Binding study of Flos Lonicerae Japonicae with bovine serum albumin using centrifugal ultrafiltration and liquid chromatography

The screening and analysis of bioactive components in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) is very important not only for the quality control of Chinese herbs but also for elucidating the therapeutic principles. This study developed a new method for screening and analyzing bioactive compounds from TCMs using centrifugal ultrafiltration coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography. The method was successfully applied in the binding study of Flos Lonicerae Japonicae with bovine serum albumin (BSA), and 11 compounds were found to be bound with the BSA. Eight of them were positively identified as chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, rutin, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, luteolin-7-O-glucoside, lonicerin, 3, 5-di-O-caffeoyl quinic acid and 3,4-di-O-caffeoyl quinic acid. Another three compounds were tentatively identified as two isomers of chlorogenic acid and one isomer of di-O-caffeoyl quinic acid by comparing the UV data and MS data with the previous reports. Based on modern pharmacological study, these compounds are the major bioactive components in Lonicera japonica. Therefore, the proposed method could be a good approach to predicting the potential bioactivities of multiple compounds in TCMs simultaneously.     

Application of preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography for separation of chlorogenic acid from Flos Lonicerae

Chlorogenic acid, an ester formed between caffeic acid and quinic acid, is a major phenolic compound in the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Flos Lonicerae. The separation and purification of chlorogenic acid from the crude extract of Flos Lonicerae was achieved by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC). A high acid, highly polar two-phase solvent system containing n-butanol-acetic acid-water (4:1:5) was run on a preparative scale. The upper phase was used as the mobile phase in the head to tail elution mode. A 300-mg quantity of the crude extract containing 5.97% chlorogenic acid was loaded on a 342-ml HSCCC column. Double separations were performed with the same solvent system yielding 16.9 mg chlorogenic acid at 94.8% purity with approximately 90% recovery.     

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of active flavonoids in Flos Lonicerae by capillary zone electrophoresis coupled with solid-phase extraction

Flavonoids are an important bioactive group in the commonly used herbal medicine Flos Lonicerae. A new method of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) coupled with solid-phase extraction (SPE) was developed for simultaneous assay of flavonoid aglycones and glycosides in Flos Lonicerae. Optimum CZE separation was achieved with a background electrolyte (BGE) solution consisting of 80 mM boric acid and 20 mM phosphate acid, adjusted to pH 8.1, with 15% acetonitrile (v/v) added, and applying a separation voltage of 28 kV. The SPE method was used for pretreating the complex matrix of botanical materials and good reproducibility was obtained when avicularin was used as internal standard. Linearity of the method was excellent with correlation coefficients (r2) in the range of 0.9995-0.9999 and detection limits were lower than 0.6 microg/mL for the four flavonoids. The obtained recoveries varied between 93 to 104% while the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were below 4.4% (n=3). The developed CZE method was successfully used for the separation of eight flavonoids and the quantification of the four flavonoids in five species of Flos Lonicerae.     

Simultaneous quantification of seven bioactive components in Caulis Lonicerae Japonicae by high performance liquid chromatography

This study presents a new HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of seven major components, namely chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, loganin, sweroside, secoxyloganin, rutin and luteolin 7-O-glucoside in Caulis Lonicerae Japonicae, a commonly used traditional Chinese medicinal herb derived from the caulis of Lonicera japonica Thunb. These seven compounds, belonging to the chemical types of phenolic acids, iridoids and flavonoids, were separated on a C18 column (250 x 4.6 mm, 5.0 microm) with the column temperature at 30 degrees C. The mobile phase was composed of (A) aqueous acetic acid (0.4%, v/v) and (B) acetonitrile using a gradient elution of 10% B at 0-12 min, 10-17% B at 12-25 min and 17% B at 25-35 min. The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min and detection wavelength was set at 245 nm. The limit of detection (S/N = 3) ranged from 0.10 to 0.23 microg/mL and the limit of quantification (S/N = 10) ranged from 0.69 to 3.56 microg/mL. All calibration curves showed good linear regression (r2 > 0.9990) within the test ranges. The intra- and inter-day precisions as determined from sample solutions were below 1.24 and 2.28%, respectively. The recoveries for seven compounds were found to range from 94.2 to 103.6%. This verified method has been successfully applied to evaluation of commercial samples of Caulis Lonicerae Japonicae from different markets in China.     

