Development of a Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for Identification of Flavonoids in Ginkgo biloba

A rapid, selective and sensitive method for analysis of trace flavonoids and its glycoside derivatives in ginkgo has proposed. Ultrasonic‐assisted extraction of sample preparation was adopted to extract trace flavonoids in ginkgo leaf and its processed product. The compounds were identified using liquid chromatography negative electrospray ionization triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The neutral loss scan mode of MS/MS was used to screen flavonoid compounds and those compounds with acid group, or having rhamnosyl, glucosyl, or coumaroyl moiety in the samples. The successive data‐dependent product ion scan mode of MS/MS was used to identify the structure of the components. The analytical results represented three aglycone flavonoids and seven flavonoid glycosides in ginkgo. The method detection limits were evaluated for the analytes analyzed in the range of 0.88 to 2.67 μg/mL.     

Simultaneous Quantification of Seven Flavonoids in Flos Gossypii by LC

Species of the genus Achillea have been used in traditional folk medicine for centuries. In Europe taxa of the Achillea millefolium group are widely spread, their correct taxonomic differentiation by morphological and anatomical characteristics encounters some difficulties. Several species of the polyploid A. millefolium group however, can be characterised by their distinct sesquiterpene pattern. Analysis is usually performed by LC using conventional RP stationary phases. Likewise, it has been proven that non-porous RP stationary phases are an excellent alternative for sensitive and more rapid separations of plant extracts. In the present work a Kovasil MS-C18 1.5 μm non-porous packing was used with an acetonitrile-water gradient for the analysis of Achillea flower extracts. Detection and identification of the respective sesquiterpenes has been achieved by diode array detection and LC coupled APCI+ and ESI+ mass spectrometry.     

Rapid Validated RP-HPTLC Method for the Quantification of Major Bioactive Constituents of Crataegus oxyacantha L.

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - A reverse phase high-performance thin-layer chromatography (RPHPTLC) method was developed for determination of vitexin, hyperoside,...     

Simple Method for Simultaneous Quantitation and Fingerprint Analysis of Ginkgo biloba Tablets by High Performance Liquid Chromatography-UV-Evaporative Light Scattering Detector

By optimizing the separation and analytical conditions, a reliable, simple and accurate high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) method coupled with ultraviolet(UV) and evaporative light scattering detector(ELSD) was developed for the simultaneous determination of lactones and flavonoid, that is, bilobalide, ginkgolide A, ginkgolide B, and rutin, in more than 10 batches of Ginkgo biloba tablets from different pharmaceutical companies. The method could also be applied to fingerprint research, for a more general evaluation of the quality of this preparation. The separation of the components was achieved on a Hanbon C18 column with gradient elution using water and methanol containing 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid(TFA). The column temperature was 30 ℃ and the flow-rate of the mobile phase was 0.6 mL/min. The drift tube temperature of the ELSD was set at 100 ℃, and the nitrogen flow-rate was 2 L/min. Good linear relationships were shown with correlation coefficients for analytes exceeding 0.9913. The limits of detection(LODs, S/N=3) and the limits of quantitation(LOQs, S/N=10) were 0.00887--0.0508 μg/μL and 0.0171-0.0636 μg/μL, respectively, on the column. The relative standard deviations(RSD) of the analytes were less than 3.61% for intraday and 3.70% for interday, respectively. The average recovery rates obtained were in the range of (97.3±4.3)% to (101.9±3.1)% for all the compounds. The results of quantitative and fingerprint analysis proved that the contents of the components were totally similar in the preparation of Ginkgo biloba tablets from the same pharmaceutical company; whereas, they varied significantly in the preparations of Ginkgo biloba tablets from different companies.     

Simultaneous RP-HPTLC Method for Determination of Levodopa,Carbidopa, and Entacapone in Combined Tablet Dosage Form

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - A simple, rapid, specific, and accurate reverse-phase high-performance thin-layer chromatography (RP-HPTLC) method was developed...     

A new capillary zone electrophoresis method for the analysis of Ginkgo biloba extracts and Ginkgo biloba pharmaceutical products

Ginkgo biloba, traditional Chinese medicine is now generally accepted. Separation and determination of active components in G. biloba is important for the product quality control. Therefore, the development of an effective and reliable separation method is important. In this work, a new capillary electrophoretic (CZE) method for separation of the G. biloba leaf extracts components was developed and optimized by the use of experimental design and artificial neural network (ANN). Under best separation conditions, in gamma-CD-modified buffer, the separation was reached within 10 min (36 mM borate BGE, pH 9.2, 1 mM gamma-CD), while the hydrodynamic mode for sample injection (2 s) and UV detection at 270 nm were applied. The method developed was validated and applied for analysis of various extracts and G. biloba products.     

