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ObjectiveTo establish an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry（UHPLC-QqQ-MS） for determination of the active ingredients in Erdongtang， and to predict the targets and pathways of anti-insulin resistance action of this formula. MethodThe analysis was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column（2.1 mm×100 mm， 1.7 μm） with the mobile phase of 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution（A）-acetonitrile（B） for gradient elution（0-3 min， 90%-87%A； 3-6 min， 87%-86%A； 6-9 min， 86%-83%A； 9-11 min， 83%-75%A； 11-18 min， 75%-70%A； 18-19 min， 70%-52%A； 19-22 min， 52%A； 22-25 min， 52%-5%A； 25-27 min， 5%-90%A； 27-30 min， 90%A）. The contents of active ingredients in Erdongtang was detected by electrospray ionization（ESI） and multiple reaction monitoring（MRM） mode under positive and negative ion modes. On this basis， network pharmacology was applied to predict the targets and pathways of Erdongtang exerting anti-insulin resistance effect. ResultThe 20 active ingredients in Erdongtang showed good linear relationships within a certain mass concentration range， and the precision， stability， repeatability and recovery rate were good. The results of determination showed that the ingredients with high content in 15 batches of samples were baicalein（1 259.39-1 635.78 mg·L-1）， baicalin（1 078.37-1 411.52 mg·L-1）， the ingredients with medium content were mangiferin（148.59-217.04 mg·L-1）， timosaponin BⅡ（245.10-604.89 mg·L-1）， quercetin-3-O-glucuronide（89.30-423.26 mg·L-1）， rutin（46.91-1 553.61 mg·L-1）， glycyrrhizic acid（55.97-391.47 mg·L-1）， neomangiferin（37.45-127.03 mg·L-1）， nuciferine（0.89-63.48 mg·L-1）， hyperoside（6.96-136.78 mg·L-1）， liquiritin（30.89-122.78 mg·L-1）， liquiritigenin（26.64-110.67 mg·L-1）， protodioscin（58.57-284.26 mg·L-1）， the ingredients with low content were wogonin（7.16-20.74 mg·L-1）， pseudoprotodioscin（5.49-22.96 mg·L-1）， ginsenoside Rb1（7.31-23.87 mg·L-1）， ginsenoside Rg1（10.78-28.33 mg·L-1）， ginsenoside Re（7.78-24.76 mg·L-1）， ophiopogonin D（2.08-4.29 mg·L-1）， methylophiopogonanone A（0.74-1.67 mg·L-1）. The results of network pharmacology indicated that the mechanism of anti-insulin resistance exerted by Erdongtang might be related to the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B（PI3K/Akt） signaling pathway. ConclusionThe established UHPLC-QqQ-MS has the advantages of simple sample processing， strong exclusivity and high sensitivity， and can simultaneously determine the contents of the main ingredients from seven herbs in Erdongtang， which can lay the foundation for the development of Erdongtang compound preparations. The results of the network pharmacology can provide a reference for the mechanism study of Erdongtang in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
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Objective To establish a highly sensitive,stable,and universally applicable ultra-high-performance liquid mass spectrometry tandem method(UPLC-MS/MS)for simultaneous determination of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir blood concentrations in human plasma.Methods The separation was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column(2.1 mm× 50 mm,1.7 μm)with gradient elution,and the mobile phase consisted of 0.1％formic acid-water and 100％acetonitrile at the flow rate of 0.3 mL·min-1.The column temperature was 45℃,and the injection volume was 2 μL.Electrospray ionization as ion source(ESI+)was used as the ion source and multiple reactions monitoring mode(nirmatrelvir m/z 500.20→319.10,nirmatrelvir-D9 m/z 508.59→328.10,ritonavir m/z 721.30→426.10,13C,2H3-ritonavir m/z 725.30→426.10)was adopted.Thirty patients with coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)treated with nirmatrelvir and ritonavir at the People's Hospital of Changxing County in Jan.2023 were selected to measure their steady-state trough concentrations of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir after 3 days of treatment.Results The linear range of nirmatrelvir was 0.100-10.0 μg·mL-1(R2=0.997 2),and the linear range of nirmatrelvir was 0.050-5.00 μg·mL-1(R2=0.995 2).The recovery rates of nirmatrelvir and lopinavir were both＞90％and the intra-batch and inter-batch precision relative standard deviations(RSDs)were both＜10％.Additionally,the recovery ranges for nirmatrelvir and lopinavir were 91.5％-97.0％,and the matrix effects ranged from 92.4％to 97.7％.The results of clinical samples showed that the plasma concentrations of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir in patients with COVID-19 varied greatly among individuals.Conclusion The method for simultaneous determination of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir concentrations in human plasma established in this study is convenient,highly specific,highly accurate,with high precision,which is suitable for monitoring the concentrations of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir in patients.
