Separation and identification of compounds in Rhizoma chuanxiong by comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

A comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatographic separation system based on the combination of a CN column and an ODS column is developed for the separation of components in a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Rhizoma chuanxiong. Two columns are coupled by a two-position, eight-port valve equipped with two storage loops and controlled by a computer. The effluent is detected by both the diode array detector and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) mass spectrometer. More than 52 components in the methanol extract of R. chuanxiong were resolved and 11 of them were preliminary identified according to their UV and mass spectra. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improved performance of comprehensive two-dimensional HPLC separation of traditional Chinese medicines by using a silica monolithic column and normalization of peak heights

Performance of comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography system is greatly improved than we reported previously by using a silica monolithic column as for the second dimensional separation. Due to the increase of the elution speed on the second dimensional monolithic column, the first dimensional column efficiency and analysis rate can be greatly improved as comparing with conventionally second dimensional column. The developed system was applied to analysis of methanol extraction of two umbelliferae herbs Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. and Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels by using CN column as for the first dimensional separation and a silica monolithic ODS column for the second dimensional separation, and the obtained three-dimensional chromatograms were treated by normalization of peak heights with the value of the highest peak or setting a certain value using a software written in-house. It was observed that much more peaks for low-abundant components in TCM extract can clearly be detected here than we reported before, due to the large difference for the amount of components in TCMs' extract. With the above improvements in separation performance and data treatment, totally about 120 components in methanol extraction of Rhizoma chuanxiong and 100 in A. sinensis were separated with UV detection within 130 min. This result meant that both the number of peaks detected increase twice but the analysis time decease twice if comparing with the previously reported result. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Characterization of interaction property of multicomponents in Chinese Herb with protein by microdialysis combined with HPLC

Interaction of traditional Chinese Herb Rhizoma Chuanxiong and protein was studied by microdialysis coupled with high performance liquid chromatography. Compounds in Rhizoma Chuanxiong, such as ferulic acid, senkyunolide A and 3-butylphthalide, were identified by HPLC, HPLC-MS and UV-vis. Microdialysis recoveries and binding degrees of compounds in Rhizoma Chuanxiong with human serum albumin (HSA) and other human plasma protein were determined: recoveries of microdialysis sampling ranged from 36.7 to 98.4% with R.S.D. below 3.1%; while binding to HSA ranged from 0 to 91.5% (0.3 mM HSA) and from 0 to 93.5% (0.6 mM HSA), respectively. Compared with HSA, most of compounds bound to human blood serum more extensively and the results showed that binding of these compounds in Rhizoma Chuanxiong was influenced by pH. Two compounds were found to bind to HSA and human blood serum. their binding degrees were consistent with ferulic acid and 3-butylphthalide, the active compounds in Rhizoma Chuanoxiong. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural elucidation and identification of alkaloids in Rhizoma Coptidis by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

Simple, convenient, sensitive and accurate analytical methods are needed for the structural characterization and identification of alkaloid components in Rhizoma Coptidis in traditional Chinese herbal medicine, which has important bioactivity. In this work, the identification of alkaloid compounds in Rhizoma Coptidis was investigated by obtaining molecular mass information using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Multi-stage tandem mass spectrometric (ESI-MSn) data for the alkaloid compounds were used for detailed structural characterization, then structure information was obtained by comparison of the fragmentation mechanisms of both alkaloids in Rhizoma Coptidis and standard samples of berberine, palmatine, coptisine and jatrorrhizine by MS. Based on the results obtained, the structure of a novel compound was elucidated. The results of the experiments demonstrate that ESI-MSn is a sensitive, selective and effective tool for the rapid determination of alkaloids in Rhizoma Coptidis.

Protective effect of Rhizoma drynariae extract on osteoporosis in ovariectomized rat model

Purpose: To investigate the therapeutic effect of Rhizoma drynariae extract (RDE) on ovariectomyinduced osteoporosis in rats. Methods: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a sham-operated group (control) and five ovariectomy (OVX) subgroups: OVX with vehicle (OVX), OVX with 17ß-estradiol (E2, 25 μg/kg/day), and OVX with RDE doses (40, 80, and 160 mg/kg/day). Daily oral administration of E2 or RDE started 4 weeks after OVX and lasted for 16 weeks. The bone mineral density (BMD) of the L4 vertebrae and right femurs was estimated. The length of each femur was measured with a micrometer gauge, and the center of the diaphysis determined. Three representatives L4 vertebrae were selected to evaluate the trabecular microarchitecture. Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), urinary calcium (U-Ca), urinary phosphorus (U-P), urinary creatinine (Cr) and osteocalcin (OC) levels were measured. Results: The study showed that high-dose of RDE significantly inhibited the bone mineral density (BMD) reduction of L4 vertebrae (0.20 ± 0.02 g/cm3, p < 0.05) and femurs (0.18 ± 0.02 g/cm3, p < 0.05) caused by OVX and prevented the deterioration of trabecular microarchitecture (p < 0.05), which were accompanied by a significant decrease in skeletal remodeling (p < 0.05) as evidenced by the lower levels of bone turnover markers. High-dose of RDE improved morphometric parameters, namely, Tb-N (3.8 ± 0.2 mm, p < 0.05), Tb-Th (0.083 ± 0.011 mm, p < 0.05) and Tb-Sp (0.19 ± 0.01 mm, p < 0.05) in L4 vertebrae significantly. The present study indicates that the administration of RDE at higher doses over a 16-week period can prevent OVX-induced osteoporosis in rats without hyperplastic effects on the uterus. Conclusion: Thus, RDE is a potential natural alternative for postmenopausal osteoporosis treatment in elderly women.

