Syngnathus acus in Herbal Markets and Zoological Origin of Syngnathus in China Pharmacopoeia / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: Syngnathus has long been used as an important traditional animal medicine in China,but many syngnathus-like animals also used as Hailong in herbal markets. This study aims to define the zoological origin of Syngnathus in China Pharmacopoeia. Method: Herbalogical records,particularly pictures and photographs of ancient literatures, Syngnathus specimens in museum were stidued to determine the zoological origin of Syngnathus in Chinese herbal medical classics and China Pharmacopoeia. Result: Based on the morphological and DNA sequencing,all the commercial "S. acus" originated from Syngnathus schlegeli (Kaup,1856).Feature description of "S. acus" in China Pharmacopoeia also conformed to S. schlegeli. S. acus in China may be a misidentification of S. schlegeli. Conclusion: Syngnathus in China Pharmacopoeia originates from Solegnathus hardwickii (Gray,1830),Syngnathoides biaculeatus (Bloch,1785) or Syngnathus schlegeli (Kaup,1856).It is suggested to add identification methods of "Hailong", especially molecular identification methods in China Pharmacopoeia,in order to improve quality control standards of Syngnathus.

Identification of active components in Syngnathus acus by HILIC-ESI-TOF/MS and study on their specific fingerprint chromatograms / 中草药

Objective: To develop a new method based on hydrophilic interaction chromatography-electrospray ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (HILIC-DAD-ESI-TOF/MS) for the rapid identification of the active components in Syngnathus acus and the development of their specific fingerprint chromatograms. Methods: Samples were extracted by accelerated solvent extraction, and the extraction conditions were optimized. The developed HILIC-DAD-ESI-TOF/MS method was used to identify the components in water extract from S. acus, and a chromatographic fingerprint based on HILIC analysis was established. Results: Ten compounds in S. acus extract could be primarily identified by HILIC-DAD-ESI-TOF/MS on-line detection, in which seven nucleosides were determined. The HPLC characteristic fingerprint was established on the basis of analysis on the multi batches of S. acus, which could be used to evaluate the quality of S. acus combined with similarity calculation. Conclusion: This method is simple and rapid, and is a powerful tool for the identification of S. acus.