Ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization/quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry for the rapid analysis of constituents in the traditional Chinese medicine formula Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill

An ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry method in both positive and negative ion modes was established in order to comprehensively investigate the major constituents in Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill. Briefly, a Waters ACQUITY UPLC HSS C₁₈ column was used to separate the aqueous extract of Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill. A total of 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile and 0.1% aqueous formic acid v/v were used as the mobile phase. All analytes were determined using quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization source in positive and negative ion modes. At length, a total of 173 components including flavones and their glycosides, monoterpene glycosides, triterpene saponins, phenethylalchohol glycosides, iridoid glycosides, phthalides, tanshinones, phenolic acids, sesquiterpenoids and cyclopeptides were identified or tentatively characterized in Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill in an analysis of 16.0 min based on the accurate mass and tandem mass spectrometry behaviors. The developed method is rapid and highly sensitive to characterize the chemical constituents of Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill, which could not only be used for chemical standardization and quality control of Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill, but also be helpful for further study in vivo metabolism of Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill.     

Metabonomic analysis of serum reveals antifatigue effects of Yi Guan Jian on fatigue mice using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

Yi Guan Jian (YGJ), one of the most commonly used traditional Chinese medicines, has been reported to possess significant antifatigue effects. However, the mechanisms underlying its antifatigue effects remain largely unresolved. In this study, a metabonomics approach, involving gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and a multivariate statistical technique, was developed to estimate the extent to which YGJ alleviated the exhausting swimming‐induced fatigue of mice. High‐dose treatment with YGJ significantly extended the swimming time of fatigued mice. Significant alterations of metabolites involving amino acids, organic acids and carbohydrates were observed in the serum of fatigued mice, which were reversed by YGJ treatment while biochemical indexes returned to normal. These metabolic changes suggest that the antifatigue effect of YGJ is associated with the impairement of amino acid, organic acids and carbohydrates. It also appears that YGJ can induce significant metabolic alterations independent of the exhausting swimming‐induced metabolic changes. The significantly altered metabolites induced by YGJ intervention include l‐ 2‐amino‐acetoacetate, taurine, fumaric acid, malic acid, oxoadipic acid and l‐ aspartate, all of which are associated with antifatigue properties. This suggests that YGJ exerts chemopreventive effects via antifatigue mechanisms.     

Coordination Complexes to Combat Bacterial Infections: Recent Developments,Current Directions and Future Opportunities

Drug discovery aimed at the efficient eradication of life-threatening bacterial infections, especially in light of the emergence of multi-drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria, has remained a challenge for medicinal chemists over the past several decades. As nutrient acquisition and metabolism at the host-pathogen interface become better elucidated, new drug targets continue to emerge. Metal homeostasis is among these processes, and thus provides opportunities for medicinal inorganic chemists to alter or disrupt these processes selectively to impart bacteriostatic or bacteriotoxic effects. In this minireview, we showcase some of the recent work from the field of metal-based antibacterial agents and highlight divergent strategies and mechanisms of action.     

Simultaneous determination of eight Danshen polyphenols in rat plasma and its application to a comparative pharmacokinetic study of DanHong injection and Danshen injection

Polyphenols derived from Danshen are responsible for the therapeutic effects of DanHong injection, a two‐herb combination of Danshen and Honghua. Whether the pharmacokinetics of Danshen polyphenols is changed by coexisting Honghua constituents remains unknown. A sensitive ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was developed in this study for simultaneous determination of eight Danshen polyphenols (i.e., protocatechuic aldehyde, protocatechuic acid, tanshinol, salvianolic acid D, rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acid A, lithospermic acid, and salvianolic acid B) in rat plasma and applied to a comparative pharmacokinetic study of DanHong injection and Danshen injection. Liquid chromatography conditions, mass spectrometry parameters, and sample preparation were optimized step by step. The calibration curves showed good linearity (r > 0.99) for all the polyphenols. The mean extraction efficiencies ranged from 62.2 to 88.7% with negligible matrix effects. The intrabatch and interbatch precision at all the quality control levels were less than 15% of the nominal concentrations with accuracy of 88.8–114%, except that precision and accuracy at lower limit of quantitation were 3.2–17.3 and 95.7–119%, respectively. Comparative pharmacokinetic study suggested that the coexisting Honghua constituents might have negligible influences on the pharmacokinetics of Danshen polyphenols from DanHong injection. The bioanalytical method could also be applied to pharmacokinetic studies of other Danshen herbal products.     

