低极性化合物的电喷雾质谱检测方法及几种中藏药材的活性成分研究

本学位论文首先报道了为解决低极性化合物的电喷雾质谱（ESI-MS）分析难题而建立的一种衍生化分析方法；然后从色谱-质谱联用分析、分离纯化和结构鉴定等方面分别报道了几种中藏药材的活性成分研究。论文由下述六章组成： 第一章报道了盐酸羟胺衍生化方法在电喷雾质谱 (ESI-MS) 分析中的应用。该方法利用盐酸羟胺和羰基成肟的快速反应，建立了针对三萜酮等含酮或醛羰基低极性化合物的ESI-MS 信号增强技术。此方法不仅可应用于增强羰基化合物的ESI-MS 质谱信号，还可检测化合物中羰基的个数以及辨别涉及羰基官能团的同分异构体。此外，通过简单的氧化反应，还可将该方法拓展到三萜醇、甾醇等含羟基的低极性化合物，增强它们的ESI-MS 信号。对比已报道的相关ESI-MS 增强质谱信号的衍生化方法，此方法有经济、实用、快速和简便的显著特点。 第二章是关于野生羌活及其栽培品种化学成分的色谱-质谱联用分析。对不同产地野生羌活生长过程中活性成分的动态变化、野生羌活不同形态部位和人工栽培羌活中的活性成分含量进行了HPLC 定量分析。结果表明主要活性成分羌活醇和异欧前胡素都随生长期存在规律性变化，羌活不同形态部位中的活性成分含量也有明显不同。这些实验结果有些较好地印证了传统中医的用药理论，有些也对羌活的传统使用方法提出了新的建议。 第三章介绍了几种传统中藏药材的色谱-质谱联用及串联质谱分析。通过GC-MS 方法，从藏药材长花党参挥发油中共分离鉴定出45 个化合物；利用HPLC方法测定了该藏药材中的主要化学成分——木犀草素的含量（0.7%）；利用串联质谱技术，对西番莲和射干中的主要成分进行了快速鉴定，从西番莲中鉴定了4个黄酮碳苷；从不同产地的射干和川射干中鉴定了8 个主要异黄酮成分，其中包括一个未见报道的化合物。 第四章的内容为藏药材石莲叶点地梅的活性成分研究。从植物石莲叶点地梅(Androsace integra (Maxim.) Hand.-Mazz.) 乙醇提取物的正丁醇萃取部分共分离和鉴定了6 个化合物，利用MS 和NMR 等现代波谱学技术阐明了它们的结构：其中包括4 个三萜类化合物：分别是androsacin (1)、 ardisiacrispin A (2) 、saxifragifolin A (3) 和20(29)-lupen-3-one (4)；一个神经酰胺：4-羟基-Δ8,9(Z)-鞘氨醇-2'-羟基正二十四碳酸酰胺(5)；一个甾体类化合物：胡萝卜苷(6)。化合物1为新的13,28-epoxy-oleanane 型三萜皂苷，在其结构表征的过程中，采用LC-MS 进行糖分析，获得了值得推广的好结果。通过活性筛选发现化合物1~3 对HepG2肝癌细胞表现出不同程度的抑制活性，其中化合物2 活性最好，其IG50 为1.65μg/mL。 第五章是关于一些传统中藏药材的农药活性筛选。利用Syngenta 公司的活性筛选平台对68 种传统中藏药材醇提物进行了抗菌和除草的生物源农药活性筛选。结果表明所筛选的68 种植物提取物中，共有14 种样品表现出明显的除草/杀虫活性，其中水母雪莲花、松萝和茯神木等植物提取物还具有多种生物活性。活性成分还有待进一步追踪分离、纯化和结构鉴定。 第六章为文献综述，概述了羌活药材的研究进展。对羌活属及药用羌活植物从分类学、本草学、品质评价、人工栽培、化学成分及药理作用等方面进行了文献归纳和总结。 In this dissertation, an electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) signal enhancement method, as well as the work of bioactive components study, HPLC-MS/MS application, bioassay screening, chromatograph separation and structure identification of the metabolites in several medicinal herbs have been reported. First chapter expounded a rapid, simple ESI-MS sensitivity enhancement method for detecting carbonyl groups in natural products has been developed by using hydroxylamine hydrochloride (NH2OH·HCl) as a derivatization reagent. We use the oxime formed during the derivatization reactions and its Beckmann rearrangement intermediates as a means of detecting the carbonyl groups originally present in these triterpenoids. In comparison with other derivatization methods in the literature, this method is simple, specific and can be used to detect carbonyl groups in triterpenoids which have low polarity and are poorly or non-ionizable. Moreover, it can also be used to detect hydroxyl groups by using the Dess-Martin periodinane (DMP) to convert primary and secondary hydroxyls into carbonyl groups. Chapter 2 reported an HPLC-MS method for analyzing the main bioactive compounds in both wild and cultured Notopterygium incisum. The results indicated that the main bioactive compounds varied through different seasons regularly, and in different commercial parts of this herb the content of these compounds also differed from each other. The quantitative analysis results showed that in the traditional commercial parts, the content of main chemical constitutes in Silkworm Notopterygium, Bamboo Notopterygium and Irregular-nodal Notopterygium are higher than that in Striped Notopterygium. This result is tally with the