Simultaneous determination of iridoids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and saponins in Flos Lonicerae and Flos Lonicerae Japonicae by HPLC-DAD-ELSD coupled with principal component analysis

A method, HPLC coupled with diode-array and evaporative light scattering detectors (HPLC-DAD-ELSD), was newly developed to evaluate the quality of Flos Lonicerae (FL) and Flos Lonicerae Japonicae (FLJ), through a simultaneous determination of multiple types of bioactive components. By employing DAD, the detection wavelengths were set at 240 nm for the determination of iridoids, 330 nm for phenolic acids, and 360 nm for flavonoids, respectively. While ELSD, connected in series after DAD, was applied to the determination of saponins. This assay was fully validated with respect to precision, repeatability, and accuracy. Moreover, principal component analysis (PCA) was used for the similarity evaluation of different samples, and it was proven straightforward and reliable to differentiate FL and FLJ samples from different origins. For PCA, two principal components have been extracted. Principal component 1 (PC1) influences the separation between different sample sets, capturing 54.598% variance, while principal component 2 (PC2) affects differentiation within sample sets, capturing 12.579% variance. In conclusion, simultaneous quantification of bioactive components by HPLC-DAD-ELSD coupled with PCA would be a well-acceptable strategy to differentiate the sources and to comprehensively control the quality of the medicinal plants FL and FLJ.     

Quality evaluation of Flos lonicerae through a simultaneous determination of seven saponins by HPLC with ELSD

A new HPLC coupled with evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD) method has been developed for the simultaneous quantitative determination of seven major saponins, namely macranthoidin B (1), macranthoidin A (2), dipsacoside B (3), hederagenin-28-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl(6-->1)-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl ester (4), macranthoside B (5), macranthoside A (6), and hederagenin-3-O-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl(2-->1)-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside (7) in Flos Lonicerae, a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herb. Simultaneous separation of these seven saponins was achieved on a C18 analytical column. The mobile phase consisted of (A) acetonitrile-acetic acid (95:0.5) and (B) 0.5% aqueous acetic acid using a gradient elution of 29%A at 0-10 min, 29-46%A at 10-25 min and 46%A at 25-30 min. The drift tube temperature of ELSD was set at 106 degrees C, and with the nitrogen flow-rate of 2.6 l/min. All calibration curves showed good linear regression (r2>0.9922) within test ranges. This method showed good reproducibility for the quantification of these seven saponins in Flos Lonicerae with intra- and inter-day variations of less than 3.0% and 6.0%, respectively. The validated method was successfully applied to quantify seven saponins in five sources of Flos Lonicerae, which provides a new basis of overall assessment on quality of Flos Lonicerae.     

HPLC determination and pharmacokinetics of chlorogenic acid in rabbit plasma after an oral dose of Flos Lonicerae extract

A simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for the determination of chlorogenic acid (3-O-caffeoyl-D-quinic acid) in plasma and applied to its pharmacokinetic study in rabbits after administration of Flos Lonicerae extract. Plasma samples are extracted with methanol. HPLC analysis of the extracts is performed on a C(18) reversed-phase column using acetonitrile-0.2% phosphate buffer (11:89, v/v) as the mobile phase. The UV detector is set at 327 nm. The standard curves are linear in the range 0.0500-1.00 microg/mL (r = 0.9987). The mean extraction recovery of 85.1% is obtained for chlorogenic acid. The interday precision (relative standard deviation) ranges from 5.0% to 7.5%, and the intraday precision is better than 9.0%. The limit of quantitation is 0.0500 microg/mL. The plasma concentration of chlorogenic acid shows a C(max) of 0.839 +/- 0.35 microg/mL at 34.7 +/- 1.1 min and a second one of 0.367 +/- 0.16 microg/mL at 273.4 +/- 39.6 min.     

Simultaneous quantification of Echinacea species, Flos Lonicerae, Radix Scutellaria and Fructus Forsythiae combinations by rapid resolution liquid chromatography

Echinacea angustifolia and E. purpurea are commonly used in North America for their anti-bacterial effects. Flos Lonicerae, Radix Scutellaria and Fructus Forsythiae are traditional Chinese medicinal herbs commonly used for the treatment of complaints such as pneumonia, acute upper respiratory tract infection, and acute bronchitis. A reproducible, simple, and reliable rapid resolution liquid chromatographic (RRLC) method has been developed to analyze extracts of products formulated containing E. angustifolia, E. purpurea, Flos Lonicerae, Radix Scutellariae and Fructus Forsythiae simultaneously in one run in less than 6 minutes. The method uses a C18-HST column, a mobile phase consisting of 0.1% aqueous phosphoric acid solution and acetonitrile, and UV detection at 327 nm and 229 nm. A stability test was performed that revealed that chlorogenic acid is more stable in acidic pH, and hence it is best to keep the extract of E. augustifolia, E. purpurea, Flos Lonicerae, Radix Scutellariae and Fructus Forsythiae in mild acidic conditions at approximately pH 5.     