Chemical analysis of Ginkgo biloba leaves and extracts

The chemical analysis and quality control of Ginkgo leaves and extracts is reviewed. Important constituents present in the medicinally used leaves are the terpene trilactones, i.e., ginkgolides A, B, C, J and bilobalide, many flavonol glycosides, biflavones, proanthocyanidins, alkylphenols, simple phenolic acids, 6-hydroxykynurenic acid, 4-O-methylpyridoxine and polyprenols. In the commercially important Ginkgo extracts some of these compound classes are no longer present. Many publications deal with the analysis of the unique terpene trilactones. They can be extracted with aqueous acetone or aqueous methanol but also supercritical fluid extraction is possible. Still somewhat problematic is their sample clean-up. Various procedures, not all of them validated, employing partitioning or SPE have been proposed. Some further development in this area can be foreseen. Separation and detection can be routinely carried out by HPLC with RI, ELSD or MS, or with GC-FID after silylation. TLC is another possibility. No quantitative procedure for flavonol glycosides has been published so far due their difficult separation and commercial unavailability. Fingerprint analysis by gradient RP-HPLC is possible. After acidic hydrolysis to the aglycones quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin and separation by HPLC, quantitation is straightforward and yields by recalculation an estimation of the original total flavonol glycoside content. For biflavones, simple phenols, 6-hydroxykynurenic acid, 4-O-methylpyridoxine and polyprenols analytical procedures have been published but not all assays are yet ideal. Lately a there is a lot of interest in the analysis of the undesired alkylphenols and a few validated procedures have been published. The analysis of Ginkgo proanthocyanidins is still in its infancy and no reliable assays exist.     

银杏叶提取物中染料木素的分离纯化及结构鉴定

对银杏叶提取物进行酸水解,然后利用正相硅胶柱色谱及重结晶法从银杏叶水解物中分离出染料木素,经紫外光谱（UV）、质谱（MSn）、核磁共振（1H NMR、13C NMR）等波谱学方法鉴定证实了其结构。高效液相色谱分析表明,所提纯的染料木素纯度达到了98%以上。     

Chemistry and biology of terpene trilactones from Ginkgo biloba

Ginkgo biloba, the ginkgo tree, is the oldest living tree, with a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine. In recent years, the leaf extracts have been widely sold as phytomedicine in Europe and as a dietary supplement worldwide. Effects of Ginkgo biloba extracts have been postulated to include improvement of memory, increased blood circulation, as well as beneficial effects to sufferers of Alzheimer's disease. The most unique components of the extracts are the terpene trilactones, that is, ginkgolides and bilobalide. These structurally complex molecules have been attractive targets for total synthesis. Terpene trilactones are believed to be partly responsible for the neuromodulatory properties of Ginkgo biloba extracts, and several biological effects of the terpene trilactones have been discovered in recent years, making them attractive pharmacological tools that could provide insight into the effects of Ginkgo biloba extracts.     

Mass spectrometry analysis of terpene lactones in Ginkgo biloba

Terpene lactones are a family of compounds with unique chemical structures, first recognised in an extract of Ginkgo biloba. The discovery of terpene lactone derivatives has recently been reported in more and more plant extracts and even food products. In this study, mass spectrometric characteristics of the standard terpene lactones in Ginkgo biloba were comprehensively studied using both an ion trap and a quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) mass spectrometer. The mass spectral fragmentation data from both techniques was compared to obtain the mass spectrometric fragmentation pathways of the terpene lactones with high confidence. The data obtained will facilitate the analysis and identification of terpene lactones in future plant research via the fragmentation knowledge reported here.     

同时测定体液中咖啡因和茶碱的薄层色谱扫描法

研究了同时测定血清、尿样中的咖啡因和茶碱的薄层色谱定量法。在ＧＦ２５４硅胶板上，用乙酸乙酯－氨水（Ｖ乙酸乙酯∶Ｖ氨水＝９６∶４）的二元展开体系能将这两种生物碱有效地分离。其Ｒｆ值为咖啡因０．４６，茶碱０．１６。分离后的试样用薄层色谱扫描仪进行扫描定量，测定波长２７２ｎｍ，线性范围咖啡因０．００９７～１．９４μｇ，茶碱０．００９０～１．８０μｇ。血清及尿样的加标回收率在９５．８％～１０６．５％之间，相对标准偏差２．９５％～３．５０％。本法较为简便、快速、准确     

Validated TLC-Image Analysis Method for Simultaneous Quantification of Curcuminoids in Curcuma longa

A simple and rapid thin layer chromatographic (TLC)-image analysis method was developed for simultaneous quantification of three curcuminoids; curcumin (CUR), desmethoxycurcumin (DES) and bisdesmethoxycurcumin (BIS), in Curcuma longa (turmeric). Chromatographic separation of the curcuminoids was achieved on silica gel 60 F254 TLC plates, using chloroform–hexane–methanol (1:1:0.1, v/v/v) as the mobile phase. Image analysis of the scanned TLC plate was performed by Photoshop 7.0 to quantify the amount of each curcuminoid. The method was validated and found to be accurate, reliable and convenient for the analysis of CUR, DES and BIS in turmeric.

