Simultaneous determination of 15 marker constituents in various radix Astragali preparations by solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography

An improved quality control method was developed to simultaneously determine 15 major constituents (eight flavonoids and seven saponins) in various radix Astragali preparations, using SPE for pretreatment of samples, HPLC with diode-array and evaporative light scattering detectors (DAD-ELSD) for quantification in one run, and HPLC-ESI-TOF/MS for definite identification of compounds in preparations. Optimum separations were obtained with a ZORBAX C(18) column, using a gradient elution with 0.3% aqueous formic acid and ACN. This established method was fully validated with respect to linearity, precision, repeatability, and accuracy, and was successfully applied to quantify the 15 compounds in 19 commercial samples, including 3 dosage forms, i. e., oral solution, injection, concentrated granule, and its processed products of radix Astragali. The results demonstrated that many factors might result in significant differences in quality of the final preparations, including crude drugs, pretreatment processes, manufacturing procedure, storage conditions, etc. Then the developed method provided a reasonable and powerful manner to ensure the efficacy, safety, and batch-to-batch uniformity of radix Astragali products by standardizing each procedure, and thus should be proposed as quality control for the clinical use and modernization of herbal preparations.     

Determination and dynamics of difenoconazole residues in Chinese cabbage and soil

An analytical method was developed using a solid phase extraction （SPE） cleanup and gas chromatography for detecting the residues of difenoconazole in Chinese cabbage and soil. The recovery and the relative standard deviation of this method in Chinese cabbage was 87.6-99.0%, 1.71-10.50%, respectively; in soil was 92.4-95.5%, 4.93-10.70%, respectively. Further degradation of difenoconazole residue in Chinese cabbage and soil was studied to evaluate residue behavior and environmental safety of difenoconazole. Degradation rate of difenoconazole in both Chinese cabbage and soil followed the first order kinetics with the half-lives of 6.6-7.8 and 54.2-55.0 days, respectively.     

A new cytotoxic 2-（2-phenylethyl）chromone from Chinese eaglewood

A new compound 8-chloro-5,6,7-trihydroxy-2-（3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenethyl）-5,6,7,8-tetralaydro-4H-chromen-4-one （1） was isolated from the Chinese eaglewood [Aquilaria sinensis （Lour.） Gilg]. Its structure was elucidated on the basis of spectral data. Compound I showed cytotoxicity against human gastric cancer cell line （SGC-7901） in vitro by MTT method with the IC50 value of 14.6 μg/mL.     

大别山区野生黎豆中微量元素的测定与品质评价

采用了火焰原子吸收光谱法测定了大别山区野生黎豆中钙、镁、锌、铜、铁、锰 6 种微量元素的含量,采用硝酸_高氯酸的混酸湿法消化样品,并用电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法对测定结果作了对照,又将测定结果与黑豆、黄豆中 6 种微量元素钙、镁、锌、铜、铁和锰的含量作了比较,论证了大别山区野生黎豆具有较高的营养价值,为黎豆的广泛开发提供了科学的依据.     

Identification and quality evaluation of different processed products of Aconitum carmichaelii by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Aconitum carmichaelii is widely used to treat chronic and intractable diseases due to its remarkable curative effect, but it is also a highly toxic herb with severe cardiac and neurotoxicity. It has been combined with honey for thousands of years to reduce toxicity and enhance efficacy, but there has been no study on the chemical constituent changes in the honey-processing so far. In this study, the chemical constituents of A. carmichaelii before and after honey-processing were characterized by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry. The results showed that a total of 118 compounds were identified, of which six compounds disappeared and five compounds were newly produced after honey-processing, and the cleavage pathway of main components was elucidated. At the same time, 25 compounds were found to have significant effects on different products, among which four compounds with the biggest difference were selected for quantitative analysis by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. This study not only explained the chemical differences between the different products, but also helped to control the quality of the honey-processed products more effectively, and laid a foundation for further elucidating the mechanism of chemical constituent change during the honey-processing of A. carmichaelii.     