Determination of five major iridoid glucosides in Flos Lonicerae by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light scattering detection

This study presents a new HPLC method using evaporative light scattering detection for the simultaneous determination of live major iridoid glucosides, namely 7-epi-loganin, sweroside, loganin, 7-epi-vogeloside, and secoxyloganin in Flos Lonicerae, an important traditional Chinese medicinal herb. The optimal conditions of separation and detection were achieved on a C18 analytical column with an isocratic mobile phase consisting of methanol-water (30:70, v/v) containing 0.5% acetic acid at the flow-rate of 1.0 ml/min, temperature for the detector drift tube set at 90 degrees C and the nitrogen flow-rate of 2.6 l/min. The limit of detection (S/N = 3) is less than 35.1 microg/ml and the limit of quantification (S/N = 10) is less than 140.1 microg/ml. All calibration curves show good linear regression (r2>0.996) within test ranges. This method provides good reproducibility for the quantification of the major iridoid glucosides in four Lonicera species with overall intra- and inter-day variation of less than 5% and 9%, respectively. The assay was successfully applied to quantify the main iridoid glucosides in the herb and to identify the botanical origin of Flos Lonicerae.     

微波辅助萃取/高效液相色谱串联质谱法对山银花中活性成分含量的测定

建立了微波辅助萃取/高效液相色谱串联质谱法(MAE/HPLC-MS/MS)同时测定山银花中10种活性成分含量的方法。山银花药材采用MAE萃取,萃取溶剂为乙醇-水(7∶3),固液比1∶30,萃取温度70℃,萃取时间10 min。采用HPLC-MS/MS测定萃取液中活性成分的含量,色谱柱采用Agilent Poroshell120 SB-C18(100 mm×2.1 mm,2.7μm),以0.5%甲酸-乙腈为流动相进行梯度洗脱,负离子多重反应离子监测模式检测。在优化条件下,10种成分的定量分析在10 min内完成。结果表明,10种活性成分的线性范围为0.05～500 mg/L,相关系数(r)不低于0.996 9,检出限和定量下限分别在69～4 413μg/kg和231～14709μg/kg范围,回收率为94%～105%。采用该方法检测6个不同产地的山银花样品,10种活性成分的含量在3.98～14 356.31 mg/kg范围。该方法快速、准确,可有效地用于山银花药材的质量控制。     

固相萃取/液相色谱-质谱/质谱法测定山银花中5种主要黄酮苷元的含量

该文通过含有盐酸的乙醇溶液回流水解并提取,HLB固相萃取柱净化,液相色谱-质谱/质谱法检测,建立了山银花中槲皮素、木犀草素、山萘酚、芹菜素和黄芩素5种黄酮苷元含量的测定方法。实验以芦丁、木犀草苷、紫云英苷、野漆树苷和黄芩苷5种黄酮苷为代表开展研究,山银花样品经50%的乙醇溶液(含10%浓盐酸)回流2 h水解黄酮苷,同时对黄酮苷元进行提取,HLB固相萃取柱净化,采用Mightysil RP-18色谱柱分离,液相色谱-质谱/质谱法检测(电喷雾离子源、多反应监测模式、负离子扫描),外标法定量测定水解后的5种黄酮苷元含量。方法的定量下限(S/N=10)为0.005 g/kg(槲皮素),0.01 g/kg(木犀草素和芹菜素)和0.05 g/kg(山萘酚和黄芩素)。在0~1.0 g/kg范围内,5种黄酮苷元的线性相关系数均大于0.995;在山银花样品中对待测物进行3种加标水平的回收实验(加标水平相当于水解后槲皮素和木犀草素含量为:0.10、0.20、0.40 g/kg,山萘酚、芹菜素和黄芩素含量为:0.05、0.10、0.20 g/kg),方法的平均回收率70.4%~104%;相对标准偏差为4.0%~12%。该方法实现了山银花中多种主要黄酮苷元含量的同时测定,且对研究山银花药效及与黄酮类化合物的关系具有重要意义。     

