Stability-Indicating Chromatographic Methods for Simultaneous Determination of Mosapride and Pantoprazole in Pharmaceutical Dosage Form and Plasma Samples

Simple, sensitive, selective, precise, and stability-indicating thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods for the determination of mosapride and pantoprazole in pharmaceutical tablets were developed and validated as per the International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. The TLC method employs aluminum TLC plates precoated with silica gel 60F₂₅₄ as the stationary phase and ethyl acetate/methanol/toluene (4:1:2, v/v/v) as the mobile phase to give compact spots for mosapride (R _f 0.73) and pantoprazole (R _f 0.45) separated from their degradation products; the chromatogram was scanned at 276 nm. The HPLC method utilizes a C18 column and a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile/methanol/20 mM ammonium acetate (4:2:4, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min⁻¹ for the separation of mosapride (t _R 11.4) and pantoprazole (t _R 4.4) from their degradation products. Quantitation was achieved with UV detection at 280 nm. The same HPLC method was successfully used in performing calibrations in lower concentration ranges for both drugs in human plasma using ezetimibe as internal standard. The methods were validated in terms of accuracy, precision, linearity, limits of detection, and limits of quantification. Mosapride and pantoprazole were exposed to acid hydrolysis and then analyzed by the proposed methods. As the methods could effectively separate the drugs from their degradation products, these techniques can be employed as stability-indicating methods that have been successively applied to pharmaceutical formulations without interference from the excipients. Moreover the HPLC method was successfully used in the determination of both drugs in spiked human plasma.

     

Separation of flavonoids from Millettia griffithii with high‐performance counter‐current chromatography guided by anti‐inflammatory activity

Millettia griffithii is a unique Chinese plant located in the southern part of Yunnan Province. Up to now, there is no report about its phytochemical or related bioactivity research. In our previous study, the n‐hexane crude extract of Millettia griffithii revealed significant anti‐inflammatory activity at 100 μg/mL, inspiring us to explore the anti‐inflammatory constituents. Four fractions (I, II, III, and A) were fractionated from n‐hexane crude extract by high‐performance counter‐current chromatography with solvent system composed of n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (8:9:8:9, v/v) and then were investigated for the potent anti‐inflammatory activity. Fraction A, with the most potent inhibitory activity was further separated to give another four fractions (IV, V, VI, and B) with solvent system composed of n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (8:4:8:4, v/v). Compound V and fraction B exhibited remarkable anti‐inflammatory activity with nitric oxide inhibitory rate of 80 and 65%, which was worth further fractionation. Then, three fractions (VII, VIII, and IX) were separated from fraction B with a solvent system composed of n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (8:1:8:1, v/v), with compound VIII demonstrating the most potent inhibitory activity (80%). Finally, the IC₅₀ values of compound V and VIII were tested as 38.2 and 14.9 μM. The structures were identified by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy.     

Counter‐current chromatographic method for preparative scale isolation of picrosides from traditional Chinese medicine Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora

Apocynin, androsin, together with picroside I, II and III from crude extracts of Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora were isolated by means of high‐speed counter‐current chromatography (CCC) combining elution‐extrusion (EE) and cycling‐elution (CE) approach. The EECCC took full advantages of the liquid nature of the stationary phase for a complete sample recovery and extended the solute hydrophobicity window, while CECCC showed its unique advantage in achieving effective separation of special compounds through preventing stationary phase loss. In the present work, the biphasic liquid system composed of n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1:2:1:2, v/v/v/v) was used for separation of apocynin and androsin, ethyl acetate/n‐butanol/water/formic acid (4:1:5:0.005, v/v/v/v) for picroside I, II and III. However, due to the extremely similar K values (K₁/K₂≈1.2), picroside I and III were always eluted together by several biphasic solvent systems. In this case, the CECCC exhibited great superiority and baseline separated in the sixth cycle using ethyl acetate/water (1:1, v/v) as biphasic liquid system. Each fraction was analyzed by UPLC‐UV and ESI‐MS analysis, and identified by comparing with the data of reference substances. Compared with classical elution, the combination of EE and CE approach exhibits strong separation efficiency and great potential to be a high‐throughput separation technique in the case of complex samples.     

