Identification of the metabolites and effective components of flos scabiosae extract in rats using UHPLC-Q-Tof-MS/MS method / 中国药学杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To identify the metabolites of Flos scabiosae extract in rats after oral administration for exploring its metabolism mode in vivo. METHODS: Welch Ultimate UHPLC C18 column (2.1 mm×100 mm, 1.7 μm) was used for the analysis, and the column temperature was maintained at 25℃. Gradient elution was conducted with mobile phase consisting of 0.1% acetic acid water (A) and acetonitrile (B) at a flowing rate of 0.35 mL·min-1. The injection volume was 6 μX. Urine, plasma, and feces samples were collected during 0-24 h or 0-12 h after oral administration of Flos scabiosae extract to rats. The samples and control samples were analyzed by UHPLC-Q-T MS/MS in the scanning mode to acquire the full-scan chromatograms. The data acquisition and processing analysis were conducted using compound retention time, precise molecular mass, elemental composition, isotopic abundance, and mass spectra with Peak View v1.2 data processing software. Metabolites were identified by comparison of chromatograms of the urine, feces and plasma samples after administraion of Flos scabiosae extract with those of the blank biological samples and the herb extract. RESULTS: The developed method is applicable to the analysis and identification of metabolites of Flos scabiosae extract in biological matrices after oral administration. Based on the investigation of Flos scabiosae extract in rats, 28 parent compounds with 31 metabolites were detected in rat urine, feces, and plasma. CONCLUSION: In this study, the developed method is simple and efficient. The main metabolism pathways of Flos scabiosae extract in rats may include oxidation, demethylation, glucuronidation, and sulfation. This study provides a novel pattern and illumination for the research of material basis of Flos scabiosae.