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Objective To develop an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry(UPLC-MS/MS)method for the simultaneous quantification of dolutegravir,raltegravir,efavirenz,lamivudine and tenofovir in human plasma and to apply it to the therapeutic monitoring.Methods Dolutegravir-D5,raltegravir-D4,efavirenz-D5,lamivudine-13 C-15 N2 and tenofovir-D7 were used as internal standard,respectively.All samples were extracted using the protein precipitation method with acetonitrile and then diluted for analysis.Chromatographic separation was performed on Shim-pack XR-ODS Ⅲ(2.0 mmx50 mm,1.6 μm)column.Mobile phases A and B consisted of 0.1％formic acid in water and acetonitrile respectively.A programmed mobile phase gradient was used at a flow rate of 0.3 mL·min-1 and column temperature of 40 ℃.The tandem mass spectrometer was equipped with an electrospray ionization(ESI)source operating in multiple reaction monitoring(MRM)modes.After methodological validation,it can be used for therapeutic drug monitoring in HIV patients.Results There was good linearity in the validated concentration ranges of 62.5-3 000 ng·mL-1 for dolutegravir,10-500 ng·mL-1 for raltegravir,125-6 000 ng·mL-1for efavirenz,10-500 ng·mL-1 for lamivudine and 10-500 ng·mL-1 for tenofovir with the linear correlation coeffificients of determination(R2)of all higher than 0.998.The accuracy of both intra-day and inter-day studies ranged from 94.0％-109.3％,and the relative standard deviations were less than 7％.The IS-normalized matrix factor and extraction recoveries of all analytes were 95.7％-106.0％and 98.7％-104.5％at all concentrations.All analytes were stable in plasma at a certain storage environment.The trough blood concentrations of dolutegravir,efavirenz,lamivudine and tenofovir were 107.7-2 366.0,740.0-3 410.0,38.5-1 229.3,31.6-224.4ng·mL-1 in HIV patients,respectively.Conclusion The method is highly aceurate,easy to perform,low-cost,and suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring of dolutegravir,raltegravir,efavirenz,lamivudine and tenofovir in HIV patients.
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Objective To study the correlation of an ultra high performance liquid chromatography(UPLC)fingerprint of Xiaochengqitang pieces(decoction and granules).Methods The UPLC method was used to establish the fingerprint of 15 batches of Xiaochengqitang pieces(decoction and granules).The correlation of the three UPLC fingerprints was evaluated by similarity analysis,pearson correlation analysis,cluster analysis(CA),principal component analysis(PCA)and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA).Results UPLC fingerprints of 15 batches of Xiaochengqitang pieces(decoction and granules)determined 16 common peaks,and 14 peaks were identified.The similarity of the fingerprints of the 15 batches of Xiaochengqitang pieces(decoction and granules)with the corresponding control fingerprints was greater than 0.90,and the similarity of the three control fingerprints was greater than 0.88.The results of pearson correlation analysis showed that 8 common peaks in Xiaochengqitang pieces(decoction and granules)had a very significant positive correlation.The results of CA showed that the properties of Xiaochengqitang decoction and granules were more similar.The results of PCA showed that the principal components with 4 eigenvalues greater than 1 contained 88％of the information of the original data.OPLS-DA screened 7 differential markers with variable importance projection value greater than 1.Conclusion The main chemical compositions of Xiaochengqitang pieces(decoction and granules)are consistent,which can provide data support for the quality control and clinical use of Xiaochengqitang compound preparation.
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ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of total alkaloids of Corydalis saxicola on a rat model of lipopolysaccharide（LPS）-induced depression， as well as the pharmacokinetic characteristics of 8 of its major components. MethodTwenty-four male SD rats were randomly divided into normal group， model group， fluoxetine group（10 mg·kg-1） and total alkaloids of C. saxicola group（210 mg·kg-1）， with 6 rats in each group. In addition to the normal group， the rats were injected intraperitoneally with LPS to establish the inflammation model of depression， and the drug administration was started 1 week after modeling， and the administration groups were gavaged according to the corresponding dose， and the normal and model groups were intragastric administration with equal volume of distilled water， and the administration was performed along with the modeling. After two weeks of continuous administration， the effect of total alkaloids of C. saxicola on the behavior of depressed rats were tested by sucrose preference， forced swimming and open field experiments， the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α）， interleukin（IL）-1β and IL-6 in serum of rats were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）， the histopathological changes of rat hippocampus were observed by hematoxylin-eosin（HE） staining. After the last administration， blood was collected from orbit according to the set time， and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry（UPLC-QqQ-MS） was established to simultaneously detect the concentrations of dehydrocavidine， tetrahydropalmatine， coptisine， palmatine， jatrorrhizine， berberine， berberrubine and epiberberine in plasma， and drug-time curves were drawn. The pharmacokinetic parameters were analyzed by DAS 2.0 software. ResultCompared with the normal group， the model group exhibited a decrease in sucrose preference rate， total distance traveled in the open field， as well as an increase in swimming immobility time and serum inflammatory factor expression（P<0.01）. In contrast， compared with the model group， rats in each administration group showed an increase in sucrose preference rate and total distance traveled in the open field， a decrease in swimming immobility time， and a reduction in serum inflammatory factor expression（P<0.05， P<0.01）. Additionally， HE staining results revealed that neurons in the hippocampus of rats from the model group were characterized by loss， disorganization and residual vacuoles， whereas those from the total alkaloids of C.saxicola group displayed an increase in number with orderly arrangement and clear cytoplasm. Pharmacokinetic results showed that the time to peak（tmax） and half-life（t1/2） of the 8 active ingredients were 0.19-2.06 h and 3.71-8.70 h after continuous administration of total alkaloids of C. saxicola. Among them， the area under the curve（AUC0-∞） of tetrahydropalmatine was the highest and the t1/2 was the shortest， and the AUC0-∞ of coptisine， palmatine， jatrorrhizine， berberine， berberrubine and epiberberine were low. The curves of dehydrocavidine， coptisine， palmatine， berberine and epiberberine showed obvious double peak phenomenon. ConclusionTotal alkaloids of C. saxicola can improve the depression-like behavior of rats， inhibit the expression of inflammatory factors in serum， improve the pathological injury of hippocampus， and has the antidepressant effect. Meanwhile， the effective site is absorbed quickly and eliminated slowly in the depressed model rats， and the efficacy is maintained for a long time.