Optimization of the fractional precipitation of paclitaxel from a Taxus chinensis cell culture using response surface methodology and its isolation by consecutive high‐speed countercurrent chromatography

A consecutive preparation method for the isolation and purification of paclitaxel from the Taxus Chinensis cell culture was developed in this study. The process involved alkaline Al₂O₃ chromatography, fractional precipitation, and high‐speed countercurrent chromatography. The original cell culture materials were first extracted with methanol using ultrasound‐assisted extraction, and then the extract (the content of paclitaxel is 1.5%) was separated by alkaline Al₂O₃ column chromatography. Subsequently, fractional precipitation was used to obtain paclitaxel. In particular, response surface methodology was used to optimize the factors of fractional precipitation (methanol concentration, material‐to‐solvent ratio, and precipitating time were optimized as 48.14%, 8.85 mg/mL, and 48.71 h, respectively) and the yield of fractional precipitation product was 30.64 ± 0.60 mg (the content of paclitaxel is 89.3%, 27.37 ± 0.54 mg) from a 100 mg fraction by Al₂O₃ column separation (the content of paclitaxel is 32.4%). Then, the product was used for further isolation by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography. About 1.00 g paclitaxel (200 ± 2 mg in each loading) with a purity up to 99.61% was isolated from 1.25 g of fractional precipitation product with a solvent system of n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1.2:1.8:1.5:1.5, v/v/v/v) in one run of five consecutive sample loadings without exchanging a new solvent system.     

Development of a method to screen and isolate potential α‐glucosidase inhibitors from Panax japonicus C.A. Meyer by ultrafiltration,liquid chromatography,and counter‐current chromatography

A new assay based on ultrafiltration, liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry was developed for the rapid screening and identification of the ligands for α‐glucosidase from the extract of Panax japonicus. Six saponins were identified as α‐glucosidase inhibitors. Subsequently, the specific binding ligands, namely, notoginsenoside R₁, ginsenoside Rb₁, chikusetsusaponin V, chikusetsusaponin IV, chikusetsusaponin IVa, and ginsenoside Rd (the purities were 94.18, 95.43, 96.09, 93.26, 94.50, 93.86%, respectively) were separated by counter‐current chromatography using two‐phase solvent systems composed of tert‐butyl methyl ether, acetonitrile, 0.1% aqueous formic acid (3.8:1.0:4.4, v/v/v) and the solvent system composed of methylene chloride, isopropanol, methanol, 0.1% aqueous formic acid (5.8:1.0:6.0:2.2, v/v/v). The results demonstrate that ultrafiltration, liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry combined with high‐speed counter‐current chromatography might provide not only a powerful tool for screening and isolating α‐glucosidase inhibitors in complex samples but also a useful platform for discovering bioactive compounds for the prevention and treatment of diabetes mellitus.     

HPTLC–densitometric and HPTLC–MS methods for analysis of flavonoids

HPTLC silica gel plates without and with fluorescence indicator F₂₅₄ in combination with n-hexane–ethyl acetate–formic acid (20:19:1, v/v/v) as a developing solvent were explored for the HPTLC–densitometric and HPTLC–MS/(MSⁿ) analyses of flavonoids. Pre-development of the plates with chloroform–methanol (1:1, v/v) was needed for reliable HPTLC–densitometric analyses of flavonoid aglycones in the whole R_F range, while 2-step pre-development (1^st methanol–formic acid (10:1, v/v), 2^nd methanol), that decreased background signals of formic acid adducts, was required for HPTLC–MS analyses. Optimization with conditioning of the adsorbent layer with water before development and saturation of the twin trough chamber resulted in required decrease of the R_F values of studied flavonoids (flavone, apigenin, luteolin, chrysin, quercetin dihydrate, myricetin, kaempferide, kaempferol, naringenin, pinocembrin).