traditionally concept that the quality of Notopterygium, Bamboo Notopterygium and Irregular-nodal Notopterygium are better than that of Striped Notopterygium, which means that the quality of rhizomes is better than main roots. The chemical constituents of cultured N. incisum is reported for the first time in this dissertation and the analysis results showed some growth curves of chemical constituents in this plant, but still left some questions unanswered. Chapter 3 discussed the GC/LC-MS analysis of the traditional Chinese medicines Codonopsis thalictrifolis, Passiflora incarnate, Belamcanda chinensis and Passiflora incarnate. The main constituent, luteolin was isolated and identified from the traditional Tibet medicine of C. thalictrifolis. The quantitative analysis by HPLC has revealed that the content of luteolin in this herb is 0.7%. GC-MS was employed to analyzed chemical constituents of the essential oil from the flower of C. thalictrifolis. More than 60 peaks were detected and 45 of them were identified by comparing their spectra with that of the standards in the database and literatures. ESI-MS/MS was used to analyze the n-butanol extract of Passiflora incarnate. Based on the information of pseudo molecular ions and fragment ions of the glycosides, four major flavone-C-glycosides have been detected and identified as 7-methoxyluteolin-6-C-β-D-glucopyranoside, vitexin, swertisin and orientin. The isoflavone compounds in theextracts of three samples of B. chinensis collected in Gansu, Sichuan and Hunan, and the extract of Iris tectorum collected in Sichuan were analyzed by using TOF-HRMS and IT-MS. From the extracts of these herbs, a new isoflavone, identified as 5’,5,6,7-tetrahydroxy-3’4’-dimethoxyl isoflavon, and 7 known ones have been identified by analyzing the fragmentation patterns and their molecular formulas given by HRMS and the tandem mass spectrometry acquired by IT-MS. Chapter 4 elucidated the isolation and identification of a new triterpene saponin, androsacin (1), along with five known compounds (2-6) were isolated from the whole plants of Androsace integra (Maxim.) Hand.-Mazz., an herb used in traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine. The chemical structure of the new compound was established as 3β-O-{β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→2)-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-[O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)]-α-L-arabinopyranosyl}-16α-hydroxy-13β,28-epoxy-olean-30-al by analyzing its MS, 1D- and 2D-NMR spectra. Compound 2 was cytotoxic toward HepG2 cancer cell with the GI50 value of 1.65 μg/mL. Chapter 5 described the biogenic pesticide activity screening of 68 traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine extractions. The intention of this study is to explore bioactive natural compounds from these traditional medicinal herbs for biogenic insecticides use. Based on Syngenta’s bioassay, 14 extractions of these traditional medicines showed pesticide activities, and some of them had multi-activities on antibacterial and insecticidal. Chapter 6 is a review on the chemical and bioactivity research progress of Notopterygium incisum and N. forbesii.

