Effect of Chuanxiong Rhizoma on the absorption and clearance of four coumarins in Angelicae Dahuricae Radix / 药学学报

To study the changes in the pharmacokinetic behavior of four coumarins (bergapten, oxypeucedanin, imperatorin and isoimperatorin) in rats before and after combinating Angelicae Dahuricae Radix with Chuanxiong Rhizoma. The plasma concentrations of the drugs were determined by ultra performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection (UPLC-FLD) for dose response and time dependent curves. The pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by DAS 3.2.8, and SPSS 20.0 was used to analyze the differences of main pharmacokinetic parameters between the two groups. The result showed: comparing with Angelicae Dahuricae Radix group, the area under drug time curve (AUC0-24 h) of bergapten, oxypeucedanin and imperatorin increased by 177.2%, 97.14% and 54.43% respectively, AUC0-∞ increased by 282.3%, 104.2%, and 75.40% respectively, and clearance rate (CLZ/F) decreased by 68.26%, 51.08% and 43.98% respectively; the peak drug concentration (Cmax) of four coumarins was significantly increased; the distribution volume (VZ/F) of bergapten was significantly decreased. These data indicated that Chuanxiong Rhizoma can promote the absorption of coumarins in Angelicae Dahuricae Radix, slow down the elimination of coumarins, and increase their bioavailability in vivo. The animal experiment scheme in this study has been approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (approval number: BUCM-4-2020083105-3072).

The mechanism of Er-xian Decoction in regulating lipid metabolism disorders on bilateral ovariectomized rats based on metabolomics study / 药学学报

Studies have shown that women's menopause caused by permanent cessation of ovarian function is closely related to lipid metabolism disorders. Er-xian Decoction has been used in the clinical treatment for gynecological diseases and has a good effect on diseases related to reduced sex hormone function. In this study, metabolomics was performed on bilateral ovariectomized model rats within 12 weeks after modeling to mimic the physiological state of menopausal women in different menopausal stages and Er-xian Decoction dosed model rats. The results of liver oil red O staining sections showed lipid metabolic disorder of bilateral ovariectomized model rats and the regulating effects of Er-xian Decoction. 46 potential biomarkers (6 steroid hormones, 3 sphingolipids, 11 phospholipids and 26 glycerides) in plasma and 32 potential biomarkers (1 steroid hormones, 20 phospholipids and 11 glycerides) in liver were obtained based on lipidomics analysis. Then, we analyzed the differential metabolic pathways and construct the lipid metabolism network significantly regulated by Er-xian Decoction. The results provided valuable information for in-depth understanding of the gradual changes on lipid metabolism disorders under menopausal conditions and the characteristics and mechanisms of compound Er-xian Decoction's regulatory effects. The study complied with the procedures established by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and passed the animal experiment ethics examine (No. 00000918).

Quantification of aristolochic acids and their DNA adducts in mice kidney and liver by HPLC-MS/MS / 中国中药杂志

This study aims to establish a quantitative method of 4 aristolochic acids-DNA adducts in mice kidney and liver based on high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(HPLC-MS/MS) for monitoring the content changes of aristolochic acids-DNA adducts. A Shiseido Capcellpak AQ C_(18) column(3 mm×100 mm, 3 μm) was used, with a mixture of 0.2% acetic acid-5 mmol·L~(-1) ammonium acetate as the aqueous phase and methanol as the organic phase for gradient elution. The multiple reaction monitoring(MRM) scanning method under positive mode by electrospray ionization(ESI) was performed for the detection of the aristolochic acids-DNA adducts which formed by combining aristolochic acid Ⅰ/Ⅱ with deoxyadenosine, deoxyguanosine, and deoxycytidine, respectively. Balb/c mice were given Guanmutong extract by gavage, and the relative content of aristolochic acids-DNA adducts in liver and kidney samples were analyzed within 60 days. It was found that the concentration of 4 aristolochic acids-DNA adducts in the kidney was significantly higher than that in the liver, and there were about 15.87 adducts in per 1×10~6 normal deoxynucleosides, which was 4.5-7.5 times than that of the liver. What's more, some adducts can still be detected on the 30 th day after administration. The concentration of the adducts in the liver was highest on the first day after administration, and a second peak appeared during the 7 th to 14 th days. The results indicated that aristolochic acids-DNA adducts are difficult to eliminate in vivo, and it is of great significance to study the mechanism of liver and kidney injury of aristolochic acid.