Detection was performed based on fluorescence quenching (on the plates with F₂₅₄), natural fluorescence and after post-chromatographic derivatization with natural product reagent without or with further enhancement and stabilization of fluorescent zones with polyethylene glycol (PEG 400 or PEG 4000) or paraffin–n-hexane reagents. For all three reagents, drying temperature and time passed after drying influenced the intensity, which was increasing the first 20?min, and the stability (less than 2?h for PEGs and at least 24?h for paraffin–n-hexane) of the standards’ zones.

Optimal wavelengths for densitometric evaluation were selected based on in-situ absorption spectra scanned before and after derivatization and after stabilization. The developed method was tested via analyses of propolis, roasted coffee, rose hip, hibiscus, rosemary and sage crude extracts. To further increase the reliability of the obtained densitometric results HPTLC–MS/(MSⁿ) analyses of all crude extracts were performed. Several phenolic and non-phenolic compounds were tentatively identified.

Some possible interferences with phenolic acids (chlorogenic acid, rosmarinic acid, protocatechuic acid, gallic acid, syringic acid, ellagic acid, trans-cinnamic acid, o-coumaric acid, m-coumaric acid, p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, sinapic acid) that are often present in the extracts together with flavonoids were also examined.     

Separation of caffeoylquinic acids and flavonoids from Asteris souliei by high‐performance counter‐current chromatography and their anti‐inflammatory activity in vitro

Eleven compounds were successfully separated from Asteris souliei by using a two‐step high‐performance counter‐current chromatography method. The first step involved a reversed phase isocratic counter‐current chromatography separation using hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1:0.8:1:1 v/v/v/v), which produced three fractions, the first two of which were mixtures. The second step used step‐gradient reversed‐phase counter‐current chromatography with hexane/butanol/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1:0.5:3.5:1:4 v/v/v/v/v) initially followed by hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1:2:1:2 v/v/v/v) to separate Fraction 1 into seven compounds; and hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1:1:1:1.2 v/v/v/v) to separate Fraction 2 into three further compounds. The chemical structures of the separated compounds were identified by ESI‐MS and NMR spectroscopy (¹H and ¹³C). Baicalin ( 5 ), eriodictyol ( 7 ), apigenin‐7‐glycoside ( 8 ), quercetin ( 9 ), luteolin ( 10 ), and apigenin ( 11 ) showed obvious inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide‐induced nitric oxide production in RAW264.7 cells at a concentration of 10 μg/mL.     

Simultaneous densitometric determination of shikonin,acetylshikonin, and β‐acetoxyisovaleryl‐shikonin in ultrasonic‐assisted extracts of four Arnebia species using reversed‐phase thin layer chromatography

A simple, precise, and rapid high‐performance thin‐layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method for the simultaneous quantification of pharmacologically important naphthoquinone shikonin ( 1 ) together with its derivatives acetylshikonin ( 2 ), and β‐acetoxyisovalerylshikonin ( 3 ) in four species of genus Arnebia (A. euchroma, A. guttata, A. benthamii, and A. hispidissima) from the Indian subcontinent has been developed. In addition, the effect of solvents with varying polarity (hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol) for the extraction of these compounds was studied. HPTLC was performed on precoated RP‐18 F_254S TLC plates. For achieving good separation, mobile phase consisting of ACN/methanol/5% formic acid in water (40:02:08 v/v/v) was used. The densitometric determination of shikonin derivatives was carried out at 520 nm in reflection/absorption mode. The method was validated in terms of linearity, accuracy, precision, robustness, and specificity. The calibration curves were linear in the range of 100–600 ng for shikonin and acetylshikonin, and 100–1800 ng for β‐acetoxyisovalerylshikonin. Lower LOD obtained for compounds 1 – 3 were 18, 15, and 12 ng, respectively, while the LOQ obtained were 60, 45, and 40 ng, respectively.     

