ABSTRACT
Comprehensive characterization of metabolites and metabolic profiles in plasma has considerable sig-nificance in determining the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)in vivo.However,this process is usually hindered by the insufficient characteristic fragments of metabolites,ubiquitous matrix interference,and complicated screening and identification procedures for metabolites.In this study,an effective strategy was established to systematically characterize the metabolites,deduce the metabolic pathways,and describe the metabolic profiles of bufadienolides isolated from Venenum Bufonis in vivo.The strategy was divided into five steps.First,the blank and test plasma samples were injected into an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/linear trap quadrupole-orbitrap-mass spectrometry(MS)system in the full scan mode continuously five times to screen for valid matrix compounds and metabolites.Second,an extension-mass defect filter model was established to obtain the targeted precursor ions of the list of bufadienolide metabolites,which reduced approximately 39％of the interfering ions.Third,an acquisition model was developed and used to trigger more tandem MS(MS/MS)fragments of precursor ions based on the targeted ion list.The acquisition mode enhanced the acquisition capability by approximately four times than that of the regular data-dependent acquisition mode.Fourth,the acquired data were imported into Compound Discoverer software for identification of metabolites with metabolic network prediction.The main in vivo metabolic pathways of bufadienolides were elucidated.A total of 147 metabolites were characterized,and the main biotransformation reactions of bufadienolides were hydroxylation,dihydroxylation,and isomerization.Finally,the main prototype bufadienolides in plasma at different time points were determined using LC-MS/MS,and the metabolic profiles were clearly identified.This strategy could be widely used to elucidate the metabolic profiles of TCM preparations or Chinese patent medicines in vivo and provide critical data for rational drug use.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE：To analyze the metabolites of tetrahydroxystilbene glucoside （THSG）and speculate its metabolism pathway in rats. METHODS ：Male SD rats were randomly divided into plasma group （n＝3），urine group （n＝3），bile group （n＝3），and tissue group （n＝9）. Each group was given single dose of THSG 200 mg/kg intragastrically. Plasma samples 10，30 min and 1，1.5，2，4 h after medication ，the unrine 0-6 h after medication ，the bile 0-4 h after medication ，the tissue of heart ， liver，spleen，lung，kidney and stomach 30 min and 1，2 h after medication （3 at each time point ）were collected respectively.After precipitated with methanol ，the metabolites of samples were analyzed and identified by UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS and mass loss filtration （MDF）. Its metabolism pathway was speculated. RESULTS：In the blood ，urine，bile，heart，liver，spleen， lung，kidney，stomach samples ，6，7，11，1，5，1，3，4，4 metabolites were detected ，including two phase Ⅰ（hydrolysis， hydrogenation and hydroxylation ）metabolites，18 phase Ⅱ（glucuronic acid binding and sulfation ）metabolites. There were 12 glucuronic acid binding products. CONCLUSIONS：Most of the metabolites of THSG are found in bile ，mainly glucuronic acid binding products of phase Ⅱ metabolite THSG ； main metabolic pathways involve glucose hydrolysis ， hydrogenation， hydroxylation，glucuronic acid binding and sulfation.
ABSTRACT
The present study was designed to develop a practical strategy to tackle the problem of lacking standard compounds and limited references for identifying structure-related compounds in Streptocaulon griffithii Hook. f., especially those in trace concentrations, with a focus on antitumor activity. The cardiac glycosides (CGs)-enriched part was determined using in vitro bioactive assays in three cancer cell lines and then isolated using macroporous resins. The MS and MS/MS data were acquired using a high performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid quadrupole-time of flight (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS) system. To acquire data of trace compound in the extract, a multiple segment program was applied to modify the HPLC-Q-TOF-MS method. A mass defect filter (MDF) approach was employed to make a primary MS data filtration. Utilizing a MATLAB program, the redundant peaks obtained by imprecise MDF template calculated with limited references were excluded by fragment ion classification, which was based on the ion occurrence number in the MDF-filtered total ion chromatograms (TIC). Additionally, the complete cleavage pathways of CG aglycones were proposed to assist the structural identification of 29 common fragment ions (CFIs, ion occurrence number ≥ 5) and diagnostic fragment ions (DFIs, ion occurrence number < 5). As a result, 30 CGs were filtered out from the MDF results, among which 23 were identified. This newly developed strategy may provide a rapid and effective tool for identifying structure-related compounds in herbal medicines.
Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , Mice , A549 Cells , Apocynaceae , Chemistry , Cardiac Glycosides , Chemistry , Pharmacology , Toxicity , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Survival , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Computational Biology , Data Mining , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Chemistry , Pharmacology , Inhibitory Concentration 50 , MCF-7 Cells , Molecular Structure , Plant Roots , Chemistry , Plants, Medicinal , Chemistry , Tandem Mass Spectrometry , WorkflowABSTRACT
The present study was designed to develop a practical strategy to tackle the problem of lacking standard compounds and limited references for identifying structure-related compounds in Streptocaulon griffithii Hook. f., especially those in trace concentrations, with a focus on antitumor activity. The cardiac glycosides (CGs)-enriched part was determined using in vitro bioactive assays in three cancer cell lines and then isolated using macroporous resins. The MS and MS/MS data were acquired using a high performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid quadrupole-time of flight (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS) system. To acquire data of trace compound in the extract, a multiple segment program was applied to modify the HPLC-Q-TOF-MS method. A mass defect filter (MDF) approach was employed to make a primary MS data filtration. Utilizing a MATLAB program, the redundant peaks obtained by imprecise MDF template calculated with limited references were excluded by fragment ion classification, which was based on the ion occurrence number in the MDF-filtered total ion chromatograms (TIC). Additionally, the complete cleavage pathways of CG aglycones were proposed to assist the structural identification of 29 common fragment ions (CFIs, ion occurrence number ≥ 5) and diagnostic fragment ions (DFIs, ion occurrence number < 5). As a result, 30 CGs were filtered out from the MDF results, among which 23 were identified. This newly developed strategy may provide a rapid and effective tool for identifying structure-related compounds in herbal medicines.
Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , Mice , A549 Cells , Apocynaceae , Chemistry , Cardiac Glycosides , Chemistry , Pharmacology , Toxicity , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Survival , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Computational Biology , Data Mining , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Chemistry , Pharmacology , Inhibitory Concentration 50 , MCF-7 Cells , Molecular Structure , Plant Roots , Chemistry , Plants, Medicinal , Chemistry , Tandem Mass Spectrometry , WorkflowABSTRACT
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.