三种藏药材的化学成分研究

本学位论文报道了西藏产三种藏族传统植物药材的化学成分研究。论文由四章组成，前三章是实验部分，分别报道了尼泊尔黄堇(Corydalis hendersonii Hemsl.)、藏波罗花(Incarvillea younghusbandii Sprague)和全缘叶绿绒蒿(Meconopsis interifolia Franch.)的化学成分研究结果。从这三种青藏高原药用植物中共分离鉴定出33 个化合物，其中1 个是新化合物。第四章概述了罂粟科紫堇属植物的化学和药理研究进展。 第一章为尼泊尔黄堇的化学成分研究。通过正、反相硅胶柱色谱等分离方法从药用植物尼泊尔黄堇的地上部分共分离纯化得到12 个化合物。运用MS、1H-NMR、13C-NMR、DEPT、HMBC、NOESY 等现代波谱学方法将它们的结构鉴定为：刺罂粟碱(1) ， 普托品(2) ， 新那亭(3) ， 斯可任(4) ， tetrahydrothalifendine (5) ，9-methyl-decumbenine C (6)，tetrahydroberberrubine (7)，隐品碱(8)，α-别隐品碱(9)，6,7-methylenedioxy-1(2H)-oxoisoquinolinone (10)，6-丙酮基-5,6 -二氢血根碱(11)和β-谷甾醇(12)。其中化合物6 为新化合物，为首次发现的分子骨架上C-9 位连有甲基的苯肽异喹啉类型生物碱。另外，除化合物1 和2 外，其它9 个生物碱（3～11）均为首次从该种植物中分离得到。同时，我们还对对尼泊尔黄堇中的总生物碱进行了串联质谱分析。 第二章为藏波罗花的化学成分研究。从该药用植物的地上部分共分离得到16个化合物，通过理化常数和波谱数据鉴定为：异佛手柑内酯(1)，6-甲氧基当归素(2)，欧前胡素(3)，花椒毒内酯(4)，珊瑚菜素(5)，水合氧化前胡素(6)，rivulobirin A (7)，齐墩果酸甲酯(8)，咖啡酸甲酯(9)，银桦酸(10)，(D)-boschniakinic acid (11)，对羟基苯甲酸(12) ， tert-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(R)-heraclenol (13) ， 5-methoxy-8-O-β-D-glucopyranosyloxypsoralen (14)，前胡苷V(15)和苯乙醇-O-β-D-吡喃葡萄糖-(1→2)-O-β-D-吡喃葡萄糖苷(16)。所有以上化合物均为首次从该种植物中分离得到。另外我们还首次对藏波罗花挥发油的化学成分进行了气相色谱-质谱(GC-MS)联用分析，共鉴定出39 个挥发性成分。 第三章为全缘叶绿绒蒿化学成分的分离鉴定。从传统藏药材全缘叶绿绒蒿地上部分共分离纯化出8 个化合物。通过理化常数和波谱数据将他们的结构分别鉴定为：去甲血根碱(1)，β-谷甾醇(2)，3-羟基-齐墩果烷-12(13)-烯-30-酸(3)，6-丙酮基-5,6-二氢血根碱(4)，木犀草素(5)，胡萝卜苷(6)，quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (7)和普托品(8)。其中化合物1，4 和7 为首次从该种药用植物中分离得到。 第四章为综述，总结和归纳了近年来罂粟科紫堇属植物的化学和药理研究进展。 This dissertation consists of four parts. The first, second and third parts report the studies on the chemical constituents from the medicinal plants of Corydalis hendersonii, Incarvillea younghusbandii and Meconopsis interifolia. The forth part reviews the progress of the studies on Corydalis species. The first chapter is about the isolations and identifications of alkalids from the aerial parts of C. hendersonii which is a traditional Tibetan medicine to treat febrifuge, high blood pressure and hepatitis. A new isoquinoline alkaloid, 9-methyl-decumbenine C (6), together with ten known alkaloids, stylopine (1), protopine (2), canadine (3), scoulerine (4), tetrahydrothalifendine (5), tetrahydroberberrubine (7), cryptopine (8), α-allocryptopine (9), 6,7-methylenedioxy-1(2H)-isoquinolinone (10) and 6-acetonyl-5,6-dihydrosanguinarine (11), and β-sitosterol (12) were isolated. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Furthermore, the total alkaloids were analyzed by ESI-MSn. The second chapter is about the isolations and identifications of chemical constituents from the aerial parts of I. younghusbandii. Sixteen compounds were isolated and purified by normal and reversed phase silica gel column chromatography. By spectral analysis, there structures were identified as isobergapten (1), sphondin (2), imperatorin (3), xanthotoxin (4), phellopterin (5), heraclenol (6), rivulobirin A (7), methyl oleanolate (8), methyl caffeate (9), grevillic acid (10), (D)-boschniakinic acid (11), 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (12), tert-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(R)-heraclenol (13), 5-methoxy-8-O-β-D-glucopyranosyloxypsoralen (14), decuroside Ⅴ(15), and phenylethyl-O-β-Dglucopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside (16). All of these compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time．By the way, the chemical components of the essential oil from I. younghusbandii were analyzed by GC-MS for the first time. The third chapter is about the the isolations and identifications of the chemical constituents of M. interifolia. Eight compounds were isolated and identified as norsanguinarine (1), β-sitosterol (2), 3-hydroxyolean-12(13)-en-30-oic acid (3), 6-acetonyl-5,6-dihydrosanguinarine (4), luteolin (5), daucosterol (6), quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (7) and protopine (8). The compounds 1, 4 and 7 were isolated from this herb for the first time. The last chapter is a review of the research progress of the studies on Corydalis species, which includes the chemical constituents in this genus and their pharmacology.