Simultaneous Determination of 1,4‐Benzodiazepines and Tricyclic Antidepressants in Saliva after Sequential SPE Elution by the Same HPLC Conditions

A new method has been described to determine both benzodiazepines (six) and tricyclic antidepressants (four) simultaneously in saliva by HPLC with a UV detector set at 240 nm using cholchicine as the internal standard. A careful specific sequential solid‐phase elution was optimized and performed to elute benzodiazepines using a mixture of methanol‐acetonitrile (1:1 v/v) followed by the elution of tricyclic antidepressants with methanol. Separation of the compounds was performed on a Kromasil column (250 × 4 mm, 5 μm) by a gradient eluents consisting of 0.05 M CH₃COONH₄‐acetonitrile‐methanol (55:15:30 v/v/v). The results were linear for both benzodiazepines and tricyclic antidepressants up to 20 ng μL^‐1 with the correlation coefficients greater than 0.998. The sensitivity limits, LOD and LOQ were 0.08‐0.34 ng μL^‐1 and 0.28‐1.13 ng μL^‐1, respectively. The method is simple, fast and reliable with good specificity and sensitivity, will be suitable for use in a clinical setting, where there is a concomitant use of 1,4‐benzodiazepines and tricyclic antidepressants.     

Simultaneous RP‐HPLC‐DAD quantification of bromocriptine,haloperidol and its diazepane structural analog in rat plasma with droperidol as internal standard for application to drug‐interaction pharmacokinetics

A simple and rapid RP‐HPLC‐DAD method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of the dopamine antagonists haloperidol, its diazepane analog, and the dopamine agonist bromocriptine in rat plasma, to perform pharmacokinetic drug‐interaction studies. Samples were prepared for analysis by acetonitrile (22.0 μg/mL) plasma protein precipitation with droperidol as an internal standard, followed by a double‐step liquid‐liquid extraction with hexane : chloroform (70:30) prior to C‐18 separation. Isocratic elution was achieved using a 0.1% (v/v) trifluoroacetic acid in deionized water, methanol and acetonitrile (45/27.5/27.5, v/v/v). Triple‐wavelength diode‐array detection at the λ_max of 245 nm for haloperidol, 254 nm for the diazepane analog and droperidol, and 240 nm for bromocriptine was carried out. The LLOQ of DAL, HAL, and BCT were 45.0, 56.1, and 150 ng/mL, respectively. In rats, the estimated pharmacokinetic parameters (i.e., t_1/2, CL, and V_ss) of HAL when administered with DAL and BCT were t_1/2 = 16.4 min, V_ss = 0.541 L/kg for HAL, t_1/2 = 28.0 min, V_ss = 2.00 L/kg for DAL, and t_1/2 = 24.0 min, V_ss = 0.106 L/kg for BCT. The PK parameters for HAL differed significantly from those previously reported, which may be an indication of a drug‐drug interaction. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enantioseparation of planar chiral ferrocenes on cellulose-based chiral stationary phases: Benzoate versus carbamate pendant groups

In this study, the enantioseparation of 14 planar chiral ferrocenes containing halogen atoms, and methyl, iodoethynyl, phenyl, and 2-naphthyl groups, as substituents, was explored with a cellulose tris(4-methylbenzoate) (CMB)-based chiral column under multimodal elution conditions. n-Hexane/2-propanol (2-PrOH) 95:5 v/v, pure methanol (MeOH), and MeOH/water 90:10 v/v were used as mobile phases (MPs). With CMB, baseline enantioseparations were achieved for nine analytes with separation factors (α) ranging from 1.24 to 1.77, whereas only three analytes could be enantioseparated with 1.14 ≤ α ≤ 1.51 on a cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (CDMPC)-based column, used as a reference for comparison, under the same elution conditions. Pendant group–dependent reversal of the enantiomer elution order was observed in several cases by changing CMB to CDMPC. The impact of analyte and chiral stationary phase (CSP) structure, and MP polarity on the enantioseparation, was evaluated. The two cellulose-based CSPs featured by different pendant groups were also compared in terms of thermodynamics. For this purpose, enthalpy (ΔΔH°), entropy (ΔΔS°) and free energy (ΔΔG°) differences, isoenantioselective temperatures (T_iso), and enthalpy/entropy ratios (Q), associated with the enantioseparations, were derived from van ’t Hoff plots by using n-hexane/2-PrOH 95:5 v/v and methanol/water 90:10 v/v as MPs. With the aim to disclose the functions of the different substituents in mechanisms and noncovalent interactions underlying analyte–selector complex formation at molecular level, electrostatic potential (V) analysis and molecular dynamics simulations were used as computational techniques. On this basis, enantioseparations and related mechanisms were investigated by integrating theoretical and experimental data.     

