Chemical and nutrient differences between medicinal material, residues, and residue compost of Moutan Cortex / 中国中药杂志

Moutan Cortex(MC) residues produced after the extraction of MC can be re-extracted for active components and used to produce organic fertilizer and animal feed. However, they are currently disposed as domestic waste, which pollutes the environment. This study analyzed the chemical composition of the medicinal material, residues, and residue compost of MC by UPLC-UV-Q-TOF-MS. Furthermore, the nutrient composition of MC residues and the residue compost was analyzed. The results showed that:(1)MC residues had lower content of chemicals than the medicinal material, and content of paeonol, gallic acid, and galloylglucose in MC residues were about 1/3 of that in the medicinal material. The content of chemicals were further reduced after residue composting, and the quantitative compounds were all below the limits of detection.(2)Compared with MC residues, the residue compost showed the total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, and organic matter content increasing by 122.67%, 31.32%, 120.39%, and 32.06%, respectively. Therefore, we concluded that the MC residues can be used to re-extract active compounds such as paeonol, gallic acid, and galloylglucose. The MC residue compost is a high-quality organic fertilizer containing minimal content of chemicals and can be widely used in the cultivation of Chinese medicinal herbs.

Development of a surface plasmon resonance biosensor for accurate and sensitive quantitation of small molecules in blood samples / 药物分析学报

Therapeutic drug monitoring(TDM)has played an important role in clinical medicine for precise dosing.Currently,chromatographic technology and immunoassay detection are widely used in TDM and have met most of the needs of clinical drug therapy.However,some problems still exist in practical appli-cations,such as complicated operation and the influence of endogenous substances.Surface plasmon resonance(SPR)has been applied to detect the concentrations of small molecules,including pesticide residues in crops and antibiotics in milk,which indicates its potential for in vivo drug detection.In this study,a new SPR-based biosensor for detecting chloramphenicol(CAP)in blood samples was developed and validated using methodological verification,including precision,accuracy,matrix effect,and extraction recovery rate,and compared with the classic ultra-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet(UPLC-UV)method.The detection range of SPR was 0.1-50 ng/mL and the limit of detec-tion was 0.099±0.023 ng/mL,which was lower than that of UPLC-UV.The intra-day and inter-day ac-curacies of SPR were 98％-114％and 110％-122％,which met the analysis requirement.The results show that the SPR biosensor is identical to UPLC-UV in the detection of CAP in rat blood samples;moreover,the SPR biosensor has better sensitivity.Therefore,the present study shows that SPR technology can be used for the detection of small molecules in the blood samples and has the potential to become a method for therapeutic drug monitoring.

In vitro skin retention and drug permeation study of Tongluo-Qutong rubber plaster by UPLC/UV/MS/MS

Abstract Tongluo-Qutong rubber plaster (TQRP), a typical Chinese patent medicine that contains 13 different herbal remedies, is widely used in clinical practice for the treatment of cervical spondylosis and osteoarthritis. However, due to a lack of in vitro transdermal studies, the active ingredients of TQRP have not been fully elucidated. This presents a huge obstacle for quality evaluation, pharmacokinetic studies and clinical safety assessment of TQRP. In this work, a UPLC/UV/MS/MS method was established and validated to evaluate five analytes in TQRP. The validation demonstrated linearity (r > 0.99), specificity (no co-eluting peaks at the retention times of the analytes), and precision (RSD < 15%) within acceptable parameters. A skin permeation study was performed to determine the concentrations of drugs delivered to the dermis. The 24-hour cumulative permeation of ferulic acid, aleo-emodin, emodin and piperine were 303.68, 709.31, 671.06 and 25561.01 ng/cm2, respectively. According to the fitting data of the TQRP active components, skin permeation was mainly due to a combination of passive diffusion and drug release after matrix erosion

Determination of two flavonoids and two saponins in Ziziphi Spinosae Semen from different producing areas / 中草药