Identification of chemical constituents in Aster tataricus by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS / 药学学报

The root of Aster tataricus L. f. (RA) has been widely used in the clinic for moistening lung, dispelling phlegm and relieving cough because of its significant therapeutic effects on respiratory diseases. In this study, a systematic data acquisition and mining strategy was established aimed at solving the complexity of the traditional Chinese medicine using ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadruple time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS). A total of 132 chemical constituents, including 43 terpenes, 31 flavonoids, 22 organic acids, 18 peptides, 9 coumarins, 3 steroids, 3 anthraquinones and 3 aldehydes were identified or tentatively characterized, among which 59 components were confirmed by comparison with the standard references. Meanwhile, the accurate mass measurements of the identified components were all with ±5 ppm error. Therefore, this work provided not only reliable data supports for the comprehensive analysis of the chemical constituents in RA, but also provided an efficient data acquisition and mining strategy to profile the chemical constituents for other traditional Chinese medicine complex system.

Studies on constituents of Polygonum multiflorum extract and based on UPLC-Q-TOF-MS / 中国中药杂志

To explore the drug-induced constituents of Polygonum multiflorum extract (PM). This study was the first to study the drug-induced constituents in target organ liver. Agilent MassHunter qualitative analysis software and Metabolite ID software were applied for the analysis of retention time, exact relative molecular mass, primary and secondary mass spectrum information based on ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) and targeted-MS/MS. By comparison with literature and standards, a total of 5 prototypes and 6 metabolites were identified or tentatively elucidated from the liver samples. In addition, the drug-induced constituents in plasma and PM were also analyzed in this study and 8 prototypes and 19 metabolites were detected from the plasma samples, while 30 compounds were detected from the extract of PM. Emodin oxidative acetylation metabolites, hydroxyl methylation metabolites, carboxylation glucuronidation metabolites and ketone glucuronidation metabolites in this study were first reported. Through the comparative analysis between the and constituents of PM, the study preliminarily revealed the drug-induced constituents (prototypes and metabolites) in liver and clarified the transfer process and transmutation rules of constituents in PM, blood and liver, which would further deepen our understanding on constituents of PM .

Hydroxysafflor yellow A repairing the metabolic disturbances of early atherosclerosis based on fatty acid profiling / 药学学报

Atherosclerosis (AS) is a complex metabolic syndrome that seriously harms human health, and its occurrence and development are directly related to the metabolic disturbances of free fatty acids (FFA). In this study, macrophage-derived foam cells were established as the model of early AS. Therefore, the metabolic disturbances of FFA in ox-LDL induced foamy macrophages were analyzed using target metabolomics. Then the effect of hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) on regulating FFA was also explored. The quantitative analysis of 27 fatty acids was obtained within 20 min based on dynamic MRM mode. Thirteen metabolic biomarkers of macrophage-derived foam cells were identified using multivariate statistical analysis. It was found that upregulation of total SFA and downregulation of C12:0, C14:0, C18:1, total MUFA were the typical metabolic features in macrophage-derived foam cells. Furthermore, HSYA displayed obvious repairing effect on C12:0, C14:0 and C18:1, which were involved in de novo fatty acid biosynthesis pathway. Oleoyl-(acyl-carrier-protein) hydrolase (OLAH), as the key enzyme in de novo fatty acid biosynthesis pathway, may be a drug target of HSYA.