The bioanalysis of vinorelbine and 4‐O‐deacetylvinorelbine in human and mouse plasma using high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with heated electrospray ionization tandem mass–spectrometry

A sensitive, specific and efficient high‐performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry assay for the simultaneous determination of vinorelbine and its metabolite 4‐O‐deacetylvinorelbine in human and mouse plasma is presented. Heated electrospray ionization was applied followed by tandem mass spectrometry. A 50 µL plasma aliquot was protein precipitated with acetonitrile–methanol (1:1, v/v) containing the internal standard vinorelbine‐d3 and 20 µL volumes were injected onto the HPLC system. Separation was achieved on a 50 × 2.1 mm i.d. Xbridge C₁₈ column using isocratic elution with 1 mm ammonium acetate–ammonia buffer pH 10.5–acetonitrile–methanol (28:12:60, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. The HPLC run time was 5 min. The assay quantifies both vinorelbine and 4‐O‐deacetylvinorelbine from 0.1 to 100 ng/mL using sample volumes of only 50 µL. Mouse plasma samples can be quantified using calibration curves prepared in human plasma. Validation results demonstrate that vinorelbine and 4‐O‐deacetylvinorelbine can be accurately and precisely quantified in human and mouse plasma with the presented method. The assay is now in use to support (pre‐)clinical pharmacologic studies with vinorelbine in humans and mice. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prediction of solvents extraction-the organochlorine pesticides in soil using solubility parameter

Prediction of the optimal extraction solvent based on the solubility parameter to extract the typical organochlorine pesticides from Jiangxi red soil was reported in this paper. Hildebrand solubility parameters, including dispersion coefficient (δ_d), polarity (δ_p) and hydrogen bonding (δ_h), of extraction solvents (including hexane, dichloromethane, hexane/methanol (4:1, v/v), hexane/acetone (1:1, v/v), hexane/dichloromethane (1:1, v/v) and organochlorine pesticides were calculated using group contribution method. The solvents, such as hexane/methanol (4:1, v/v) and hexane/acetone (1:1, v/v) were selected as ideal extraction solvents to extract o,p′-DDT o,p′-DDE and o,p′-DDD with high recoveries (>82%), furthermore, these solvents can be used to extract α-endosulfan, Endrin and HCB with the reliable recoveries (>75%). The estimated finding by solubility parameters was supported by the results of soxhlet extraction.     

Evaluation of human plasma sample preparation protocols for untargeted metabolic profiles analyzed by UHPLC-ESI-TOF-MS

Eight human plasma preparation protocols were evaluated for their suitability for metabolomic studies by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry: organic solvent protein precipitation (PPT) with either methanol or acetonitrile in 2:1 and 3:1 (v/v) ratios with plasma; solid-phase extraction (SPE) using C₁₈ or HybridSPE cartridges; and a combination of PPT and SPE C₁₈ cartridges and microextraction by packed sorbent. A study design in which the order of injection of the samples was not randomized is presented. The analyses were conducted in a BEH C₁₈ column (1.7 μm, 2.1 mm?×?100 mm) using a linear gradient from 100 % water to 100 % methanol, both with 0.1 % formic acid, in 21 min. The most reproducible protocol considering both the univariate and the multivariate analysis results was PPT with acetonitrile in a 2:1 (v/v) ratio with plasma, offering a mean coefficient of variation of the area of all the detected features of 0.15 and one of the best clusterings in the principal component analysis plots. On the other hand, the highest number of extracted features was achieved using methanol in a 2:1 (v/v) ratio with plasma as the PPT solvent, closely followed by the same protocol with acetonitrile in a 2:1 (v/v) ratio with plasma, which offered only 1.2 % fewer repeatable features. In terms of concentration of remaining protein, protocols based on PPT with acetonitrile provided cleaner extracts than protocols based on PPT with methanol. Finally, pairwise comparison showed that the use of PPT- and SPE-based protocols offers a different coverage of the metabolome. Graphical Abstract