Origin discrimination and quality evaluation of Gastrodiae rhizoma (Orchidaceae) by high-performance liquid chromatographic fingerprint

Purpose: To develop a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint method for the quality control and origin discrimination of Gastrodiae rhizoma . Methods: Twelve batches of G. rhizoma collected from Sichuan, Guizhou and Shanxi provinces in china were used to establish the fingerprint. The chromatographic peak (gastrodin) was taken as the reference peak, and all sample separation was performed on a Agilent C18 (250 mm×4.6 mmx5 μm) column with a column temperature of 25 °C. The mobile phase was acetonitrile/0.8 % phosphate water solution (in a gradient elution mode) and the flow rate of 1 mL/min. The detection wavelength was 270 nm. The method was validated as per the guidelines of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Results: The chromatograms of the samples showed 11 common peaks, of which no. 4 was identified as that of Gastrodin. Data for the samples were analyzed statistically using similarity analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The similarity index between reference chromatogram and samples’ chromatograms were all > 0.80. The similarity index of G. rhizoma from Guizhou, Shanxi and Sichuan is evident as follows: 0.854 - 0.885, 0.915 - 0.930 and 0.820 - 0.848, respectively. The samples could be divided into three clusters at a rescaled distance of 7.5: S1 - S4 as cluster 1; S5 - S8 cluster 2, and others grouped into cluster 3. Conclusion: The findings indicate that HPLC fingerprinting technology is appropriate for quality control and origin discrimination of G. rhizoma.

黄连中生物碱类化合物的电喷雾质谱研究

首先，利用现代软电离质谱技术－－一电喷雾质谱技术以及电喷雾源内碰撞诱导解离（CID）技术，对传统中药－－一黄连中的生物碱类化合物小聚碱及其同分异构体表小粟碱化合物的质谱碎裂机理进行了详细研究，实验结果表明，随着碰撞能量的变化，两者的质谱碎裂规律具有明显的差异，据此，建立了简便、快速、准确的小巢碱和表小聚碱两种同分异构体化合物区分的质谱新方法，为该类药材及其相应的中药制剂的质控提供了有效的手段和方法。其次，还利用电喷雾多级串联质谱（ESI-MSn）技术，系统地研究了传统中药－－一黄连中生物碱类化合物的质谱碎裂规律，我们通过一级质谱的数据，获得了黄连中生物碱类化合物的分子量信息，并对其中五个已知的生物碱进行了初步的确认，同时，通过一级质谱的结果，首次在黄连中发现的分子量为366的未知生物碱类化合物，并通过电喷雾多级串联质谱技术对上述六种化合物的结构进行了详细的研究，结合标准样品的串联质谱数据和文献资料，确认了五个已知的生物碱类化合物分别为小粟碱、巴马汀、药根碱、黄连碱和13-甲基小桨碱，并推断未知生物碱类化合物为13-甲基巴马汀，建立了黄连中生物碱类化合物简便、快速的质谱分析表征新方法，并为其他传统中药中生物碱类化合物的分析与表征积累了重要的理论数据，更重要的是建立了传统中药中未知生物碱类化合物确认和结构分析的质谱方法。此外，还利用量子化学DFT-B3LYP方法，6-31G（d）基组，详细研究了传统中药黄连中小璧碱分子的质谱碎片的相对稳定性。并通过对结合能的理论计算，探讨 质谱碎裂过程中关键基团的相对活性。结合几何参数比较和前线分子轨道分析等方法，从理论上解释了小聚碱化合物的质谱碎裂规律的合理性、分子结构特征及基团活性等，为研究该化合物的药效作用机理，以及药物分子的全合成提供理论依据。同时，还利用电喷雾质谱和薄层层析等方法，对含有黄连的传统复方－－一半夏泻心汤进行了初步的考察研究，通过复方中黄连的阴、阳性溶液对比分析，发现在半夏泻心汤中主要的生物碱类化合物，如：小聚碱、巴马汀、药跟碱、黄连碱在复方煎煮过程中在仅仅表现在数量的变化，而没有质的变化，进一步揭示了在半夏泻心汤复方中黄连中的生物碱类化合物的变化规律，为阐明传统复方的药效物质基础提供了科学依据。最后，确定了黄连中生物碱类化合物的毛细管电泳分析的最佳条件，并对黄连中小粟碱化合物进行了定量分析研究，建立了生物碱类化合物毛细管电泳分析的新方法。