Comparative study of Puerariae lobatae and Puerariae thomsonii by HPLC-diode array detection-flow injection-chemiluminescence coupled with HPLC-electrospray ionization-MS

An on-line HPLC-diode array detection-flow injection chemiluminescence (HPLC-DAD-FICL) method was applied to estimate the difference of Puerariae lobatae and Puerariae thomsonii. Their chemical and active profiles could be obtained by HPLC-DAD-FICL in one run. Seventeen compounds in two species were tentatively identified by HPLC-electrospray ionization-MS (HPLC-ESI-MS) method. The main antioxidants were rapidly screened by active fingerprints coupled with MS data. Similarity and Hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) were used to distinguish different samples. The results suggested that the chemical fingerprints of 16 batches of samples were similar by similarity evaluation, while HCA could discriminate the two species. The active fingerprints of Puerariae lobatae and Puerariae thomsonii were significantly different. More antioxidants were found in Puerariae lobatae than in Puerariae thomsonii. Main antioxidants, including 3'-hydroxypuerarin, genistein 8-C-glycoside-xyloside, puerarin, 6″-O-xylosylpuerarin, mirificin and daidzein in two species, may be reasonable markers for the discrimination of the two species. The integrated fingerprint based on the chemical and active characteristics may provide an objective quality evaluation for Puerariae lobatae and Puerariae thomsonii.     

HPLC profile analysis of hepatoprotective oleanene-glucuronides in Puerariae Flos.

In order to confirm the constitution of hepatoprotective oleanene glucuronide (OG), HPLC profile analyses of the total OG fractions of both Puerariae Thomsonii Flos (the flowers of Pueraria thomsonii) and Puerariae Lobatae Flos (the flowers of P. lobata) were performed. No remarkable difference in the HPLC profiles with respect to OGs in the flowers was shown, in contrast to those of the roots. By repeated chromatography of the total OG fraction of Puerariae Thomsonii Flos, soyasaponin I (1), kaikasaponin III (2) and kakkasaponin I (3), which had been already isolated from Puerariae Lobatae Flos, were obtained. The hepatoprotective activity of 2 towards immunologically induced liver injury was significantly more effective than that of 1. This information supported previously obtained structure-hepatoprotective relationship data which was measured on another model. The structure-activity relationship information which suggested that the hydroxymethyl group of the galactosyl unit would enhance the hepatoprotective activity was also substantiated.     

葛根药材指纹图谱分析方法研究

以安徽产葛根药材为分析对象,选择Agilent ZORBAX SB-C18柱(4.6 mm×250 mm,5μm),甲醇-水梯度洗脱,流量为0.9 mL.min-1,检测波长为250 nm,柱温25℃,建立了葛根药材HPLC指纹图谱。结果表明,10批供试品的保留时间在60 min之内,共有18个典型的共有色谱峰。采用HPLC法获得的葛根药材指纹图谱稳定、可靠、重复性好,能较全面地反映葛根药材的内在质量,可用于葛根药材的质量控制。     

Evaluation of traditional Chinese herbal medicine: Chaihu (Bupleuri Radix) by both high-performance liquid chromatographic and high-performance thin-layer chromatographic fingerprint and chemometric analysis

Chaihu (Bupleuri Radix), roots of Bupleurum chinense and B. scorzonerifolium, is an authentic Chinese Materia Medica in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Some other species such as the roots of B. falcatum, B.bicaule and B. marginatum var. stenophyllum similar to Chaihu can also be occasionally found in local raw herb markets. The quality of 33 lots of authenticated Chaihu samples vs. 31 lots of commercial samples was evaluated by both high-performance liquid chromatography-evaporative light scattering detector (HPLC-ELSD) and high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) analyses of its principal bioactive components (saikosaponins). The pre-treated data acquired from both HPLC fingerprints and HPTLC fluorescent images were processed by chemometrics for similarity and pattern recognition, including Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) and an expert’s panel. It was apparent that k-NN classifier exhibited good performance with sufficient flexibility for processing HPTLC fingerprint images which were otherwise not easily dealt with by other algorithms due to the shift of R_f values and varying hue/saturation of the band colours between different TLC plates. These two chromatographic fingerprint methods can be considered complementary measure of quality control. The roots of Chaihu from different species of the genus Bupleurum could readily be distinguished from each other so that commercial samples can easily be classified. Chaihu collected from several major herbal distribution centers was found to belong to B. chinense with great variation in the content of its major saikosaponins.     

