mL, i.e. ~8‐fold higher than that of GL. This is the first report clarifying pharmacokinetic profiles of GL and GA simultaneously at a therapeutic oral dose of a GL preparation.     

Simultaneous determination of 18alpha- and 18beta-glycyrrhetic acid in human plasma by LC-ESI-MS and its application to pharmacokinetics

A highly sensitive and selective LC-ESI-MS was developed, validated for the simultaneous determination of 18alpha-glycyrrhetic acid (alpha-GA) and 18beta-glycyrrhetic acid (beta-GA) for pharmacokinetic studies in healthy subjects. Sample preparation was performed by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and the separations were achieved using a C(18) column with the mobile phase composed of 10 mmol/L ammonium acetate solution-methanol-acetonitrile (40:36:24, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The internal standard was honokiol and the epimers were quantified using a single quadrupole mass spectrometer employing ESI in the negative ion mode. The separation factor, alpha, was 1.512 for alpha- and beta-GA. The standard curves were linear for both epimers with coefficients of determination (r >or= 0.9998) over the concentration range of 1-150 ng/mL. The precision and accuracy were glycyrrhizinate capsules. The initial data suggest that glycyrrhizin metabolizes to glycyrrhetic acid fairly slowly and the elimination of alpha-GA is slower than that of beta-GA.     

pH-Sensitive Glycyrrhizin Based Vesicles for Nifedipine Delivery

Glycyrrhizic acid, or glycyrrhizin (GA), a major active component of licorice root, has been widely used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine since ancient times. However, only in the last decades has a novel and unusual property of the GA been discovered to form water-soluble, supramolecular complexes with a variety of lipophilic drugs. These complexes show significant advantages over other known delivery systems, in particular, due to strong pH sensitivity, the properties of GA self-associates. In the present study, a supramolecular complex formation of the hypotensive and antiarrhythmic drug nifedipine with GA has been studied at different pH values, corresponding to the different degrees of GA dissociation, including a fully dissociated state of GA. Both NMR experiments and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate the existence of the nifedipine complex with GA at all dissociation states of GA. However, optical absorption experiments show the decrease of complex stability and solubility at pH > 6 when the GA molecule is fully deprotonated. It means the higher release rate of the drug in a neutral and basic environment compared with acid media. These results could form the basis of follow-up studies of GA self-associates as pH-controlled drug delivery systems.     

CdSe量子点荧光增敏法测定甘草酸

以巯基乙酸为稳定剂水相法一步合成了CdSe量子点,并以此量子点为荧光探针,基于甘草酸(GL)对量子点的荧光增强效应,建立了一种简便、快速、灵敏测定GL的分析方法,同时对GL与CdSe量子点的反应机理进行了初步探讨.考察了多种因素对GL测定的影响.结果表明,在pH 7.4的Na2 HPO4 - NaH2 PO4缓冲溶液中...     

Enhancement of selectivity for producing γ-cyclodextrin

The production of cyclodextrins (CDs) by cyclodextrin-glycosyl-transferase (CGTase) from Bacillus firmus was studied, with respect to the effect of the source of starch upon CD yield and on the selectivity for producing γ-CD. Cyclodextrin production tests were run for 24 h at 50°C, pH 8.0, and 1 mg/L of CGTase, and substrates were maltodextrin or the starches of rice, potato, cassava, and corn hydrolyzed up to D. E. 10. Cornstarch was the best substrate for producing γ-CD. Later, glycyrrhizin (2.5% [w/v]), which forms a stable complex with γ-CD, was added to the cornstarch reaction medium and increased the yield of γ-CD to about four times that produced with only maltodextrin, but the total yield of CDs remained practically unchanged. Therefore, the results showed that the studied CGTase is capable of giving relatively high yield of γ-CD in the presence of glycyrrhizin as complexant and cornstarch as substrate.     

高效毛细管电泳法测定银翘解毒片中的氯原酸、甘草酸和甘草次酸

 建立了同时测定银翘解每片中氯原酸、甘草酸和甘草次酸的高效毛细管电泳法,电解缓冲液为20mmol／L磷酸二氢钠和5mmol／L硼砂的混合溶液（pH7.0）。方法简便快速,具有良好的精密度、回收率和线性关系,并测定了很翘解毒片中3组分的含量。     

Stable DOPG/Glycyrrhizin Vesicles with a Wide Range of Mixing Ratios: Structure and Stability as Seen by Scattering Experiments and Cryo-TEM

Phosphatidylglycerols represent a large share of the lipids in the plasmamembrane of procaryotes. Therefore, this study investigates the role of charged lipids in the plasma membrane with respect to the interaction of the antiviral saponin glycyrrhizin with such membranes. Glycyrrhizin is a natural triterpenic-based surfactant found in licorice. Vesicles made of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-rac-(1’-glycerol) (DOPG)/glycyrrhizin are characterized by small-angle scattering with neutrons and X-rays (SANS and SAXS). Small-angle scattering data are first evaluated by the model-independent modified Kratky–Porod method and afterwards fitted by a model describing the shape of small unilamellar vesicles (SUV) with an internal head-tail contrast. Complete miscibility of DOPG and glycyrrhizin was revealed even at a ratio of lipid:saponin of 1:1. Additional information about the chain-chain correlation distance of the lipid/saponin mixtures in the SUV structures is obtained from wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS).     

Proximate Determination of Triterpene Glycosides in Glycyrrhizae Radix by Ion Exchange Chromatography and Turbidimetry

A simple method for the proximate determination of triterpene glycosides in glycyrrhiza was developed. Glycyrrhiza extract was directly chromatographed on SP-Sephadex C-25 (H⁺) and QAE-Sephadex A-25 (Cl^?) with distilled water and 0.2 M sodium chloride (pH 13.50) as the eluents, respectively. The eluate was then hydrolyzed with perchloric acid and determined turbidimetrically at 530 nm. With this method, glycyrrhiza samples collected in Taiwan and Singapore were found containing 17.21±0.45% and 7.49±0.35% of triterpene glycosides, calculated as glycyrrhizin, respectively.