Quality Evaluation of Taxilli Herba from Different Hosts Based on Simultaneous Determination of Multiple Bioactive Constituents Combined with Multivariate Statistical Analysis

Taxilli Herba (TAXH) is an important traditional Chinese medicine with a long history, dating from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the present times. However, the active constituents in it that parasitize different hosts vary, affecting its clinical efficacy. Given the complexity of the host origins, evaluating the quality of TAXH is critical to ensure the safety and effectiveness of clinical medication. In the present study, a quantitative method based on ultra-fast liquid chromatography tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UFLC-QTRAP-MS/MS) was established, which simultaneously determined the content of 33 active constituents, including 12 flavonoids, 4 organic acids, 12 amino acids, and 5 nucleosides in 45 samples. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was employed to classify and distinguish between TAXH and its adulterants, Tolypanthi Herba (TOLH). A hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) was conducted combined with a heatmap to visually observe the distribution regularity of 33 constituents in each sample. Furthermore, gray relational analysis (GRA) was applied to evaluate the quality of samples to get the optimal host. The results demonstrated that TAXH excelled TOLH in quality as a whole. The quality of TAXH parasitizing Morus alba was also better, while those that were parasitic on Cinnamomum camphora and Glyptostrobus pensilis had relatively poor quality. This study may provide comprehensive information that is necessary for quality control and supply a scientific basis for further exploring the quality formation mechanism of TAXH.     

高效液相色谱法测定细辛及其制剂中马兜铃酸A的含量

采用高效液相色谱法对细辛药材及其制剂中的马兜铃酸A进行含量测定。在所建立的条件下,测定马兜铃酸A的线性范围为 0. 019 ~1. 2μg,检出限为 2. 0×10-3 μg,测定结果的相对标准偏差为 3. 99%,回收率为95. 97% ~99. 21%。     

淫羊藿药材一些混淆物种的FTIR鉴别研究

淫羊藿是一味药用历史悠久的传统中药, 具有补肾壮阳之功效。《中国药典》规定使用五种来源的淫羊藿——淫羊藿Epimedium brevicornu Maxim.、箭叶淫羊藿E.sagittatum(Sieb. et Zucc.) Maxim.、柔毛淫羊藿E.pubescens Maxim.、朝鲜淫羊藿E.koreanum Nakai和巫山淫羊藿E.wushanense T.S.Ying,但这几种药材的鉴别特征描述比较简单,传统鉴定技术很难实现这些种类和常见混淆物种的鉴别。文章采用傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)及其二阶导数谱对常见淫羊藿易混淆药材——淫羊藿与朝鲜淫羊藿,柔毛淫羊藿与保靖淫羊藿E.baojingense Q.L.Chen & B.M.Yang、星花淫羊藿E.stellulatum Stearn、竹山淫羊藿E.zhushanense K.F.Wu&S.X.Qian,柔毛淫羊藿与部分天平山淫羊藿E.myrianthum Stearn,箭叶淫羊藿与粗毛淫羊藿E.acuminutum Franch.共4对易混淆药材进行鉴别研究。根据不同物种淫羊藿药材红外光谱特征的不同,基本上实现常见易混淆物种的快速鉴别。该方法有助于解决淫羊藿药材物种混乱问题。     

Quantitative analysis of Cistanches Herba using high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and high‐resolution mass spectrometry combined with chemometric methods

We aim to determine the chemical constituents of three species of Cistanches Herba using HPLC coupled with diode array detection and high‐resolution MS. Ten phenylethanoid glycosides were identified and further quantified as marker substances by HPLC coupled with diode array detection method. The separation was conducted using an Agilent TC‐C18 column with 0.1% formic acid and methanol as the mobile phases under gradient elution. The analytical method was fully validated in terms of linearity, sensitivity, precision, repeatability as well as recovery, and subsequently applied to evaluate the quality of 36 batches of Cistanche plants. The chemometric procedures (i.e., hierarchical clustering analysis and principal component analysis) were used to compare different species of Cistanches Herba, leading to successful classification of the Cistanche samples in accordance with their origins. In conclusion, this study provides a chemical basis for quality control of Cistanches Herba.     