Species differentiation and quality assessment of Radix Paeoniae Rubra (Chi-shao) by means of high-performance liquid chromatographic fingerprint

There are two species under the monograph of Radix Paeoniae Rubrae ("Chi-shao" in Chinese) in Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2005 edition-Paeonia lactiflora Pallas and Paeonia veitchii Lynch. Due to different species and growing conditions, there are significant chemical differences between the two species, which may result in the improper clinical usage under the same name. Chemical pattern expressed by high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) fingerprint analysis can play an important role in species differentiation and quality control of Radix Paeoniae Rubra. In the present work, HPLC fingerprints of two kinds of Radix Paeoniae Rubra have been established and analysed with chemometric methods including similarity evaluation and principal component analysis. Both of the fingerprint common patterns of the two species comprise 13 characteristic peaks, nine of which were common peaks of the two species. However, significant differences between the roots of P. veitchii and P. lactiflora exist not only in the content of certain constituents, especially phenolic acids but also in peak-to-peak ratios expressed by the fingerprint patterns. According to the recent pharmacological studies on polyphenolic constituents, root originating from P. veitchii may possess better efficacy and quality than that from P. lactiflora. Our research reveals that further pharmacological investigation is very necessary to determine whether the two species should be embodied under the same monograph in Chinese Pharmacopoeia.     

A rapid method for simultaneous determination of 14 phenolic compounds in Radix Puerariae using microwave-assisted extraction and ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-DAD-TOF-MS) method was developed for simultaneous determination of 14 phenolic compounds in the root of Pueraria lobata (Wild.) Ohwi and Pueraria thomsonii Benth. Operational conditions of MAE were optimized by central composite design (CCD). The optimized result was 65% ethanol as extraction solvent, 17 mL of extraction volume, 100 °C of extraction temperature and 2 min of hold time. A Zorbax SB C₁₈ (50 mm × 4.6 mm I.D., 1.8 μm) and gradient elution were used during the analysis. The chromatographic peaks of 14 investigated compounds in samples were successfully identified by comparing their retention time, UV spectra and TOF mass data with the reference substances. All calibration curves showed good linearity (r > 0.9997) within the test ranges. The intra-day and inter-day variations were less than 1.77% and 2.88%, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to determine the investigated compounds in 10 samples of Radix Puerariae Lobatae and Radix Puerariae Thomsonii, respectively. The result indicated that MAE and UHPLC-DAD-TOF-MS system might provide a rapid method for the quality control of Radix Puerariae.     

Determination of puerarin, daidzein and rutin in Pueraria lobata (Wild.) Ohwi by capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection

A method based on capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection was developed for the determination of puerarin, daidzein and rutin. Effects of several important factors such as the acidity and concentration of running buffer, separation voltage, injection time, and detection potential were investigated to acquire the optimum conditions. The working electrode was a 300-microm diameter carbon disc electrode positioned opposite the outlet of capillary. The three analytes could be well separated within 12 min in a 40 cm length capillary at a separation voltage of 9 kV in a 50 mmol/l borate buffer (pH 9.0). The relationship between peak currents and analyte concentrations was linear over about three orders of magnitude with detection limits (SIN=3) ranging from 0.241 x 10(-6) to 0.511 x 10(-6) mol/l for all compounds. This proposed method demonstrated long-term stability and reproducibility with relative standard deviations of less than 5% for both migration time and peak current (n=7). It has been successfully applied for the determination of puerarin, daidzein and rutin in Chinese traditional drugs, the vines of Pueraria lobata (Wild.) Ohwi and Puerariae Radix.     

Study on the bioavailability of puerarin from Pueraria lobata isoflavone self-microemulsifying drug-delivery systems and tablets in rabbits by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

To evaluate the bioavailability of puerarin from Pueraria lobata isoflavone self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems (SMEDDS) and Yufengningxin tablets, a rapid and specific liquid chromatography--mass spectrometric method was developed and validated to determine puerarin in rabbit serum. The analyte was extracted from serum samples by precipitating the serum proteins, separated on a Diamonsil C(18) column and detected by mass spectrometry with an electrospray ionization interface. 4-Hydroxybenzaldehyde was used as the internal standard. The method has a limit of quantitation of 10 ng/mL using 200 microL serum. The intra-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) ranged from 3.7 to 6.9% and inter-day RSDs were within 6.5%. After administration of SMEDDS and tablets to rabbits, a significant difference was observed in main pharmacokinetic parameters of t(max), C(max) and AUC(0--infinity) between SMEDDS and tablets, and a 2.2-fold increase in the relative bioavailability of puerarin was observed with the SMEDDS compared with Yufengningxin tablets. It was concluded that the absorption of puerarin from Pueraria lobata isoflavone SMEDDS was enhanced.     