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@#Objective To develop an ultra performance liquid chromatography(UPLC)method for simultaneous determination of 19 amino acids in rat serum by employing the pre-column derivatization of phenyl isothiocyanate(PITC),verify and preliminarily apply the method.Methods The analysis was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC~?BEH C_(18) column(2.1mm×100 mm,1.7 μm) by using 0.1 mol/L sodium acetate buffer solution-acetonitrile as mobile phase at the flow rate of 0.3 mL/min in gradient elution.The column temperature was fixed at 52 ℃,and the detection wavelength was 254 nm.The specificity,linearity,precision,stability and accuracy of the method were verified based on the optimized chromatographic conditions and preparation method of sample solution,and the contents of 19 amino acids in rat serum were determined by using the developed method.Results All 19 amino acids in rat serum were separated well within 10 min,and the blank derivatization solvent and internal standard compounds had no interference with the analysis of amino acids.All the components exhibited good linear correlation in the given range(r ≥ 0.998 0),the limit of detection was 0.004 6-0.186 5 μg/mL,and the limit of quantitation was 0.013 9-0.559 6 μg/mL.The RSDs of precision and stability tests were all less than 4%.The average spike recoveries ranged from 90% to 110% and the RSDs were less than 5%.The contents of amino acids in rat serum ranged from 4.837 to 110.233 μg/mL.Conclusion The developed method is sensitive,simple and feasible,which is suitable for the analysis of amino acids in rat serum.
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OBJECTIVE To establish a method for determining the blood concentration of apatinib and apply it clinically. METHODS Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography （UPLC） was used for the determination of blood concentration. The chromatographic column was ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 with the mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid aqueous solution （gradient elution） at the flow rate of 0.2 mL/min； the column temperature was 40 ℃， and the injection volume was 5 μL. The data of 26 cancer patients taking apatinib were collected， and their blood concentrations were measured. The correlation between patient’s blood concentration and age， dosage， adverse reactions， and combination therapy were analyzed； the levels of serum kidney injury-related factors [cystatin C （CysC）， kidney injury molecule 1 （KIM-1）， interleukin-18 （IL-18）， tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）] were determined before and after treatment. RESULTS The linear range of apatinib was 500-2 000 ng/mL， with a precision RSD of 3.7%， stability RSD of 4.9%， and an average sample recovery rate of 96.0% （RSD was 2.1%）. The lowest blood concentration of apatinib was 103 ng/mL and the highest was 1 932 ng/mL among 26 patients. The blood concentration of apatinib in patients showed a fluctuating downward trend with age. At a dosage of 0.125 or 0.25 g， the blood concentration of patients taking apatinib was concentrated within the range of 1 000-2 000 ng/mL. Among 26 cancer patients， 13 experienced adverse reactions， and no adverse reaction was observed in those with blood concentrations ranging from 500 to ＜1 000 ng/mL. Twenty patients were simultaneously treated with other drugs，resulting in varying blood concentration. After treatment， the levels of serum CysC， KIM-1， IL-18 and TNF- α were significantly higher than before treatment （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS The established UPLC method can quickly E-mail：duanxc@ahtcm.edu.cn detect the blood concentration of apatinib. When using apatinib in clinical practice， comprehensive consideration should be given to the patient’s age， drug combination， and the attention should be paid to preventing possible acute kidney damage caused by apatinib.
