Investigation of Pharmacodynamic Material Basis and Mechanism of Qianyang Yuyin Granules Against Hypertensive Renal Damage Based on LC/Q-TOF-MS and Network Pharmacology / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To systematically study the chemical components of Qianyang Yuyin granules and explore its main pharmacodynamic substances and mechanism in the prevention and treatment of hypertensive renal damage. Method:Liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry （LC/Q-TOF-MS） was employed to comprehensively analyze the chemical components of Qianyang Yuyin granules. Agilent Poroshell 120 SB-C₁₈ column （3.0 mm×100 mm， 2.7 μm） was used， flow rate was 0.4 mL·min^-1， electrospray ionization （ESI） was applied and operated in positive and negative ion modes， the acquisition range was <italic>m</italic>/<italic>z</italic> 25-1 000. Mobile phase in positive ion mode consisted of water+10 mmol·L^-1 ammonium formate+0.125% formic acid+0.1% methanol （A）-［acetonitrile-water （9∶1）+10 mmol·L^-1 ammonium formate+0.125% formic acid］ （B）， and in negative ion mode consisted of water+10 mmol·L^-1 ammonium formate+0.1% methanol （A）-［acetonitrile-water （9∶1）+10 mmol·L^-1 ammonium formate］ （B） with the gradient elution （0-3.5 min， 5%B； 3.5-4 min， 5%-10%B； 4-9 min， 10%-25%B； 9-18 min， 25%-30%B； 18-25 min， 30%-50%B； 25-27 min， 50%-90%B； 27-32 min， 90%B； 32-33 min， 90%-5%B； 33-39 min， 5%B）. According to the information of the accurate mass， the multistage fragment ions， the mass spectrometric data of the standard substances and the relative reference literature， the structures of the chemical components in Qianyang Yuyin granules were identified. Based on the identified components， network pharmacology study， including target prediction and functional enrichment was applied to screen out the main active substances against hypertensive renal damage， and explore the potential mechanism. Result:A total of 99 chemical components were identified， from which 43 active substances and 48 key targets were screened out. The key components contained kaempferol， quercetin， ferulic acid， luteolin， caffeic acid methyl ester， cinnamic acid， aloe-emodin， emodin， gallic acid， <italic>N</italic>-<italic>trans</italic>-feruloyltyramine， isoorientin， 8-<italic>O</italic>-feruloylharpagide， ethyl caffeate， isookanin， cyasterone， 2，3，5，4'-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-<italic>O</italic>-<italic>β</italic>-<italic>D</italic>-glucopyranoside， loganin， alisol B-23-acetate and harpagide. The key targets included vascular endothelial growth factor A （VEGFA）， serine/threonine protein kinase 1 （AKT1）， Jun proto-oncogene （JUN）， etc. Conclusion:Qianyang Yuyin granules mainly exert the effects of removing heat from the liver， tonifying the kidney and removing blood stasis via modulation of vascular endothelium， angiogenesis， inflammatory reaction， oxidative stress， immune response and so on.

Screen astragalosides from Huangqi injections by LC-TOF-MS-based mass defect filtering approach / 中国中药杂志

The samples of Huangqi injection (HI) were analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS), and both positive and negative ion modes were employed to obtain the LC-TOF-MS analysis information of chemical compounds in HI. Then the mass defect filtering (MDF) approach, which was developed based on the previously published articles, was utilized to rapidly screen the astragalosides from the obtained LC-TOF-MS data. Each screened astragaloside was confirmed by the presence of no less than 2 quasi-molecular ions. All the screened astragalosides were then tentatively assigned according to the parent ion and daughter ion information. Finally, a total of 62 astragalosides were screened and characterized from the HI samples, including 15 new detected ones. The identification results indicated that acetylation, hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, methoxylation and hydration might be the major conversion reactions involved in the formation of the astragalosides. The LC-TOF-MS-based MDF approach was proved to be a feasible and efficient tool to screen the chemical constituents in complex matrices such as herbal medicines.

Study on biomarker of Tripterygium wilfordii in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis based on PK/PD / 中国中药杂志

To observe the serum samples and the anti-inflammatory effect of Tripterygium wilfordii in treating RA by using the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model, make a correlation analysis on concentration-time and effect-time curves, and explore RORγt, IL-17, STAT3, IL-6 mRNA transcriptional levels in rats by PCR. Methotrexate, tripterine and high-dose T. wilfordii could down-regulate RORγt, IL-17, STAT3, IL-6 mRNA transcriptional levels in AA rat lymph nodes. The study on PK-PD model showed correlations between inflammatory factors and blood concentration of T. wilfordii. T. wilfordii and its main active constituent tripterine could show the inflammatory effect and treat RA by inhibiting IL-17 cytokine.