Phytochemical Analysis and Habitat Suitability Mapping of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. Collected in the Hatay Region of Turkey

The growth and quality of licorice depend on various environmental factors, including the local climate and soil properties; therefore, its cultivation is often unsuccessful. The current study investigated the key factors that affect the contents of bioactive compounds of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. root and estimated suitable growth zones from collection sites in the Hatay region of Turkey. The contents of three bioactive compounds (glycyrrhizic acid, glabridin, and liquiritin), soil factors (pH, soil bearing capacity, and moisture content), and geographical information (slope, aspect, curvature, elevation, and hillshade) were measured. Meteorological data (temperature and precipitation) were also obtained. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were performed on the data. The soil bearing capacity, moisture content, slope, aspect, curvature, and elevation of the study area showed statistically significant effects on the glycyrrhizic acid and liquiritin contents. A habitat suitability zone map was generated using a GIS-based frequency ratio (FR) model with spatial correlations to the soil, topographical, and meteorological data. The final map categorized the study area into four zones: very high (15.14%), high (31.50%), moderate (40.25%), and low suitability (13.11%). High suitability zones are recommended for further investigation and future cultivation of G. glabra.     

Effect of liquiritin on human intestinal bacteria growth: metabolism and modulation

Licorice is one of the oldest and most frequently used prescribed traditional Chimese medicines. However, the route and metabolites of liquiritin by human intestinal microflora are not well understood and its metabolites may accumulate to exert physiological effects. Therefore, our objective was to screen the ability of the bacteria to metabolize liquiritin and assess the effect of this compound on the intestinal bacteria. Finally, six strains, comprising Bacteroides sp. 22 and sp.57, Veillonella sp. 31 and sp.48, Bacillus sp. 46 and Clostridium sp. 51, were isolated and their abilities to convert liquiritin studied. A total of five metabolites were identified using ultra performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry in human incubated solution. The results indicated that hydrolysis, hydrogenation, methylation, deoxygenation and acetylation were the major routes of metabolism of liquiritin. On the other hand, effect of liquiritin on different strains of intestinal bacteria growth was detected using an Emax precision microplate reader. Growth of certain pathogenic bacteria, such as Enterobacter, Enterococcus, Clostridium and Bacteroides, was significantly repressed by liquiritin, while growth of commensal probiotics such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium was less severely affected. Our observation provided further evidence for the importance of intestinal bacteria in the metabolism, and the potential activity of liquiritin in human health and disease. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

甘草苷在玻碳电极上的电化学行为及其测定

在pH 3.00的B-R缓冲溶液中,采用差分脉冲伏安法(DPV)、线性扫描伏安法(LSV)和循环伏安法(CV)研究了甘草苷在玻碳电极上的电化学行为, 建立了测定甘草苷的DPV法。实验结果表明,甘草苷于1.16 V (vs.Ag/AgCl)处产生一个氧化峰,峰电流和甘草苷的浓度在2.00×10-6~3.50×10-5 mol/L范围内呈良好的线性关系,检出限为8.25×10-7 mol/L。该法用于实际样品甘草、胃康灵和逍遥丸中黄酮含量的测定(以甘草苷为对照品),平均回收率分别为97.1%、98.9%和102.0%。此外对电极反应机理作了初步探讨。     

超高效液相色谱法同时测定护肤品中的川芎嗪、甘草苷与荷叶碱

建立了一种同时测定水剂、乳液、膏霜、啫喱类护肤品中川芎嗪、甘草苷和荷叶碱的超高效液相色谱(UPLC)分析方法。不同基质样品经甲醇超声提取后,采用Waters BEH C18色谱柱(2.1 mm×50 mm,1.7μm),以0.05%磷酸水溶液-乙腈为流动相进行梯度洗脱分离,二极管阵列检测器检测,结合保留时间和光谱图定性,以标准曲线定量。实验结果表明,3种待测物在0.05~50.0 mg/L浓度范围内线性关系良好,相关系数为0.999 4~0.999 9;川芎嗪、甘草苷和荷叶碱的方法检出限(S/N=3)分别为0.6、0.6、0.3 mg/kg,方法定量下限(S/N=10)分别为2.0、2.0、1.0 mg/kg;加标水平为1~200 mg/kg时,3种待测物的平均回收率为85.6%~98.2%,相对标准偏差(RSD,n=6)为1.1%~6.1%。该法前处理简单、回收率高、精密度好,适用于不同护肤品中川芎嗪、甘草苷和荷叶碱的测定。     

Computational Studies on the Interaction of Arctiin and Liquiritin With β-lactoglobulin

The study of the interaction of drugs purified from natural sources and a transport protein, such as β-lactoglobulin (BLG), at the atomic level could be a valuable factor to control their transport to biological sites. In the present study, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation methods were used to study the interaction of arctiin and liquiritin as natural drugs and BLG as the transport protein. The molecular docking results indicated that these drugs bind in the internal cavity of BLG and the BLG affinity for binding the liquiritin is greater than arctiin. The docking results also indicated that the hydrogen bond interactions have a dominant role in the BLG-drug complex stability. The analysis of MD simulation trajectories showed that the root mean square deviation (RMSD) of BLG-liquiritin, unliganded BLG, and BLG-arctiin reached equilibrium and fluctuated around the mean value at about 1000, 3500, and 4000 ps, respectively. The time evolution of the radius of gyration and total solvent accessible surface of the protein showed that BLG-arctiin and BLG-liquiritin complexes became stable around 2500 and 5000 ps, respectively. Also, the profiles of atomic fluctuations during the simulation showed the rigidity of the ligand binding sites.     

Enhanced pseudotargeted analysis using a segment data dependent acquisition strategy by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for a metabolomics study of liquiritin in the treatment of depression

An enhanced pseudotargeted method using a segment data‐dependent acquisition mode based on ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry was developed. This segment data dependent acquisition‐based pseudotargeted method could improve the detection of co‐eluted ions and extend the coverage of analytes. A set of 502 multiple reaction monitoring channels were obtained by this segment strategy, which was twice the number created by the traditional data‐dependent acquisition mode. Compared with the untargeted method, the pseudotargeted profiling demonstrated higher sensitivity and higher precision. More than 90% of the metabolites detected by the enhanced pseudotargeted method had relative standard deviations less than 15%. The segment data dependent acquisition‐based pseudotargeted method was successfully applied to the metabolomics study of the depressed rats with the treatment of liquiritin. Forty‐seven differential metabolites were screened and five metabolic pathways were found to be related to depression including retinol metabolism, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan biosynthesis, phenylalanine metabolism, terpenoid backbone biosynthesis, and lysine degradation. The segment data dependent acquisition‐based pseudotargeted method widened the coverage of metabolites with good sensitivity and precision, which exhibited great potential in the discovery of differential metabolites in metabolomics studies.