高分辨采样二维液相色谱法同时测定金银花中绿原酸和木犀草苷含量

采用高分辨采样二维液相色谱法（HiRes 2D-LC）对金银花中绿原酸和木犀草苷进行准确定量分析。第一维液相色谱采用C18色谱柱，以乙腈和0.4%（v/v）磷酸水溶液为流动相进行梯度洗脱；第二维液相色谱采用SB-Phenyl色谱柱，以乙腈和0.5%（v/v）乙酸水溶液为流动相进行梯度洗脱；二维接口采用五位十通阀，并配置2个多中心切割阀，对绿原酸组分和木犀草苷组分进行多次连续切割。实验结果表明，二维液相色谱分析提高了绿原酸和木犀草苷色谱峰的确认能力，可揭示一维液相色谱分析中共洗脱或隐藏峰的信息；高分辨采样模式实现了一维目标组分的片段式整峰切割，提高了二维液相色谱分析的准确定量能力；通过线性关系、基质加标回收和重复性等考察结果，表明高分辨采样二维液相色谱具有优异的定量准确性和重复性，为中药等复杂基质组分样品的分离和准确定量提供了新方法。     

高效液相色谱法同时测定忍冬中7种成分

建立了在不同时间段内转换使用不同波长同时测定忍冬花和叶中7种化学成分(绿原酸、咖啡酸、芦丁、木犀草苷、异绿原酸A、异绿原酸B、异绿原酸C)的高效液相色谱分析方法,同时应用该方法分析了忍冬花、忍冬老叶和新叶中成分含量的差异。色谱柱为Agilent Eclipse Plus C18(250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm);流动相为0.3%甲酸水溶液(A)和乙腈(B),梯度洗脱,流速1 mL/min;采用VWD紫外检测器转换波长(330 nm、350 nm)检测。应用所建立的方法测定忍冬新叶中绿原酸、木犀草苷含量分别为2.572%、1.498‰,均比药典中规定的含量高,有必要进一步的研究和开发利用。该方法准确、简便、灵敏度高,适用于忍冬中7种化学成分含量的同时测定和忍冬的质量控制及综合评价。     

Analysis of Chlorogenic Acid in Herbal Medicines by Capillary Electrophoresis

Atpresent,thecommonlyusedmethodforanalyzingherbalmedicinesishighperformanceliquidchromatography(HPLC).However,theuseofHPLCisrestrictedformanyreasons.Themostseriousproblemisthatthechromatographiccolumniseasilycontaminated.ComparedwithHPLC,capillaryelectrophoresis(CE)ischaracterizedwithhighefficiency,rapidity,lowcostandmultiplemodestobechosen.Inaddition,thecapillarycanbeeasilyregenerated.SoCEisidealforanalyzing"dirty"samples,suchasChineseherbalmedicines.Infact,studiesintheareaarebecoming…     

Determination of oleanolic acid, ursolic acid and amygdalin in the flower of Eriobotrya japonica Lindl. by HPLC

Simple and accurate HPLC methods were developed for the determination of oleanolic acid (OA), ursolic acid (UA) and amygdalin in loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) flower, which is commonly used for the treatment of various diseases as a traditional Chinese medicine. HPLC assay was performed on a reversed-phase C(18) column and all three compounds were detected at 210 nm with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The mobile phase consisted of methanol (A) and 0.03 mol/L phosphate buffer (pH 2.8) (B) with a ratio of 88:12 (A:B, v/v) for simultaneous detection of OA and UA, and 25:75 (A:B, v/v) for detection of amygdalin. The established methods showed good precision and accuracy with overall intra-day and inter-day variation of 0.99-3.55 and 1.05-4.05%, respectively, and overall recoveries of 97.37-99.32% for the three compounds. Application of these methods to determine the OA, UA and amygdalin contents in loquat flower showed that cultivar had a minor effect on the contents of all three compounds, with average amounts of 0.38-0.51 mg OA/g dry weight (DW), 2.15-2.68 mg UA/g DW and 1.23-1.56 mg amygdalin/g DW among five loquat cultivars tested. However, developmental stages and flower tissues showed significant effect on the contents of all three bioactive components.     

Characterization and identification of multiple constituents in Yinhuang granules by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array and time-of-flight mass spectrometry detection

A fast high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with diode-array detection (DAD) and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF/MS) has been developed for the analysis of multi-constituent in Yinhuang granules, a well-known combined herbal remedy prepared from the extract mixtures of Flos Lonicerae and Radix Scutellariae. The fast HPLC analysis was performed on an Agilent ZorBax SB-C(18) column (4.6×50 mm, 1.8 μm) and 0.2% aqueous formic acid and acetonitrile was the optimum mobile phase for gradient elution in 17 min, which is five times faster than the performance of conventional columns packed with 5.0 μm particles. With various fragmentor voltages in TOF/MS, accurate mass measurements (<5 ppm error) for molecular ions and characteristic fragment ions represented reliable identification criteria for different constituents. A total of 28 compounds, including nine phenolic acids, three iridoid glycosides and nine saponins from Flos Lonicerae and seven flavonoids from Radix Scutellariae, were identified or tentatively characterized in the extract of Yinhuang granules. The established fast HPLC-DAD-TOF/MS method turns out to be useful and efficient for quality control of this commonly used Chinese herbal preparation.     