Melatonin in Chinese medicinal herbs

Melatonin is a highly conserved molecule that not only exists in animals, but also is present in bacteria, unicellular organisms and in plants. Since melatonin is an antioxidant, in plants melatonin was speculated to protect them from intrinsic and environmental oxidative stress. More importantly, melatonin in edible plants inevitably enters animals and human through feed and food. In this study, more than 100 Chinese medicinal herbs were analyzed using the methods of solid phase extraction and HPLC-FD on-line with MS to determine whether melatonin is present in these commonly used herbs. Melatonin was detected in majority of these plants. Sixty-four of them contain melatonin in excess of 10 ng per gram dry mass. Melatonin levels in several herbs are in excess of 1000 ng/g. It is well known that normal average physiological plasma levels of melatonin are only 10-60 pg/mL. These high level-melatonin containing plants are traditionally used to treat diseases which presumably involve free radical damage. The current study provides new information concerning one potentially effective constituent present in a large number of medicinal herbs. The results suggest that these herbs should be reevaluated in reference to their nutritional and medicinal value. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Characterization of saccharides and phenolic acids in the Chinese herb Tanshen by ESI-FT-ICR-MS and HPLC

This study sought to determine the main components (saccharides and phenolic acids) in crude extract of the Chinese herb Tanshen by electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonant mass spectrometry (ESI-FT-ICR-MS) in negative-ion mode. Eleven compounds were identified as phenolic acids by exact mass measurement and further confirmed by sustained off-resonance irradiation (SORI) CID data. In addition, monosaccharicles and oligosaccharides (n = 2 similar to 5) and a serial of corresponding anionic adducts of saccharide were observed without adding any anions additionally to the extract solution, and the anionic components were unambiguously identified as H2O, HCl, HCOOH, HNO3, C3H6O2, H2SO4 and C5H7NO3 according to the exact mass measurement results.

Qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis of quaternary alkaloids in Coptis-scute herb couple by Electrospray mass Spectrometry

A practical solution of qualitatively analyzing quaternary alkaloids in coptis-scute herb couple by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry(ESI-MS) was developed. Without the complicated pretreatment of sample, the active ingredients including berberine, palmatine, coptisine, jatrorrhizine, epiberberine, and columbamine were identified and some relative content changing rules of alkaloids in coptis-scute couple were summarized in this article. The overall profiles of the complex extracts were obtained.

Identification of herb Acanthopanax senticosus (Rupr. Et Maxim.) harms by capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection

In this paper, a rapid, high efficient, sensitive and inexpensive approach based on a combination of simple ultrasonic extract and capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation with electrochemical detection (ED), is described to identify herbs by comparing their CE-ED profiles (namely, CE-ED electropherograms). The proposed method takes advantage of ultrasmall sample volume, low consumption of organic solvent, simple sample pretreatment and easy cleanup procedure. It was applied to analyze the CE-ED profiles of stems of herb Acanthopanax senticosus (Rupr. Et Maxim.) Harms from different sources and different parts (roots, rhizomes, stems and leaves) of this herb. By comparing peak number, peak height and peak height ratio, we found that the CE-ED profiles showed big differences for the herbs from the different sources and the different parts of this herb. In addition, the distribution of bioactive compounds (isofraxidin, rutin and chlorogenic acid) in the different parts of this herb and their content variations affected by the source were studied with the CE-ED method. Based on their own unique CE-ED profiles, these herbs from the different sources and the different parts of this herb could be easily distinguished. Therefore, the proposed approach could be used as a rapid, high efficient and sensitive method for the identification of herbal medicines.