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Rapid and cost‐effective method for the simultaneous quantification of seven alkaloids in Corydalis decumbens by microwave‐assisted extraction and capillary electrophoresis

A rapid and cost‐effective method based on microwave‐assisted extraction followed by capillary electrophoresis was developed for simultaneous quantification of seven alkaloids in Corydalis decumbens for the first time. The main parameters affecting microwave‐assisted extraction and capillary electrophoresis separation were investigated and optimized. The optimal microwave‐assisted extraction was performed at 40°C for 5 min using methanol/water (90:10, v/v) as the extracting solvent. Electrophoretic separation was achieved within 15 min using an uncoated fused‐silica capillary (50 μm internal diameter and 27.7 cm effective length) and a 500 mM Tris buffer containing 45% v/v methanol (titrated to pH^* 2.86 with H₃PO₄). The developed method was successfully applied to the quantification of seven alkaloids in Corydalis decumbens obtained from different regions of China. The combination of microwave‐assisted extraction with capillary electrophoresis was an effective method for the rapid analysis of the alkaloids in Corydalis decumbens .     

Separation and purification of 9,10‐dihydrophenanthrenes and bibenzyls from Pholidota chinensis by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography

Stilbenoids are the main components of leaves and stems of Pholidota chinensis. In the present investigation, high‐speed counter‐current chromatography was used for the separation and purification of two classes of stilbenoids, namely, bibenzyls and 9,10‐dihydrophenanthrenes, on a preparative scale from whole plants of P. chinensis with different solvent systems after silica gel column chromatography fractionation. n‐Hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1.2:1:1:0.8, v/v/v/v) was selected as the optimum solvent system to purify 1‐(3,4,5‐trimethoxyphenyl)‐1′,2′‐ethanediol ( 1 ), coelonin ( 2 ), 3,4′‐dihydroxy‐5,5′‐dimethoxybibenzyl ( 3 ), and 2,?7‐?dihydroxy‐?3,?4,?6‐?trimethoxy‐?9,?10‐?dihydrophenanthrene ( 4 ). While 2,7‐dihydroxy‐3,4,6‐trimethoxy‐?9,?10‐?dihydrophenanthrene ( 5 ), batatasin III ( 6 ), orchinol ( 7 ), and 3′‐O‐methylbatatasin III ( 8 ) were purified by n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1.6:0.8:1.2:0.4, v/v/v/v). After the high‐speed counter‐current chromatography isolation procedure, the purity of all compounds was over 94% assayed by ultra high performance liquid chromatography. The chemical structure identification of all compounds was carried out by mass spectrometry and ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. To the best of our knowledge, the current investigation is the first study for the separation and purification of bibenzyls and 9,10‐dihydrophenanthrenes by high‐speed counter‐current chromatography from natural resources.     

A convenient separation strategy for fungal anthraquinones by centrifugal partition chromatography

As recently shown, some fungal pigments exhibit significant photoactivity turning them into promising agents for the photodynamic treatment of microbial infections or malignant diseases. In the present study, a separation strategy for fungal anthraquinones was developed based on centrifugal partition chromatography. A suitable method was explored employing a methanolic extract of the fruiting bodies of Cortinarius sanguineus (Agaricales, Basidiomycota). An excellent fractionation was achieved using a biphasic solvent system comprising chloroform/ethyl acetate/methanol/water/acetic acid (3:1:3:2:1, v/v/v/v/v) operating in ascending mode. Experiments on an analytical scale with extracts of closely related Cortinarius species exhibited broad applicability of the devised system. Up to six pigments could be purified directly from the crude extract. Preparative-scale fractionation of the methanol extracts of C. malicorius and C. sanguineus demonstrated that up-scaling was possible without compromising selectivity.     