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ObjectiveTo investigate the brain absorption components of Tianyuan Zhitong prescription and their distribution based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS）， desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging（DESI-MSI） and hyperspectral imaging techniques. MethodTen BALB/c mice were randomly divided into blank group（n=3） and administration group（n=7）， the administration group was gavaged with 0.3 mL of Tianyuan Zhitong prescription liquid at a concentration of about 5 g·mL-1 of the raw material， and the blank group was gavaged with an equal volume of normal saline， and the whole brain of the mice were taken for the preparation of tissue homogenates and frozen sections， respectively. The tissue homogenates were qualitatively analyzed by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS for the brain absorption components in positive and negative ion modes， frozen sections were used for imaging to observe the distribution of these components in the brain. Cytoviva dark-field enhancement microscope was used to perform hyperspectral imaging scanning on the brain sections of mice from each group， and the scattered light data of at least 1 000 pixels in the visible-near-infrared（400-1 000 nm） band in the microscopic field of view were collected and average spectrum were created， which were used to compare the components in the brain tissues of mice from the blank and administration groups. ResultA total of 27 brain absorption components of Tianyuan Zhitong prescription were identified by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS， including 10 organic acids， 5 glycosides， 4 alkaloids， 1 phenol， 4 flavonoids， 2 phthalides and 1 other compound， which were mainly derived from Gastrodiae Rhizoma， Chuanxiong Rhizoma， vinegar-processed Corydalis Rhizoma， Ziziphi Spinosae Semen and processed Morindae Officinalis Radix. A total of 14 components were identified by mass spectrometry imaging， of which ferulic acid， tetrahydropalmatine and N-methyl dehydroberberine were mainly distributed in the cerebral cortex， vitamin B5， vemonoic acid and ricinoleic acid were mainly distributed in the hypothalamus， elemicin， octadecenic acid and octadecanoic acid were mainly distributed in the cortex and hypothalamus， while senkyunolide B， ligustilide， linoleic acid， 9，12-octadecadienoyl ethyl ester and spinosin were distributed in most regions of the brain tissues. Hyperspectral imaging showed that in the visible-near-infrared band range， the average spectrum of the brain tissues of mice in the administration group was significantly red-shifted， indicating that there were differences in the physical properties or contents of the chemical components in the brain between mice in the blank group and those in the administration group， and further verified the results of mass spectrometry imaging. ConclusionThrough the combination of UPLC-Q-TOF-MS and imaging techniques， the pharmacodynamic components of Tianyuan Zhitong prescription in the treatment of headache and the regional characteristics in brain tissue are clarified， which can provide reference for the selection of the index components of the research on the quality standard of this prescription and the research on the mechanism of the pharmacological effect.
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ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of anti-pulmonary fibrosis of cannabidiol by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS）. MethodSD rats were randomly divided into blank group， model group， prednisone group（3.15 mg·kg-1） and cannabidiol low， medium and high dose groups（12， 36， 108 mg·kg-1）， with 8 rats in each group. The rat model of pulmonary fibrosis was established by intratracheal injection of bleomycin（5 mg·kg-1）， which was administered continuously for 28 days after successful modeling. The pathological changes of rat lung tissue were observed， and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA） was used to detect the expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-7（MMP-7）， type Ⅱ alveolar cell surface antigen（KL-6）， pulmonary surfactant-associated protein A（SP-A） and SP-D in serum. The expression levels of type Ⅰ collagen（Col-Ⅰ） and fibronectin（FN） in lung tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry， and the expression of mucin 5 subtype AC（MUC5AC） was detected by immunofluorescence. UPLC-Q-TOF-MS was used to search for potential biomarkers and related metabolic pathways of cannabidiol in treating pulmonary fibrosis. ResultCompared with the blank group， there were a large number of inflammatory cell infiltration and continuous fibrosis lesions in the lung tissue of rats in the model group. Compared with the model group， the inflammatory infiltration and blue collagen deposition in the lung tissue of rats in the prednisone and cannabidiol groups were reduced. Compared with the blank group， the expressions of MMP-7， KL-6， SP-A and SP-D in serum of the model group were significantly increased（P<0.01）， while the expressions of MMP-7， KL-6， SP-A and SP-D in the prednisone and cannabidiol high dose groups were significantly decreased by comparing with the model group（P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with the blank group， the expression levels of Col-Ⅰ and FN in the lung tissues of the model group were significantly increased， and the fluorescence intensity of MUC5AC was significantly increased（P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the expression levels of Col-Ⅰ and FN in the lung tissues of the prednisone and cannabidiol high dose groups were significantly decreased（P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the expression of MUC5AC was significantly decreased（P<0.01）. Compared with the blank group， a total of 18 differential compounds were screened out in the model group， which could be used as potential biomarkers， and cannabidiol could call back 16 of them， mainly involving 4 metabolic pathways（linoleic acid metabolism， phenylalanine， tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis， arachidonic acid metabolism， and niacin and niacinamide metabolism）. Compared with the blank group， the relative contents of potential biomarkers arachidonic acid and linoleic acid were significantly increased in the model group（P<0.05， P<0.01）， while the relative contents of 5，6-EET， L-tyrosine and niacinamide were significantly decreased（P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， cannabidiol could significantly reduce the relative contents of arachidonic acid and linoleic acid， and significantly increase the relative contents of 5，6-EET， L-tyrosine and niacinamide（P<0.01）. ConclusionCannabidiol has an intervention and remission effect on pulmonary fibrosis， and its mechanism may be related to linoleic acid metabolism， phenylalanine， tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis， arachidonic acid metabolism， niacin and niacinamide metabolism.
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Objective To establish a rapid screening method for 34 emerging contaminants in surface water by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry(UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS).Methods The pretreatment conditions of solid phase extraction(SPE)were op-timized by orthogonal experimental design and the surface water samples were concentrated and ex-tracted by Oasis? HLB and Oasis? MCX SPE columns in series.The extracts were separated by Kine-tex? EVO C18 column,with gradient elution of 0.1%formic acid aqueous solution and 0.1%formic acid methanol solution.Q-TOF-MS'fullscan'and'targeted MS/MS'modes were used to detect 34 emerging contaminants and to establish a database with 34 emerging contaminants precursor ion,prod-uct ion and retention times.Results The 34 emerging contaminants exhibited good linearity in the con-centration range respectively and the correlation coefficients(r)were higher than 0.97.The limit of de-tection was 0.2-10 ng/L and the recoveries were 81.2%-119.2%.The intra-day precision was 0.78%-18.70%.The method was applied to analyze multiple surface water samples and 6 emerging contaminants were detected,with a concentration range of 1.93-157.71 ng/L.Conclusion The method is simple and rapid for screening various emerging contaminants at the trace level in surface water.