Simultaneous analysis and retention behavior of major isoflavonoids in Radix Puerariae lobatae and Radix Puerariae thomsonii by high performance liquid chromatography with cyclodextrins as a mobile phase modifier

In order to differentiate two species of Radix Puerariae (Radix Puerariae lobatae and Radix Puerariae thomsonii) and to determine major isoflavonoids (puerarin, daidzin, daidzein and genistein) in the samples, a simple high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with isocratic elution employing cyclodextrins (CDs) as mobile phase additives was developed. Various factors affecting the retention of isoflavonoids in the C₁₈ reversed-phase column, such as the nature of CDs, the concentration of hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) and the methanol percentage in the mobile phase, were studied. Experimental results confirmed that HP-β-CD, as a very effective mobile phase additive, could markedly reduce the retention of isoflavonoids, especially daidzein and genistein. The elution of four isoflavonoids could be achieved on a Kromasil^® C₁₈ column within 56 min by using the methanol–water contained 5 mM HP-β-CD (25/75, v/v) mixture as the mobile phase. The formation of the inclusion complexes between isoflavonoids and HP-β-CD explained the modification of the retention of analytes. The apparent formation constants determined by HPLC confirmed that the stoichiometry of HP-β-CD-isoflavonoid complexes was 1:1, and the stability of the complexes depended on the size and property of isoflavonoids. The optimized method was successfully applied for the simultaneous determination of major isoflavonoids in P. lobatae and P. thomsonii samples. This work provides a useful method for the analysis of traditional Chinese herbs.     

Identification of isoflavonoids in several kudzu samples by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

Pueraria lobata is a rich source of isoflavonoids. The detection and identification of isoflavonoid components from Pueraria radix (RP), callus and cell cultures, is very important for the safest and most effective use of kudzu as a medicinal plant, and for the studies on quantitative analysis and secondary metabolism of isoflavonoids in vitro cultures. Liquid chromatography is coupled with negative and positive electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS), and photodiode array detection is used to characterize and detect isoflavonoids in root, callus, and cell samples of P. lobata. Characteristic product ions of aglycones, O-glucosides, and C-glucosides were obtained from the full-scan ESI-MS chromatography of the major peaks and the MS-MS spectra of the protonated ions. Five major components of puerarin, daidzin-6"-O-acetylester, genistin-6"-O-malonylester, biochanin A-7-O-glucoside-6"-O-malonylester, and daidzein are detected and identified from the methanolic extract of P. lobata callus cultures. The major isoflavonoid components of P. lobata cell suspension cultures are identified as puerarin, daidzin, daidzin-6"-O-acetylester, genistin-6"-O-malonylester, biochanin A-7-O-glucoside-6"-O-malonylester, genistein-8-C-glucoside-6"-O-malonylester, and daidzein, on the basis of ESI-MS and MS-MS spectra analysis. Likewise, puerarin, daidzin, genistein-6"-O-malonylester, 3'-methoxypuerarin, and daidzein are detected and identified from RP. Of those isoflavonoid components detected, daidzin-6"-O-acetylester is a new isoflavonoid glucoside and is for the first time detected from P. lobata cultures in vitro.     

A New Pueroside from Pueraria lobata

Chemistry of Natural Compounds - A new constituent, named (4R)-6′′′′ -O-sinapoylpueroside B (1), was isolated from the dried roots of Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi. The...     

Purification of the isoflavonoid puerarin by adsorption chromatography on cross-linked 12% agarose

The isoflavonoid puerarin in extracts of the well-known traditional Chinese drug Radix puerariae (root of the plant Pueraria lobata) can be separated from other isoflavonoids by adsorption chromatography on the cross-linked 12% agarose gel Superose 12 equilibrated in distilled water. The adsorption is totally quenched by the addition of 50% acetic acid. The separation of the isoflavonoids is tentatively ascribed to interaction with the residues of the cross-linking reagents used in the manufacturing process of Superose 12. Thus, no useful separation can be achieved with non-cross-linked 12% agarose gel media. Symmetric elution profiles at high sample loadings (16 mg on a 24 ml column) suggest linear adsorption isotherms for the isoflavonoids.     