Study on pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of pteryxin in mice by ultra-pressure liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

Pteryxin is a coumarin compound naturally occurring in the roots of Radix Peucedani, a commonly used as traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of certain respiratory diseases and hypertension. An UPLC‐MS/MS method was established to quantify pteryxin in mouse plasma and tissue homogenates. Isoimperatorin was used as internal standard (IS). The method was based on protein precipitation with methanol for sample preparation. Pteryxin and IS were separated using a UPLC? BEH C₁₈ column and eluted with a mobile phase consisting of methanol and water (70:30, v/v) at a flow‐rate of 0.2 mL/min. MS/MS detection was carried out by monitoring the fragmentation of m/z 409.3–287.2 for pteryxin and m/z 271.3–185.2 for IS on a triple‐quadrupole mass spectrometer. The total run time was only 6 min. The results showed that it had good linearity over a wide concentration range (r > 0.999), and pteryxin was rapidly distributed and then eliminated from mouse plasma (t_1/2 =1.463 h). The major distribution tissues of pteryxin in mice were liver, and pteryxin was enabled to cross the blood–brain barrier owing to its low polarity. There was no long‐term accumulation of pteryxin in mouse tissues. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Separation of six xanthones from Swertia franchetiana by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography

In our present study, two groups of xanthones isomers (1‐hydroxy‐3,5,8‐trimethoxyxanthone and 1‐hydroxy‐3,7,8‐trimethoxyxanthone; 1,8‐dihydroxy‐3,7‐dimethoxyxanthone and 1,8‐dihydroxy‐3,5‐dimethanolxanthone) and other two xanthones (3‐methoxy‐1,5,8‐trihydroxyxanthone and 3,5‐dimethoxy‐1‐hydroxyxanthone) were separated from Swertia franchetiana . First, a solvent system composed of petroleum ether/methanol/water (2:1:0.6, v/v) was developed for the liquid–liquid extraction of these xanthones from the crude extract. Then, an efficient method was established for the one‐step separation of these six xanthones by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography using n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/ethanol/water (HEMEW; 6:4:4:2:4, v/v) as the solvent system. The results showed that liquid–liquid extraction could be well developed for efficient enrichment of target compounds. Additionally, high‐speed countercurrent chromatography could be a powerful technology for separation xanthones isomers. It was found ethanol could be a good methanol substitute when the HEMEW system could not provide good separation factors.     

Quantitative determination of euphol in rat plasma by LC‐MS/MS and its application to a pharmacokinetic study

Euphol is a potential pharmacologically active ingredient isolated from Euphorbia kansui. A simple, rapid, and sensitive method to determine euphol in rat plasma was developed based on liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS) for the first time. The analyte and internal standard (IS), oleanic acid, were extracted from plasma with methanol and chromatographied on a C₁₈ short column eluted with a mobile phase of methanol–water–formic acid (95:5:0.1, v/v/v). Detection was performed by positive ion atmospheric pressure chemical ionization in selective reaction monitoring mode. This method monitored the transitions m/z 409.0 → 109.2 and m/z 439.4 → 203.2 for euphol and IS, respectively. The assay was linear over the concentration range 27–9000 ng/mL, with a limit of quantitation of 27 ng/mL. The accuracy was between –7.04 and 4.11%, and the precision was <10.83%. This LC‐MS/MS method was successfully applied to investigate the pharmacokinetic study of euphol in rats after intravenous (6 mg/kg) and oral (48 mg/kg) administration. Results showed that the absolute bioavailability of euphol was approximately 46.01%. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.