Capillary high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry for simultaneous determination of major flavonoids, iridoid glucosides and saponins in Flos Lonicerae

Flos Lonicerae, a traditional herbal medicine, has been used in China to treat some inflammatory disease. Several different classes of compounds have been separated from the herb to assess their pharmacological activities. Among these classes, flavonoids, iridoid glycosides and saponins have been well studied and may be responsible for its clinical application. Therefore, quality control of Flos Lonicerae is an important issue for drug safety and validity evaluations. A quantitative method consisting of solid phase extraction followed by capillary high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (capillary HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS) was developed for simultaneously assay of 24 compounds in Flos Lonicerae. Under optimized capillary HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS conditions, these compounds, including nine flavonoids, eight iridoid glucosides and seven saponins, were separated with high efficiency in the selected-ion monitoring (SIM) mode. Linearity of the method was good with correlation coefficients (r(2)) in the range of 0.9935-0.9998 and detection limits were lower than 2.57 ng/mL for most of analytes. The obtained recoveries varied between 91.0 and 108.7% with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) within 8.74% (n=3). The capillary HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS method was also successfully applied to the analysis of these compounds in five species of Flos Lonicerae. It was demonstrated to be a powerful tool for comprehensive analysis of herbal medicines, owing to its exclusive selectivity and excellent sensitivity.     

Rapid quantitative analysis of adulterant Lonicera species in preparations of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos

Lonicerae Japonicae Flos is often adulterated with Lonicerae Flos, which is derived from the other four Lonicera species, in both the crude drug and Lonicerae Japonicae Flos preparations. We proposed a methodology for the quantitative analysis of adulterant Lonicerae Flos in Lonicerae Japonicae Flos preparations. Taking macranthoidins A, B, dipsacoside B (saponins), sweroside (iridoids), and luteolin‐7‐O‐d ‐glucoside (flavonoids) as markers, a method of ultra high performance liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry was employed to determine their amounts in Lonicerae Flos, Lonicerae Japonicae Flos, and Lonicerae Japonicae Flos preparations. The proportion of adulterant Lonicerae Flos in Lonicerae Japonicae Flos preparations was estimated based on the saponin contents of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos. All analytes separated under isocratic elution in 12 min with acceptable linearity, precision, repeatability, and accuracy. Lonicerae Japonicae Flos was easily distinguished from Lonicerae Flos by the total amount of saponins (0.067 and > 45.8 mg/g for Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos, respectively). Eighteen of twenty one Lonicerae Japonicae Flos preparation samples were adulterated with Lonicerae Flos in proportions of 11.3–100%. The developed ultra high performance liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method could be used for the identification of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and the four species of Lonicerae Flos and for the analysis of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos preparations adulterated with Lonicerae Flos.     

Preparative separation of isomeric caffeoylquinic acids from Flos Lonicerae by pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography

This work concentrates on pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography of two isomeric dicaffeoylquinic acids, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid along with 3-caffeoylquinic acid, from crude extracts of Flos Lonicerae. The elution sequence of the isomeric dicaffeoylquinic acids, the mixing zone and mechanism of separation are discussed. The separation of 2.136g of the crude sample from Flos Lonicerae yielded two isomeric compounds: 0.289g 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 0.106g 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid plus 0.690g 3-caffeoylquinic acid at a high purity of over 92.9%, 94.2% and 97.5%, respectively.     

金银花的毛细管电泳指纹图谱研究

采用毛细管区带电泳法,以50 mmol/L硼砂(含20 mmol/L β-环糊精(CD),用磷酸调pH 8.0)为背景电解质,运行电压12 kV,紫外检测波长254 nm,重力进样15 s（高度8.5 cm）,建立了金银花药材水提取液的毛细管电泳指纹图谱(CEFP)。将13个不同产地的金银花药材供试液的CEFP进行比较,以电泳峰出现率100%计,确定金银花的共有指纹峰为18个。该CEFP具有较好的精密度和重现性,分离效能高且成本低廉。提出了指纹图谱宏观含量相似度R、投影含量相似度C和定量相似度P的概念,可从总体上评价药材化学组分的整体含量情况。从两个方面评价各产地药材与对照CEFP间的总体相似性,合格药材应具备以下两个条件：(1)代表化学成分分布相似性的定性相似度(S)≥0.90;(2)描述药材整体化学成分含量的定量相似度(R,C,P,Q)应在80%～120%。以此二类相似度指标控制金银花的质量,建立了指纹图谱评价的又一新方法。