Structural analysis of saponins from medicinal herbs using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

The underivatized saponins from Tribulus terrestris and Panax ginseng have been investigated by electrospray ionization multi-stage tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MSn). In ESI-MS spectra, a predominant [M + Na](+) ion in positive mode and [M - H](-) ion in negative mode were observed for molecular mass information. Multi-stage tandem mass spectrometry of the molecular ions was used for detailed structural analysis. Fragment ions from glycoside cleavage can provide information on the mass of aglycone and the primary sequence and branching of oligosaccharide chains in terms of classes of monosaccharides. Fragment ions from cross-ring cleavages of sugar residues can give some information about the linkages between sugar residues. It was found that different alkali metal-cationized adducts with saponins have different degrees of fragmentation, which may originate from the different affinity of a saponin with each alkali metal in the gas phase. ESI-MSn has been proven to be an effective tool for rapid determination of native saponins in extract mixtures, thus avoiding tedious derivatization and separation steps.

Chinese herb medicines analyses by capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) with amperometric detection (AD) has been widely used in various fields of analytical science, especially in the pharmaceutical industry recently due to its high separation efficiency and low detection limit. The determination of active ingredients in Chinese herb medicines by CE-AD is of great importance in developing the researches on pharmacology of herbs, quantitative analysis and quality control. Analyses of the effective components in Chinese herb medicines and compound Chinese herb medicine by CE-AD are reviewed in this paper. In contrast with other analysis methods, the advantage of CE-AD is discussed. The development in analyses of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) by CE-AD in future is mentioned.

Antioxidative principals of Jussiaea repens: an edible medicinal plant

Jussiaea repens L. (JRL) is an edible medicinal plant and is also used as a vegetable by the local people in southwestern China. The crude extract and its four fractions derived from JRL were evaluated for the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical-scavenging ability, hydroxyl radical-scavenging capacity and the potassium ferricyanide reduction property. The ethyl acetate-soluble fraction (EAF) and EAF6 (a subfraction derived from EAF) were the most valuable fraction and subfraction, respectively. Furthermore, bioactivity-guided chromatographic fractionation revealed that three pure compounds greatly contributed to the antioxidant activities. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the major antioxidant constituents in the extract were systematically conducted by NMR, mass spectral analyses and RP-HPLC. The result demonstrated that rosmarinic acid (2.00 mg g(-1) JRL dry weight) quercetin 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (9.88 mg g(-1) JRL dry weight), and kaempferol 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1.85 mg g(-1) JRL dry weight) were the major antioxidative constituents in JRL. These compounds are reported for the first time from this plant.

Chemical constituents of marine medicinal mangrove plant Sonneratia caseolaris

Twenty-four compounds including eight steroids (1-8), nine triterpenoids (9-16, 24), three flavonoids (20-22), and four benzenecarboxylic derivatives (17-19, 23) were isolated and identified from stems and twigs of medicinal mangrove plant Sonneratia caseolaris. The structures of the isolated compounds were determined by extensive analysis of their spectroscopic data. Among these metabolites, compounds 1, 4-20 and 22-24 were isolated and identified for the first time from S. caseolaris. In the in vitro cytotoxic assay against SMMC-7721 human hepatoma cells, compound 21 (3',4',5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone) exhibited significant activity with IC50 2.8 mu g/mL, while oleanolic acid (14), 3,3'-di-O-methyl ether ellagic acid (18), and 3,3',4-O-tri-O-methyl ether ellagic acid (19) showed weak activity. None of these compounds displayed significant antibacterial activites.

Decline in medicinal and forage species with warming is mediated by plant traits on the Tibetan Plateau

Experimental studies of how global changes and human activities affect plant diversity often focus on broad measures of diversity and discuss the implications of these changes for ecosystem function. We examined how experimental warming and grazing affected species within plant groups of direct importance to Tibetan pastoralists: medicinal plants used by humans and palatable plants consumed by livestock. Warming resulted in species losses from both the medicinal and palatable plant groups; however, differential relative vulnerability to warming occurred. With respect to the percent of warming-induced species losses, the overall plant community lost 27%, medicinal plants lost 21%, and non-medicinal plants lost 40% of species. Losses of palatable and non-palatable species were similar to losses in the overall plant community. The deep-rootedness of medicinal plants resulted in lowered sensitivity to warming, whereas the shallow-rootedness of non-medicinal plants resulted in greater sensitivity to warming; the variable rooting depth of palatable and non-palatable plants resulted in an intermediate response to warming. Predicting the vulnerability of plant groups to human activities can be enhanced by knowledge of plant traits, their response to specific drivers, and their distribution within plant groups. Knowledge of the mechanisms through which a driver operates, and the evolutionary interaction of plants with that driver, will aid predictions. Future steps to protect ecosystem services furnished by medicinal and palatable plants will be required under the novel stress of a warmer climate. Grazing may be an important tool in maintaining some of these services under future warming.