Herba Ecliptae Protects against Hydroxyl Radical‐induced Damages to DNA and Mesenchymal Stem Cells via Antioxidant Mechanism

Herba Ecliptae (HE) is a typical Chinese herbal medicine used in China for 1500 years. In the study, HE was extracted by various solvents to prepare five HE extracts. They were observed to possess a protective effect against ×OH‐induced DNA damage, and scavenging effects on ×OH radical, ×O₂^? radical, DPPH×(1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl) radical, and ABTS×⁺ (2,2′‐azino‐bis(3‐ethyl‐benzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid) radical, and reduce Cu²⁺ ion. The contents of total phenolics and wedelolactone in five extracts were determined respectively using Folin‐Ciocalteu method and HPLC method. To identify which chemical component can be responsible for its effects, the correlation graphs between chemical contents and antioxidant abilities (1/IC₅₀ values) were plotted to calculate correlation coefficients (R values). Finally, MTT assay revealed that two HE extracts could effectively protect mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) against ×OH‐induced damage at 3‐30 μg/mL. On the basis of mechanistic analysis, we concluded that: (i) HE can effectively protect against ×OH‐induced damages to DNA and MSCs, thereby HE may have a therapeutic potential in MSCs transplantation or prevention of many diseases; (ii) the effects can be mainly attributed to total phenolics (R = 0.678) especially wedelolactone (R = 0.618); (iii) they exert antioxidant action via hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) and sequential electron proton transfer (SEPT) mechanisms.     

Simultaneous determination of <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-hydroxyacetophenone,chlorogenic acid,and caffeic acid in Herba Artemisiae Scopariae by capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection

Capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection has been employed for the determination of p-hydroxyacetophenone, chlorogenic acid, and caffeic acid in Herba Artemisiae Scopariae (the dried sprout of Artemisia scoparia Waldst. et Kit.). The effects of several important factors, such as the concentration and the acidity of the running buffer, separation voltage, injection time, and detection potential, were investigated to acquire the optimum conditions. The detection electrode was a 300-μm-diameter carbon disc electrode at a working potential of +0.90 V (relative to the saturated calomel electrode). The three analytes can be well separated within 11 min in a 40-cm-long fused-silica capillary at a separation voltage of 15 kV in 50 mM borate buffer (pH 9.2). The relation between peak current and analyte concentration was linear over about 3 orders of magnitude, with detection limits (signal-to-noise ratio of 3) of 0.31, 0.39, and 0.50 μM for p-hydroxyacetophenone, chlorogenic acid, and caffeic acid, respectively. The proposed method has been successfully applied to monitor the three bioactive constituents in real plant samples and to differentiate between different herbal drugs with satisfactory assay results.     

Application of Deep Eutectic Solvents as Additives in Ultrasonic Extraction of Two Phenolic Acids from Herba Artemisiae Scopariae

This paper reports the extraction of two phenolic acids from Herba Artemisiae Scopariae using deep eutectic solvents that were synthesized with various salt and hydrogen bond donors. The optimal conditions were found to be 50% of a synthesized deep eutectic solvent from tetramethyl ammonium chloride and urea (1:4) mixed with methanol/water (60:40, v/v). Phenolic acid extraction was optimized using an ultrasonic power of 89 W for 30 min with a solid/liquid ratio of 1:10. Under the optimized conditions, good calibration curves were observed at phenolic acid concentrations ranging from 10.0 to 500.0 µg/mL. The method recovery ranged from 97.3% to 100.4%, and the inter-day and intra-day relative standard deviations were less than 5%. Under the optimal extraction conditions, the amounts of chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid extracted from Herba Artemisiae Scopariae were 9.35 mg/g and 0.31 mg/g, respectively.     