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Objective:To compare and evaluate the quality of wild and different cultivation methods of Sanghuang porus vaninii (Ljub.) L.W. Zhou & Y.C. Dai through analysis on UPLC characteristic atlas and multi-component content determination results. Methods:UPLC was used to establish the characteristic chromatogram and multi-component content determination method of Sanghuang porus vaninii (Ljub.) L.W. Zhou & Y.C. Dai, and clustering analysis, orthogonal partial least squares - discriminant analysis method were used for chemical pattern recognition analysis. Results:The results showed that there were 10 common peaks in 18 batches of Sanghuang porus vaninii (Ljub.) L.W. Zhou & Y.C. Dai. Five components were identified, erythrothioneine(peak 1), protocatechuic acid (peak 2), protocatechualdehyde (peak 3), caffeic acid (peak 4) and Hispidin (peak 5). HCA and OPLS-DA could distinguish Sanghuang porus vaninii (Ljub.) with different cultivation methods. Conclusion:Sanghuang porus vaninii (Ljub.) L.W. Zhou & Y.C. Dai in wood is closer to wild Sanghuang porus vaninii (Ljub.) L.W. Zhou & Y.C. Dai than in substitute cultivation. The UPLC characteristic atlas and multi-component content determination method established in this study can provide reference for the quality evaluation of Sanghuang porus vaninii (Ljub.) L.W. Zhou & Y.C. Dai.
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Objective:To analyze the effects of processed Epimedii Folium on endogenous metabolites of mouse melanoma cells (B16 cells) before and after processing based on cell metabolomics; To investigate the changes of processed Epimedii Folium before and after processing.Methods:Ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem four-stage orbital trap mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap-MS) technology was used, and the endogenous small molecules of B16 cells treated with Epimedii Folium and processed Epimedii Folium were analyzed by metabolomics. The differential metabolites between groups were obtained, and relevant metabolic pathways were analyzed based on the MetaboAnalyst 5.0 database.Results:Significant changes were observed in 13 kinds of endogenous metabolites, including alanine, carnitine C3∶0, glutamic acid-1, lactic acid, isoleucine, choline, phosphatidylcholine (34∶2, 36∶2), free fatty acids, citric acid, carnitine C4∶0, lysophosphatidylcholine 16∶0 and malic acid after the intervention of Epimedii Folium and processed Epimedii Folium. And the impact of processed products on differential metabolites was stronger than that of raw products. The main pathways involved were Warburg effect, pyruvate metabolism, malate-aspartic acid shuttle, pyruvaldehyde degradation and so on.Conclusions:Epimedii Folium and processed Epimedii Folium would have certain effects on cellular metabolic pathways. The results may be related to the pharmacological effects and changes in cold and hot properties of Epimedii Folium before and after processing.
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ObjectiveBased on the quality evaluation experience of "it is better to have a fragrant and strong aroma" summarized by materia medica of past dynasties， the chemical components of Sojae Semen Nigrum（SSN） and Sojae Semen Praeparatum（SSP） were systematically compared and analyzed， and the main fermentation products in different fermentation time were quantitatively analyzed， so as to clarify the transformation law of internal components in the processing process and provide scientific basis for the modern quality control of SSP. MethodUltra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS） was used for the structural identification of the chemical constituents of SSN and SSP， and with the aid of Progenesis QI v2.3 software， the negative ion mode was employed for principal component analysis（PCA） pattern recognition， and the data were analyzed with the aid of orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA） for two-dimensional data to obtain S-plot， and components with |P|>0.1 were selected as the differential constituents. The contents of isoflavonoids in SSP during fermentation was determined by UPLC， and the samples were taken every 8 h in the pre-fermentation period and every 2 d in the post-fermentation period， and the dynamic changes of isoflavonoid contents in different fermentation stages were analyzed. The contents of amino acids and nucleosides in SSP and SSN from different fermentation stages were quantitatively analyzed by phenyl isothiocyanate（PITC） pre-column derivatization and high performance liquid chromatography（HPLC） gradient elution， and the contribution of flavor substances to the "delicious" taste of SSP was discussed by taste intensity value（TAV）. ResultA total of 19 kinds of differential components were screened out， mainly soybean saponins and isoflavones， and their contents decreased significantly or even disappeared after fermentation. In the pre-fermentation process of SSP， glycoside bond hydrolysis mainly occurred， and isoflavone glycosides in SSN were degraded and converted into the corresponding aglycones， the content of flavor substances such as amino acids increased gradually. In the post-fermentation process， protein degradation mainly occurred， after 8 d of post-fermentation， the content of isoflavones was basically stable， while the total content of amino acids increased by 8-40 times on average. Different amino acids form the special flavor of SSP， such as the TAV of glutamate is always ahead of other flavor substances， and sweet substances such as alanine and valine have made relatively great contributions to SSP. ConclusionBased on the law of constituent transformation， combined with the traditional evaluation index of "fragrant and strong"， it is difficult to control the fermentation degree of SSP by the existing standards in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. It is suggested that description of the characteristics of SSP be refined and changed to "fragrant， delicious and slightly sweet"， and at the same time， the post-fermentation index compounds such as glutamic acid， alanine and valine should be added as the quality control indicators of SSP， so as to standardize the production process and improve the quality of SSP.