Determination of salidroside in medicinal plants belonging to the Rhodiola L. Genus originating from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The Rhodiola L. genus (Crassulaceae) is one of the most important medicinal plant products used by Tibetans in Chinese phytotherapy. Fourteen species were examined for their content of salidroside. A considerable quantitative variation was observed using high-performance liquid chromatography and this depended on species and regional factors. It was found that all samples contained salidroside at concentrations ranging between 0.02 mg g(-1) (R. sinuate) and 15.95 mg g(-1) (R. sacra), respectively. The content of salidroside in R. sacra was significantly higher than in other popular medicinal plants of this genus. This finding indicated that there may be more Rhodiola species present in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau which may be used as a potential source of salidroside.

Separation and determination of flavone and xanthone glycosides in Tibetan folk medicinal species Swertia mussotii and S-franchetiana by capillary electrophoresis

The contents of five pharmacologically active flavone and xanthone glycosides, namely, swertianolin, swertisin, isoorientin, mangiferin, and 7-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 -> 2)-beta-D-xylopyranosyl]-1,8-dihydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone, extracted from Tibetan folk medicinal species Swertia mussotii and S. franchetiana were determined by capillary electrophoresis with diode-array detection. The separation of five components has been optimized with a capillary column with a total length of 48.5 cm and effective length of 40 cm (50 mu m i.d). The influence of the running buffer, the sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) concentration, organic modifier, etc. on the resolution was evaluated. The background electrolyte contained 30 mM borate buffer, 28 mM SDS, 1.0% (v/v) acetonitrile, and was adjusted to pH 9.0 with 0.1 M NaOH. A good baseline resolution was obtained for the separation of five components within 5 min with the working voltage of 24 kV and a column temperature of 25 degrees C. The established method was rapid and reproducible for the separation and determination of five flavone and xanthone glycosides from the extracts of S. mussotii and franchetiana plant samples.

Separation and determination of the major active components in Tibetan folk medicinal species Swertia franchetiana by HPLC with DAD

A sensitive and specific reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method with diode array detection (DAD) was established for the quantitative determination of the nine active components, namely, swertiamarin (SWM, 1), mangiferin (MA, 2), gentipicroside (GE, 3), sweroside (SWO, 4), isoorientin (IS, 5), swertisin (SWS, 6), swertianolin (SWN, 7), 7-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-1 -> 2)-beta-D-xylopyranosyl]-1,8-dihydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone (RX, 8), and bellidifolin (BE, 9) used as the external standard, in Tibetan folk medicinal species Swertia franchetiana. Based on the baseline chromatographic separation of most components from the methanolic extract of Swertia franchetiana on a reversed-phase Eclipse XDB-C8 column with water-acetonitrile-formic acid as mobile phase, the nine components were identified by comparison with standard samples and qualified by using the external standard method with DAD at 254 nm. The correlation coefficients of all the calibration curves were found to be higher than 0.9980. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of the peak areas and retention times for the nine standards were less than 2.07% and 2.86%, respectively.

Molecular authentication of the traditional Tibetan medicinal plant Swertia mussotii

Swertia mussotii is an important species in Tibetan folk medicine. However, it is quite expensive and frequently adulterated, so reliable methods for authentication of putative specimens and preparations of the species are needed to protect consumers and to support conservation measures. We show here that the chloroplast (cp) DNA rpl16 intron has limited utility for differentiating S. mussotii from closely related species, since the cpDNA rpl16 sequences are identical in S. mussotii and two other species of Swertia. However, the rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences differ significantly between S. mussotii and all of 13 tested potential adulterants. Thus, the ITS region provides a robust molecular marker for differentiating the medicinal S. mussotii from related adulterants. Therefore, a pair of allele-specific diagnostic primers based on the divergent ITS region was designed to distinguish S. mussotii from the other species. Authentication by allele-specific diagnostic PCR using these primers is convenient, effective and both simpler and less time-consuming than sequencing the ITS region.