HPLC-ESI-MS和FTIR方法鉴别不同产地中药肉苁蓉的研究

采用HPLC-ESI-MS和傅里叶红外光谱法对五种不同产地中药肉苁蓉进行了分析,采用HPLC-ESI-MS检测了中药肉苁蓉中荒漠肉苁蓉苷A、松果菊苷、毛蕊花糖苷、异毛蕊花糖苷、2’-乙酰基毛蕊花糖苷、荒漠肉苁蓉苷C、管花苷B七种有效成分的含量。采用傅里叶红外光谱法,以五种药用植物样品的红外指纹图谱为依据,计算出所测样品的共有峰率和变异峰率。建立了五种药用植物的共有峰率和变异峰率双指标序列。结果显示两种方法对药材评价结果基本一致。采用傅里叶变换红外光谱法亦可区分肉苁蓉的常见伪品锁阳。HPLC-ESI-MS具有高通量、高灵敏度、分析快速等优点,可以通过主要化学成分含量的测定对肉苁蓉进行质量评价。傅里叶红外光谱法可以对样品进行无损处理,不需要对药材进行复杂的提取分离过程即可获得肉苁蓉红外光谱特征,其光谱的吸收峰强度与峰形是各种官能团互相作用的结果,是肉苁蓉多组分红外光谱的叠加。我们能从整体水平分析谱图特征峰,具有分析速度快,重现性好,非破坏性和样品量小,制样简单,专属性强,节约成本,保护环境等优点,符合中药向综合分析和整体分析的发展趋势。HPLC-ESI-MS和傅里叶红外光谱法联合应用,两种方法互为补充,为鉴别中药的真伪,探讨中药质量评价提供了一种新方法。     

Quality Analysis of Herbal Medicine Products Prepared from Herba Sarcandrae by Capillary Electrophoresis with Electrochemical Detection

A capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection（CE-ED） method was developed for the quality analysis of herbal medicine products prepared from the same herb of Herba Sarcandrae： Fufang Caoshanhu tablets, Qingrexiaoyanning capsules, and Xuekang oral liquids. Under the optimal analysis conditions, the low detection limit[l.0×10^-7 mol/L（S/N=3）] and the wide linear range（1.0×10^-7-1.0×10^-4 mol/L） were obtained for quality standard compound of isofraxidin. The precisions of the peak current and the migration time（as RSDs） for the real sample analysis were 2.0%-2.6%, and 1.2%-1.8% for isofraxidin, respectively. The contents of isofraxidin detected were 15.77 μg/tablet, 0.48 mg/capsule, 1.2 mg/ampoule（Jiangxi）, and 0.44 mg/ampoule（Dalian） for Fufang Caoshanhu tablets, Qingrexiaoyanning capsules, and Xuekang oral liquids from different manufacturers, respectively. Quality estimate was conducted by comparing the contents of isofraxidin in the herbal medicine products with the demanded values of Chinese pharmacopeia. In addition, based on their own unique CE-ED profiles（namely, CE-ED electropherograms） the Xuekang oral liquids from the different manufacturers could be easily identified.     

Simultaneous determination of three active components in rat plasma by UPLC–MS/MS: Application to pharmacokinetic study after oral administration of Herba Sarcandrae extract

A rapid, specific and sensitive ultra‐performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC‐MS/MS) method was developed and validated for determination of isofraxidin, rosmarinic acid and kaempferol‐3‐O ‐glucuronide in rat plasma using warfarin as an internal standard (IS). Separation was conducted on a Thermo Hypersil GOLD C₁₈ column with linear gradient elution using methanol and water. Mass spectrometric detection was conducted using selected reaction monitoring (SRM) via an electrospray ionization (ESI) source. All analytes exhibited good linearity within their concentration ranges (r > 0.9990). The lower limits of quantitations of isofraxidin, rosmarinic acid, and kaempferol‐3‐O‐ glucuronide were 1.31, 0.67 and 0.92 ng/mL, respectively. Intra‐ and inter‐day precisions of these investigated components exhibited an RSD within 11.7%, and the accuracy ranged from −12.5 to 15.0% at all QC levels. The developed method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of isofraxidin, rosmarinic acid, and kaempferol‐3‐O‐ glucuronide in rats after oral administration of Herba Sarcandrae Extract.