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ObjectiveTo investigate the material basis of homologous and heterogeneous effect of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus（AFI） and Aurantii Fructus（AF） based on the total statistical moment analysis and molecular connectivity index（MCI）. MethodRelevant literature at home and abroad and Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform（TCMSP） were consulted to establish the chemical composition database of AFI and AF， and set up their fingerprints by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography（UPLC）， and the total statistical moments and similarity parameters of the fingerprint were calculated. According to MCI， all components of AFI and AF were divided into different component groups， the average values of 0-8th order（0χ-8χ） MCI of the common component groups of AFI and AF were calculated. ResultThe values of total zero-order moment（AUCT） of AFI and AF were （10.57±2.45）×106， （5.09±0.89）×106 μV·s， the values of total first-order moment（MCRTT） were （11.57±1.58）， （12.10±1.29） min， the values of total second-order moments（VCRTT） were（24.49±2.30）， （26.49±2.54） min2， respectively. It showed that qualitative and quantitative parameters of AFI and AF were significantly different. The components with high similarity such as neohesperidin， hesperidin and narirutin were screened as the common potential pharmacodynamic components of AFI and AF. The non-common components of AFI， such as alysifolinone and imperatorin， and the non-common components of AF， such as neoeriocitrin and isosakuranin， with high similarity were screened out as potential heterogeneous components of AFI and AF. The composition groups of AFI and AF were classified into six categories， and the similarities between the composition groups of AFI and AF and the total constituents were 0.872-0.979 and 0.918-0.997， the average values of 0χ-8χ MCI of alkaloids in AFI and AF were 3.65 and 3.14， the average values of 0χ-8χ MCI of flavonoids were 8.47 and 8.47， the average values of 0χ-8χ MCI of volatile oils were 2.71 and 3.48， respectively. It showed that there were some differences in MCI of chemical constituents（groups） between AFI and AF. ConclusionThe chemical constituents（groups） of AFI and AF not only differ in content and species， but also in structural characteristics and structure-activity relationship， which can provide a basis for further explaining the scientific connotation of homologous and heterogeneous effect of AFI and AF.
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Objective@#To establish a non-derivatization-PriME-ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for simultaneou determination of 9 kinds of biogenic amines in yellow rice wine.@*Methods@#Yellow rice wine samples were purified by PriME HLB solid phase extraction column purification, separated using Waters XSelect HSS T3 column (150 mm×2.1 mm, 3 μm), and qualified using multiple reaction monitoring mode, electrospray ion source positive ion and external standard method.@*Results@#There was a good linear relationship for the 9 kinds of biogenic amines at 2.0 to 500.0 μg/L (r≥0.996). The limit of detection was 0.1 to 0.2 mg/L, and the limit of quantitation was 0.3 to 0.6 mg/L. The spike recovery rate of 9 kinds of biogenic amines ranged from 83.5% to 108.6% at 0.1 and 1.0 mg/L, with relative standard deviations of 2.8% to 8.7%.@*Conclusion@#Non-derivation-prime ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry can be used for the rapid quantitative detection of biogenic amines in yellow rice wine.