A study on the optimal English speech level for Chinese listeners in classrooms

Speech intelligibility in classrooms affects the learning efficiency of students directly, especially for the students who are using a second language. The speech intelligibility value is determined by many factors such as speech level, signal to noise ratio, and reverberation time in the rooms. This paper investigates the contributions of these factors with subjective tests, especially speech level, which is required for designing the optimal gain for sound amplification systems in classrooms. The test material was generated by mixing the convolution output of the English Coordinate Response Measure corpus and the room impulse responses with the background noise. The subjects are all Chinese students who use English as a second language. It is found that the speech intelligibility increases first and then decreases with the increase of speech level, and the optimal English speech level is about 71 dBA in classrooms for Chinese listeners when the signal to noise ratio and the reverberation time keep constant. Finally, a regression equation is proposed to predict the speech intelligibility based on speech level, signal to noise ratio, and reverberation time.     

基于高压制备液相的多维色谱技术在中药分离纯化中的应用

中药物质基础复杂,对其活性成分的分离一直是中药研究的难题.基于高压制备液相的多维色谱系统在高压制备液相色谱的基础上,结合了多种分离技术,极大地提高了色谱系统的分离性能和分离效率,更有利于对物质基础复杂的中药样品进行分离纯化.本文介绍了基于高压制备液相系统的多维色谱系统的基本原理、分离模式以及关键技术,并综述了其在中药分离纯化中的应用.     

超高效液相色谱-串联质谱法同时测定中药制剂中松香酸、11-羰基-β-乙酰乳香酸及苏丹红Ⅰ~Ⅳ的含量

建立了快速检测中药制剂中松香酸、11-羰基-β-乙酰乳香酸、苏丹红Ⅰ~Ⅳ的超高效液相色谱-串联质谱方法。样品以甲醇为提取溶剂,经Zorbax SB-C18色谱柱分离,以乙腈-0.1%甲酸水溶液为流动相梯度洗脱,流速为0.3 m L/min;采用电喷雾离子源(ESI),正离子多反应监测(MRM)扫描方式检测;基质匹配标准曲线法定量。结果表明,6种化合物分别在3.0~100μg/L(苏丹红Ⅰ,Ⅱ)及30~1 000μg/L(松香酸、11-羰基-β-乙酰乳香酸及苏丹红Ⅲ,Ⅳ)范围内线性关系良好,相关系数均大于0.99,方法检出限为0.7~8.6μg·kg-1,定量下限为2.2~25.1μg·kg-1。低、中、高3个加标水平下各化合物的平均回收率为76.5%~94.9%,相对标准偏差(RSD)为2.3%~9.9%。采用酸化提取液的方法解决了苏丹红Ⅲ和Ⅳ的光学异构现象带来的计算误差。通过对目标化合物碎片离子的研究以及质谱裂解规律的总结,为其定性鉴别和定量分析提供了参考。该方法操作简便、准确、快速、灵敏,适合掺假中药制剂中松香酸及苏丹红含量的检测。     

Separation and determination of flavonoids in three traditional chinese medicines by capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection

Flavonoids are important active ingredients in many traditional Chinese medicines. In this paper, capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection was employed to separate and detect eight flavonoids, rutin, quercetrin, quercetin, kaempferol, kaempferide, catechin, apigenin, and luteolin, in a home‐made capillary electrophoresis device. Under the separation voltage of 2000 V, the eight flavonoids could be completely separated within 33 min in 18 mM borax running buffer at pH 10.2. Good linear relationships were obtained for all analytes and the detection limits for flavonoids ranged from 0.46 to 0.85 μM. Then, the method was applied to separate and determine the flavonoids in three traditional Chinese medicines, hippophae rhamnoides, hypericum perforatum, and cacumen platycladi. Finally, rutin, kaempferol, quercetin, and quercetrin were discovered in these medicines and the concentrations ranged from 0.28 to 9.94 mg/g. The recoveries of flavonoids ranged from 84.7 to 113%, which showed the high reliability of this method.