Objective: To study and compare the content of two flavonoids and two saponins in Ziziphi Spinosae Semen from seven major producing areas in China, and to provide high quality sources of medicinal materials. Methods: Investigation and sample collection of seven major production areas were carried out in 2016 and 2017 and a total of 74 samples were collected. UPLC-UV-ELSD liquid phase method was used to determine the content of two flavones, spironol and 6’’’-ferulinyl spironol, as well as two saponins jujuboside A and jujuboside B. Results: In 2016 and 2017, the content of spinolin in the samples was 0.052%-0.102% and 0.049%-0.144%, respectively. The content of 6’’’-ferulinyl spironol was 0.021%-0.072% and 0.026%-0.088%, respectively. The content of jujuboside A was 0.016%-0.061% and 0.033%-0.054%, respectively. The content of jujuboside B was 0.008%-0.046% and 0.005%-0.046%, respectively. Conclusion: By correlation analysis, there was no significant difference in the content of each component among the seven major production areas. The producing areas with high spinosin content are Linfen, Shanxi (including Daning and Jixian), Shexian, Hebei, Qian’ an, Hebei, Qingyang, Gansu, Meixian, Shaanxi, Heyang, Shaanxi, Jianchang, Liaoning, and Jixian, Tianjin. The producing areas with high content of jujuboside A are most places of Shandong province, Neiqiu, Hebei and Weinan, Shaanxi. Considering the content of two kinds of components, Shandong Province is generally high and has little change. The correlation analysis also showed that the content of two flavonoids had good correlation, but the content of two saponins had poor correlation.

Studies on plasma fingerprint of Danggui Shaoyao Powder by UPLC-UV / 中草药

Objective To establish the plasma fingerprint of Danggui Shaoyao Powder (DSP) for the analysis of the transitional components in rat plasma after administration of DSP extracts Methods Eleven batches of rat plasma were prepared after oral administration and the plasma fingerprint was established by UPLC-UV. The transitional components in rat plasma after administration of DSP extracts was analyzed by UPLC-Q/TOF-MS. Results The plasma fingerprints of common peaks for 11 batches of DSP were established to ascertain the optimized blood collection time, and the method was used to process the plasma. Fifteen common peaks were detected in plasma fingerprint, and the similarity were both higher than 0.933. The methodology of plasma pharmacochemistry was adopted to analyze the common peaks, and 15 transitional components, including 10 prototype components and five metabolites were identified. Conclusion The established plasma fingerprint of DSP provide the basis for the further study of transitional components.

Nonlinear relationship between enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium dose and mycophenolic acid exposure in Han kidney transplantation recipients

The aim of the research was to investigate the pharmacokinetics (PK) of enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium (EC-MPS) by quantification of the active metabolite of mycophenolic acid (MPA) after multiple escalating oral doses in Han kidney transplant recipients. A total of 28 Han postoperative kidney transplant recipients were given a multiple-dose of 540, 720 or 900 mg of EC-MPS two times a day in combination with tacrolimus for 6 days. Blood specimens were collected at each time point from 0 to 12 h after EC-MPS administration. MPA plasma concentrations were measured by UPLC-UV. The relationship between the EC-MPS dose and its PK parameters was assessed. In the range from 540 to 900 mg,and AUCdid not increase with dose escalation. The AUC,,andfor the 540 720 and 900 mg doses were not significantly different, respectively (>0.05). AUCandwere increased less than proportionally with increasing EC-MPS dose levels. Inter-individual variability in AUC,andwere considerable. Nonlinear PK relationships were found from the doses of 540-900 mg of EC-MPS.

Study on UPLC-UV-ELSD fingerprint for roots of Panax quinquefolius / 中草药

Objective: To establish a method of UPLC-UV-ELSD fingerprint and chemical pattern recognition which could provide a reliable evidence for the scientific evaluation and quality control for the roots of Panax quinquefolius, based on clustering analysis, principal component analysis, and similarity assessment techniques. Methods: The chromatographic separation was achieved on Waters Acquity UPLC system, TUV detector, and ELSD detector, performed on Acquity UPLC™ BEH C18 column (50 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) and gradient eluted with acetonitrile-water, and the column temperature was maintained at 30℃; The detection wavelength was set at 203 nm; The temperature of drift tube was maintained at 50℃, sprayer parameter was 50%, and nitrogen pressure was 275.8 kPa The common mode of UPLC fingerprint for the roots of P. quinquefolius was set up. There were 12 common peaks in the fingerprints, with 10 reference substance identified ten common peaks, the PCA analysis showed that ginsenosides Rg1, Re, Rc, Rb2, and Rb3 in the roots of P. quinquefolius in Beijing, Jilin, and Heilongjiang regions distinguish from the United States, Shandong and Shaanxi, while ginsenosides Rg2, Rb1, and Rd conversely. Conclusion: This method has the advantages of high reproducibility and stability, and it can be used to control the quality of the roots in P. quinquefolius.