Total Syntheses of Conjugation-Ready Repeating Units of Acinetobacter baumannii AB5075 for Glycoconjugate Vaccine Development

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen that causes serious nosocomial infections. One of the multidrug-resistant strains, AB5075, can result in bacteremia, pneumonia and wound infections associated with high morbidity and mortality. The structurally unique glycans on the surface of these bacteria are attractive targets for the development of glycoconjugate vaccines. Here, we report the first total synthesis of the densely functionalized trisaccharide repeating unit of A. baumannii AB5075 as well as two analogues. The construction of 1,2-cis linkages between the rare sugars relies on a double-serial inversion strategy. The judicious selection of building blocks and reaction conditions allowed for stereoselective glycosylations, the installation of acetamido groups and the (S)-3-hydroxybutanoyl chain.     

Applications of Raman spectroscopy in herbal medicine

Raman spectroscopic techniques are a group of chemical fingerprint detection methods based on molecular vibrational spectroscopy. They are compatible with aqueous solutions and are time saving, nondestructive, and highly informative. With complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) becoming increasingly popular, more people are consuming natural herbal medicines. Thus, chemical fingerprints of herbal medicines are investigated to determine the content of these products. In this study, I review the different types of Raman spectroscopic techniques used in fingerprinting herbal medicines, including dispersive Raman spectroscopy, resonance Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform (FT)–Raman spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy, and confocal/microscopic Raman spectroscopy. Lab-grade Raman spectroscopy instruments help detect the chemical components of herbal medicines effectively and accurately without the need for complicated separation and extraction procedures. In addition, portable Raman spectroscopy instruments could be used to monitor the health and safety compliance of herbal products in the consumer market.     

新郑西亚斯东周玉器材料属性与加工工艺的科技分析

中国玉文化源远流长，治玉工艺经过各个时代的不断发展和完善，在一定程度上能反映古代社会生产力发展水平及文化、贸易、技术交流等信息。利用能量色散型X射线荧光光谱（EDXRF）、激光拉曼光谱（LRS）、超景深光学显微系统（OM）等分析技术，结合硅胶覆膜微痕复制技术，对河南省新郑西亚斯东周墓地出土的一批玉器进行科技分析。首先利用化学成分和物相结构分析技术确定了玉器材质的矿物属性，其次利用显微分析技术表征了玉器表面及穿孔内部和印模的加工痕迹，特别是阴刻纹饰和穿孔微痕特征，最后探讨了玉器样品的材料属性和加工工艺两者之间的联系。化学成分和物相结构分析结果表明，所分析的西亚斯东周玉器材质丰富，主要矿物组成有滑石、透闪石、水晶、云母等。玉器表面纹饰微痕特征分析表明，所分析玉器阴刻工艺采用了两种加工工具，分别是砣具和手持硬质工具。穿孔微痕分析特征表明，钻孔包括单面钻孔和双面/多面钻孔两种方式，钻孔工艺则有实心钻、管钻等。部分玉器钻孔形状和内部微痕特征表明，尽管均采用了实心钻工艺，但所采用的实心钻头在形状上存在差异，同时，也存在是否配合解玉砂进行钻孔的差异。不同材料属性的玉器采用了不同的加工工艺。滑石质玉器，莫氏硬度1，器型主要为玉片饰，其表面阴刻纹饰主要采用手持硬质工具进行刻画，钻孔主要采用了双面钻孔方式，并使用了实心钻头未添加解玉砂进行加工，钻头形状可能为圆锥状；云母质玉器，莫氏硬度2~3，器型主要为玉玦片饰，纹饰采用了砣具添加解玉砂的加工工艺，钻孔方式为单面钻孔，采用了管钻工艺。透闪石型玉器，莫氏硬度5~6，器型主要为玉片饰，表面纹饰采用砣具配合解玉砂砣刻，以双面钻孔的方式为主，钻孔工艺为实心钻头配合解玉砂工艺，钻头形状与滑石类样品一致，为圆锥状。水晶质玉器，莫氏硬度7，均为珠饰，表面无纹饰，钻孔方式为双面/多面钻孔，钻孔工艺为实心钻配合解玉砂工艺，且钻头可能为圆柱形。研究结果表明，玉器表面纹饰所采用的阴刻工艺和钻孔工艺，与玉器本身的材料属性、器型等存在密切关系。