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ObjectiveTo clarify the differences in the efficacy and mechanism of different processed products of Atractylodes chinensis rhizoma by the pharmacodynamics and metabolomics studies of raw， bran-fried and rice water-processed products on rats with spleen deficiency. MethodSixty male SD rats were randomly divided into blank group， model group， raw product group（3.75 g·kg-1）， bran-fried product group（3.75 g·kg-1）， rice water-processed product group（3.75 g·kg-1） and Shenling Baizhusan group（6.7 g·kg-1）， with 10 rats in each group. The method of excessive fatigue+improper diet was used to establish a spleen deficiency model in rats. After the end of modeling， except for the blank and model groups， each dosing group was given the corresponding drug suspension， the immune organ coefficients of each group of rats were examined， the levels of interleukin-6（IL-6）， tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α）， immunoglobulin G（IgG）， amylase（AMS）， motilin（MTL）， gastrin（GAS）， Na+-K+-adenosine triphosphatase（ATPase）， aquaporin 2（AQP2）， AQP3 and AQP8 in rats were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS） combined with orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA） were used to search for biomarkers in the plasma samples of spleen-deficient rats by using two criteria［P<0.05 and variable importance in the projection（VIP） value>1］， and to compare the different modulatory effects of the three decoction pieces on the splenic-deficient biomarkers， and metabolic pathway analysis was conducted through the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG） database. ResultCompared with the blank group， the thymus index and spleen index of rats in the model group were significantly decreased（P<0.05）， the levels of IL-6， TNF-α， IgG and AQP2 were significantly increased（P<0.05）， the levels of AMS， GAS， MTL， AQP3， AQP8 and Na+-K+-ATPase were significantly decreased（P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， raw products， bran-fried products and rice water-processed products all increased thymus index and spleen index（P<0.05）， decreased IL-6， TNF-α， IgG and AQP2 levels（P<0.05）， and increased AMS， GAS， MTL， AQP3， AQP8 and Na+-K+-ATPase levels to different degrees. A total of 176 differential metabolites were screened in the model group compared with the blank group， of which 75， 72 and 84 biomarkers were called back by the raw products， bran-fried products and rice water-processed products， respectively（P<0.05， P<0.01）. Raw products of A. chinensis rhizoma mainly affected glycine， serine and threonine metabolism. Bran-fried products mainly affected alanine， aspartate and glutamate metabolism， D-arginine and D-ornithine metabolism. Rice water-processed products mainly affected glycine， serine and threonine metabolism， alanine， aspartate and glutamate metabolism， citrate cycle， thiamine metabolism， D-arginine and D-ornithine metabolism. ConclusionRaw products， bran-fried products and rice water-processed products of A. chinensis rhizoma all have good spleen strengthening effects， among which the effects of bran-fried products and rice water-processed products were stronger. Meanwhile， raw products has the strongest dryness， followed by bran-fried products， and the weakest dryness of rice water-processed products. The three decoction pieces are able to significantly modulate metabolic abnormalities in spleen-deficient rats， and the mechanism may be related to amino acid metabolism such as glycine， serine and threonine metabolism as well as alanine， aspartate and glutamate metabolism.
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ObjectiveTo study the changing characteristics of secondary metabolic compounds accumulated in Dendrobium nobile stems at different growth years， a simulated wild stone plant， in order to provide a theoretical basis for rational planning of the harvesting period of D. nobile. MethodUltra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry（UPLC-MS/MS） was used to detect and analyze the secondary metabolites in the stems of 1-year-old， 2-year-old， and 3-year-old D. nobile. The mass spectrometry data were processed using Analyst 1.6.3 software， and all samples were subjected to principal component analysis（PCA）， cluster heat map analysis， partial least squares-discriminant analysis（PLS-DA）， and differential secondary metabolites were screened based on variable importance in projection（VIP） values>1， fold change（FC）≥2 and FC≤0.5. Then differential secondary metabolites were identified based on relative molecular weight， fragmentation ions and mass spectrometry database， and enriched pathways were identified based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG） database. ResultA total of 1 317 secondary metabolites were identified in the stems of D. nobile at three growth stages， with flavonoids， phenolic acids， alkaloids and terpenoids accounting for 76.55% of the total. Compared with the 1-year-old stems of D. nobile， 289 differential secondary metabolites were identified in the 2-year-old stems， of which 255 were up-regulated and 34 were down-regulated， 682 differential secondary metabolites were identified in the 3-year-old stems， of which 502 were up-regulated and 180 were down-regulated. Compared to the 2-year-old stems， the 3-year-old stems had 602 differential secondary metabolites， with 405 up-regulated and 197 down-regulated. As the growth stage of D. nobile increased， the top 10 up-regulated differential metabolites mainly included flavonoids， phenolic acids， phenylpropanoids and terpenoids， such as kaempferol derivatives， asperulosidic acid， apigenin derivatives， chrysoeriol derivatives， isorhamnetin derivatives， taxifolin derivatives， quercetin derivatives. KEGG enrichment analysis showed significant enrichment of secondary metabolites in the flavonoid biosynthesis， flavone， and flavonol biosynthesis， secondary metabolite biosynthesis， and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathways with the increase of growth years. ConclusionWith the increase of the growth years， the levels of secondary metabolites such as flavonoids， phenolic acids， phenylpropanoids and terpenoids in the wild-grown D. nobile have been significantly enhanced. In practical production， grading based on different growth years can be carried out to improve the medicinal and economic values of D. nobile.
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Background It is a research hotspot to study the changes of metabolites and metabolic pathways in the process of coal worker's pneumoconiosis (CWP) by metabonomics and to explore its pathogenesis. Objective To study the change of metabolites in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of patients with CWP and explore the metabolic regulation mechanism of the disease. Methods Patients with CWP who met the national diagnostic criteria according to Diagnosis of occupational pneumoconiosis (GBZ 70-2015) and underwent massive whole lung lavage were selected as the case group, and patients with tracheostenosis who underwent bronchoscopy were selected as the control group. BALF samples were collected from the cases and the controls. After filtering out large particles and mucus, the supernatant was stored in a −80 ℃ refrigerator. The samples were detected and analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry after adding extraction solution, cold bath ultrasonication, and high-speed centrifugation, and the metabolic profiles and related data of CWP patients were obtained. The differential metabolites related to the occurrence and development of CWP were screened by multiple statistical analysis; furthermore, we searched the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database for potential metabolic pathways involved in the progression. Results There was no significant difference in the general conditions of the subjects, such as weight, height, age, and length of service among the stage I group, the stage II group, the stage III group, and the control group (P˃0.05). When comparing the CWP stage I group with the control group, 48 differential metabolites were screened out, among which 14 were up-regulated and 34 were down-regulated. A total of 66 differential metabolites were screened out between the patients with CWP stage II and the controls, 14 up-regulated and 52 down-regulated differential metabolites. Compared with the control group, 63 differential metabolites were screened out in the patients with CWP stage III, including 11 up-regulated and 52 down-regulated differential metabolites. There were 36 differential metabolites that may be related to the occurrence of CWP, among which 11 differential metabolites were up-regulated, and 25 were down-regulated. Four significant differential metabolic pathways were identified through KEGG database query: linoleic acid metabolic pathway, alanine metabolic pathway, sphingolipid metabolic pathway, and glycerophospholipid metabolic pathway. Conclusion The metabolomic study of BALF show that there are 36 different metabolites in the occurrence and development of CWP, mainly associating with linoleic acid metabolism, alanine metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, and glycerophospholipid metabolism pathways.