     

Forced Degradation of Flavonol Glycosides Extraced from Ginkgo biloba

The degradation of flavonol glycosides extracted from Ginkgo biloba was performed under different conditions and the degraded products were determined by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method. Four stress conditions including acid(0.1 mol/L HCl), base(0.1 mol/L NaOH), temperature (70 ℃) and oxidation(0.03% H₂O₂, volume fraction) were used for the forced degradation studies. The pH stabilities of the flavonol glycosides were determined in phosphate buffers of varying pH values from 4.5 to 7.4. The degradation rate constants and half-life of three Ginkgo flavonol aglycones(quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin) which represent Ginkgo flavonol glycosides were calculated in forced degradation and pH-stability studies of them. The results indicate that the three substances were more stable when incubated under acid condition and showed pH-dependent stability. The degradation was observed to follow first-order kinetics in all degradation studies. The stability results could provide important bases on development, preparation and storage of products of Ginkgo biloba extract and should be significantly considered during the further formulation development.     

Simultaneous Quantification of Heavy Metals Using a Solid State Potentiometric Sensor Array

A potentiometric sensor array of four nonspecific electrodes with solid‐state membranes is developed and tested for simultaneous analysis of copper(II), mercury(II), and silver(I) ions. The cross‐sensitivity responses of the sensors for these ions are evaluated. The array potentiometric signals are processed by partial least‐squares regression (PLS) and back propagation artificial neural networks (ANN) to determinate analyte concentrations. The ANN configuration is optimized and two different training algorithms of the ANN are also evaluated. Best results are obtained when the potentiometric sensors are activated and the data are processed using ANN and the gradient descent adaptive algorithm. The system is used to quantify these heavy metals in synthetic samples and in dental amalgams with successful results.     

银杏叶中脂肪酸的GC-MS分析研究

银杏叶用石油醚提取，经皂化、酯交换法处理，用GC-MS对其脂肪酸化学成分进行了分析和鉴定。经DB-1柱分离出39个峰，鉴定了其中的34种化合物，占总含量的94．37％。其中饱和脂肪酸占31．64％；不饱和脂肪酸占34．23％；烷基酚占14．07％；其它部分占14．43％。     

Preparative isolation of terpene trilactones from Ginkgo biloba leaves

This study investigated and compared some techniques for the preparative isolation of terpene trilactones, including ginkgolides (GA and GB, etc.) and bilobalide (BB), from Ginkgo biloba leaves. The crude Ginkgo biloba L. extracts (GBE) were prepared using an extractor with solvent refluxing operated under an optimal extraction condition. The extraction yield was 20-23% and the purity of terpene trilactones was about 1.0-1.4 wt%. Before the isolation operations, the extracts were dissolved in de-ionized water. The isolation procedures included the method of liquid-liquid extraction and the method of column chromatography. For the method of liquid-liquid extraction using ethyl acetate as the organic solvent operated under the optimal extraction conditions, the purity, concentration ratio, and yield of terpene trilactones were 13.5-18.0%, 15-16, and >99%. For the method of column chromatography, XAD-7HP, XAD-4, and C-18 adsorbents with different polarities were used as the packing materials. Only for the XAD-7HP column, a part of more polar impurities was efficiently separated with the majority of terpene trilactones by a proper step-gradient elution, which resulted in an efficient isolation: the purity, concentration ratio, and yield of terpene trilactones were approximately 20, approximately 15, and approximately 80%. In comparison, the XAD-7HP column achieved the highest purity, but at the expense of the yield of terpene trilactones; on the contrary, the liquid-liquid extraction method, achieving the highest yield but with a slightly lower purity, was proved to be superior to the method of column chromatography in the current isolation stage.     

Thermal Decomposition Kinetics of Ginkgo biloba Leaves Polyprenol in Nitrogen Atmosphere

The nonisothermal decomposition kinetics of Ginkgo biloba leaves polyprenol (GBP) and cleaved situation of its chemical bond during thermal decomposition process were first investigated using thermogravimetric (TG) and TG‐FTIR technology. The results of thermal decomposition kinetics revealed that the nonisothermal decomposition mechanism of GBP corresponds to first‐order chemical reaction with n = 1, integral form g(a) = –ln(1 – a) and differential form f(a) = 1 – a. TG‐FTIR results demonstrated that absorbance of –CH₃, unsaturated C–H bond, =CH₂, accumulated C=C, –OH, and so on constantly increased with thermal decomposition reaction went on. In addition, storage life of GBP was also evaluated. These data could provide theoretical guidance for purification under high temperature and other thermal application of GBP.     

Simultaneous In Situ Quantification of Two Cellular Lipid Pools Using Orthogonal Fluorescent Sensors

Lipids regulate a wide range of biological activities. Since their local concentrations are tightly controlled in a spatiotemporally specific manner, the simultaneous quantification of multiple lipids is essential for elucidation of the complex mechanisms of biological regulation. Here, we report a new method for the simultaneous in situ quantification of two lipid pools in mammalian cells using orthogonal fluorescent sensors. The sensors were prepared by incorporating two environmentally sensitive fluorophores with minimal spectral overlap separately into engineered lipid‐binding proteins. Dual ratiometric analysis of imaging data allowed accurate, spatiotemporally resolved quantification of two different lipids on the same leaflet of the plasma membrane or a single lipid on two opposite leaflets of the plasma membrane of live mammalian cells. This new imaging technology should serve as a powerful tool for systems‐level investigation of lipid‐mediated cell signaling and regulation.