Simultaneous separation and determination of seven isoflavones in Radix Puerariae by capillary electrophoresis with a dual cyclodextrin system

A simple, comprehensive and efficient capillary electrophoresis method using a dual cyclodextrin system was developed for the simultaneous determination of seven isoflavones (3′‐methoxypuerarin, puerarin, 3′‐hydroxypuerarin, ononin, daidzin, daidzein and genistin). Baseline separations of the seven isoflavones were achieved within 11 min with the running buffer consisting of 35 mm sodium tetraborate, 9.0 mm sulfobutylether‐β‐cyclodextrin and 30 mm α‐cyclodextrin at pH 9.34, and peaks were detected at 254 nm. Other separation parameters included the separation voltage for 15 kV and the working temperature for 25°C. Under the optimum conditions, good linearities were obtained with linear correlation coefficients of seven isoflavones of 0.9978–0.9992. The limits of detection and the limits of quantification were 0.7–2.9 and 2.5–9.5 μg/mL, respectively. Excellent precision and accuracy were obtained. The intraday and interday precision ranged from 0.7 to 2.0% and from 0.8 to 1.9%, respectively. The recoveries of seven analytes were from 97.7 to 103.1%. This method was successfully applied to determine the seven analytes in Radix Puerariae and its preparations.     

纹党参与白条党参红外光谱的SIMCA聚类鉴别方法研究

以纹党参和白条党参的红外光谱为聚类分析的对象,研究了红外光谱结合SIMCA聚类分析法对纹党参和白条党参进行识别与分类的可行性.选取400 ～2 000 cm~(-1)范围内的光谱,通过基线补偿(Offset)和散射校正(MSC)等预处理后,采用SIMCA聚类分析法建立识别模型.结果表明,所建模型对纹党参和白条党参的识别率分别达92%和96%,拒绝率均为100%.用盲样对所建模型进行了测试,测试结果全部正确.该法可实现对纹党参和白条党参的快速鉴别.     

Rapid analysis of Radix puerariae by near-infrared spectroscopy

A new, rapid analytical method using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was developed to differentiate two species of Radix puerariae (GG), Pueraria lobata (YG) and Pueraria thomsonii (FG), and to determine the contents of puerarin, daidzin and total isoflavonoid in the samples. Five isoflavonoids, puerarin, daidzin, daidzein, genistin and genistein were analyzed simultaneously by high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). The total isoflavonoid content was exploited as critical parameter for successful discrimination of the two species. Scattering effect and baseline shift in the NIR spectra were corrected and the spectral features were enhanced by several pre-processing methods. By using linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and soft independent modeling class analogy (SIMCA), samples were separated successfully into two different clusters corresponding to the two GG species. Furthermore, sensitivity and specificity of the classification models were determined to evaluate the performance. Finally, partial least squares (PLS) regression was used to build the correlation models. The results showed that the correlation coefficients of the prediction models are R = 0.970 for the puerarin, R = 0.939 for daidzin and R = 0.969 for total isoflavonoid. The outcome showed that NIRS can serve as routine screening in the quality control of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM).     

Separation and purification of isoflavones from Pueraria lobata by high-speed counter-current chromatography.

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was applied to the semipreparative separation and purification of puerarin and related isoflavones from a crude extract of Pueraria lobata. Analytical HSCCC was used for the preliminary selection of a suitable solvent system composed of ethyl acetate-n-butanol-water (2:1:3, v/v/v). Using the above solvent system the preparative HSCCC was successfully performed yielding six relatively pure isoflavones including puerarin from 80 mg of the crude extract in one-step separation.     

Study on triterpenoic acids distribution in Ganoderma mushrooms by automatic multiple development high performance thin layer chromatographic fingerprint analysis