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OBJECTIVE To provide reference for quality control of Gentiana rhodantha. METHODS Taking 52 batches of G. rhodantha as subject， ultra-high performance liquid chromatography （UPLC） fingerprint was adopted. The similarity of 52 batches of medicinal materials samples was evaluated by the Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprints of Traditional Chinese Medicine （2004A edition）； the content of mangiferin was determined； chemometric analyses [cluster analysis， principal component analysis （PCA） and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis （OPLS-DA）] were performed. RESULTS UPLC fingerprints of 52 batches of G. rhodantha were established， 17 common peaks were identified， and 6 of them were identified， which were loganic acid （peak 1）， neomangiferin （peak 3）， swertiamarin （peak 5）， dangyin （peak 6）， mangiferin （peak 7） and isoorientin （peak 9）. The similarities of 52 batches of medicinal materials samples were all greater than 0.9； cluster analysis showed that S1-S46， S48-S52 clustered into one class， and S47 alone； PCA results showed that the cumulative variance contribution rate of the first six principal components was 82.928%； OPLS-DA results showed that the corresponding components of swertiamarin， mangiferin and chemical composition represented by peak 4， 14， 15， 16 were the main iconic components affecting the quality differences of G. rhodantha medicinal materials. The contents of mangiferin in 52 batches of medicinal material samples ranged from 18.2 to 101.0 mg/g， mostly in accordance with 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. CONCLUSIONS The established UPLC fingerprint and chemometric analysis methods combined with content determination method of mangiferin can comprehensively evaluate the quality of G. rhodantha.
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ObjectiveTo investigate the changes of differential metabolites in the serum of mice at different stages of bleomycin sulfate（BLM）-induced pulmonary fibrosis modeling and administration， and the mechanism of Wenfei Huaxian granules（WHG）against idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. MethodMice were randomly divided into control group， control group of 14 days， model group， model group of 14 days， low-dose WHG group and high-dose WHG group. BLM（0.04 U per mouse）was injected into the trachea of mice in the model group， model group of 14 days， low-dose WHG group and high-dose WHG group， and sterile normal saline was injected into the trachea of mice in the control group and control group of 14 days. Mice of low-dose WHG group and high-dose WHG group were given different doses of WHG by gavage every day after injection of BLM， and mice of control group， control group of 14 days， model group and model group of 14 days were given sterile water by gavage every day. The peripheral blood of mice in the control group of 14 days and model group of 14 days were taken to prepare serum after injection of BLM for 14 days， and the peripheral blood and other materials of mice in the other groups were taken after continuous administration for 28 days. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid（BALF）was collected for leucocyte differential count， the pathological examination and hydroxyproline（HYP）content determination of lung tissues of mice were performed， and the small molecule metabolites in serum samples of mice in each group were determined by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry（UHPLC-MS）. Principal component analysis（PCA）and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA）were conducted to screen differential metabolites and their biological functions were analyzed. ResultCompared with the control group， a large number of continuous fibrotic foci appeared in the lung tissue of mice in the model group， the alveolitis score， fibrosis degree score and HYP content increased significantly（P<0.01）， and the total number of leukocytes， macrophages and lymphocytes in BALF increased significantly（P<0.05）. A total of 33 differential metabolites were screened between the control group of 14 days and model group of 14 days， mainly lipid metabolites， which were mainly involved in oxidative damage and inflammatory process. A total of 34 differential metabolites， mainly amino acid metabolites， were screened between the control group and model group， mainly involving nucleic acid damage and inflammatory process. Compared with the model group， the HYP content， fibrosis score and alveolitis score in the lung tissue of mice from high-dose WHG group decreased significantly（P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the total number of lymphocytes in BALF decreased significantly（P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， 27， 40 differential metabolites were identified in the serum of mice from the low-dose WHG group and high-dose WHG group separately. There were totally 9 common differential metabolites between the model group and low-dose WHG group/high-dose WHG group， which mainly involved in the metabolic pathways of inflammation related lipids metabolism， arginine and tryptophan metabolism， and the change trends in low-dose WHG group and high-dose WHG group were significantly back-regulated compared with the model group. ConclusionWHG can alleviate BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis， collagen deposition and inflammatory reaction in mice， and its anti-fibrotic effect may be related to the adjusting of inflammatory factors， nitric oxide and oxidative stress related metabolic pathways.