Ganoderma--"Lingzhi" in Chinese--is one of the superior Chinese tonic materia medicas in China, Japan, and Korea. Two species, Ganoderma lucidum (Red Lingzhi) and G. sinense (Purple Lingzhi), have been included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia since its 2000 Edition. However, some other species of Ganoderma are also available in the market. For example, there are five species divided by color called "Penta-colors Lingzhi" that have been advocated as being the most invigorating among the Lingzhi species; but there is no scientific evidence for such a claim. Morphological identification can serve as an effective practice for differentiating the various species, but the inherent quality has to be delineated by chemical analysis. Among the diverse constituents in Lingzhi, triterpenoids are commonly recognized as the major active ingredients. An automatic triple development HPTLC fingerprint analysis was carried out for detecting the distribution consistency of the triterpenoic acids in various Lingzhi samples. The chromatographic conditions were optimized as follows: stationary phase, precoated HPTLC silica gel 60 plate; mobile phase, toluene-ethyl acetate-methanol-formic acid (15 + 15 + 1 + 0.1); and triple-development using automatic multiple development equipment. The chromatograms showed good resolution, and the color images provided more specific HPTLC fingerprints than have been previously published. It was observed that the abundance of triterpenoic acids and consistent fingerprint pattern in Red Lingzhi (fruiting body of G. lucidum) outweighs the other species of Lingzhi.     

加压毛细管电色谱法高效分离分析葛根多糖中的单糖

葛根多糖具有抗氧化、抗肿瘤等众多生物活性,对葛根多糖进行单糖组成分析对其活性研究具有重要意义。该研究利用响应面分析法考察了超声辅助提取法中液料比、超声温度、超声时间和超声功率对葛根多糖提取率的交互影响,并拟合数据得到多元二次回归方程。同时建立了柱前衍生加压毛细管电色谱检测糖类的方法,对分离8种中性单糖的色谱条件进行了探索与优化,并将此方法应用于两种葛根实际样品的单糖组成测定。响应面分析结果表明,4个试验因素中,超声温度对两种葛根多糖提取率的影响程度最大,其次为液料比,超声时间和超声功率影响程度较小。结合软件预测分析得到的最佳条件及设备实际情况,确定葛根多糖的最佳提取工艺条件为：超声温度90℃,粉葛多糖液料比20 mL/g,柴葛多糖液料比40 mL/g,超声时间30 min,超声功率180 W。优化后的色谱分离条件为：采用Halo-2.7 μm核壳型C18填料毛细管色谱柱,以乙腈-50 mmol/L pH 4.1的醋酸铵水溶液（18：82,v/v）为流动相,在250 nm波长下检测,施加电压-20 kV。在此条件下可以实现24 min内对葡萄糖等8种中性单糖衍生物的快速分离,相比传统液相色谱方法大大提升了分离检测速度和分离柱效。方法学考察表明此方法具有较好的线性关系和良好的重复性。对实际样品分离鉴定表明,粉葛多糖主要由葡萄糖、甘露糖、鼠李糖和岩藻糖组成,4种单糖物质的量之比为1.00：0.16：0.14：0.07;柴葛多糖主要由葡萄糖和甘露糖组成,2种单糖物质的量之比为1.00：0.70。该研究为单糖化合物快速高效分离检测提供了新方法,并为葛根多糖单糖组成分析提供了参考。     

Separation and purification of puerarin using beta-cyclodextrin-coupled agarose gel media

The isoflavonoid puerarin, a well-known traditional Chinese drug, has been purified in one step from an extract of Radix puerariae (root of the plant Pueralria lobata) by adsorption chromatography on an epichlorohydrin polymerized beta-cyclodextrin ligand coupled to brominated allyl-group substituted Sepharose HP. Acetic acid (10%) was used as the mobile phase and the optimum loading capacity was around 1.2 mg crude extract/ml packed gel. The purity of the collected puerarin was about 98% with a recovery of about 62%.     

Determination of puerarin in rat cortex by high-performance liquid chromatography after intravenous administration of Puerariae flavonoids

In the present study, a rapid and simple high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay for determination of puerarin in rat cortex was developed. The analysis was carried out on a Zorbax SB-C18 column with mobile phase acetonitrile-0.5% aqueous phosphoric acid (11:89, v/v). The detection was by UV at 252 nm. The calibration curve for puerarin was linear (r=0.9999) over the concentration range 0.516-206.250 microg/mL. The limit of detection was 0.206 microg/mL (signal-to-noise ratio 3) and the limit of quantification (signal-to-noise ratio 10) was 0.516 microg/mL. Stability studies showed that puerarin was stable at temperatures of 4 degrees C in methanol for at least 30 days. The intra- and inter-day assays of puerarin from rat cortex were less than 2.5% at concentration range 0.516-206.250 microg/mL and good overall recoveries (97.4-101.7%) were found at same concentrations. The method was applied to determine the pharmacokinetic parameters and the time course of puerarin in rat cortex, following a single dosage of intravenous administration of flavonoids from Puerariae radix at 32 mg/kg of puerarin to male Wistar rats.