Pharmacokinetic study of Erlong Zuoci Pill in rats / 中国药科大学学报

@#To establish a quantitative LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous detection of components of Erlong Zuoci Pill in rat plasma: verbascoside, oxypaeoniflorin, echinacoside and benzoylpaeoniflorin, and to evaluate the pharmacokinetic characteristics of Erlong Zuoci Pill in rats, plasma samples were purified by protein precipitation using methanol as a protein precipitant.Methanol was used as the organic phase and aqueous solution containing 0.1% formic acid was used as the water phase.The quantitative analysis method of verbascoside, oxypaeoniflorin, echinacoside and benzoylpaeoniflorin was established in negative ion mode, and the validation of bioanalytical method was carried out.Healthy SD rats were selected, and 20 mL/kg (equivalent to the original drug 10 g/kg dose) of Erlong Zuoci Pill extract was administered by intragastric administration.The plasma concentration of the target compounds at different time intervals after administration was determined using the established method, and the pharmacokinetic parameters was calculated by the Phoenix WinNonlin8.3 software using the non-compartmental model.The method validation results showed that verbascoside (r = 0.993 7) and oxypaeoniflorin (r = 0.994 6) had good linear relationship in the concentration range of 0.5-50 ng/mL, echinacoside (r = 0.993 6) and benzoylpaeoniflorin (r = 0.992 6) had good linear relationship in the concentration range of 1-100 ng/mL.The relative standard deviations of the inter- and intra- batch precision of the four compounds were all less than 15%, and the inter- batch and intra- accuracies were between 85% and 115%.Extraction recovery, matrix effect and stability met the relevant requirements.After a single gavage of Erlong Zuoci Pill extract in rats, all the four compounds were rapidly absorbed and eliminated.Oxypaeoniflorin, echinacoside, and benzoylpaeoniflorin showed two peaks in their drug concentration-time curves.Compared with the other three compounds, oxypaeoniflorin has the highest concentration in rat plasma with cmax1 of (24.40 ± 4.78) ng/mL and cmax2 of (22.50 ± 2.70) ng/mL. The results show that the validation results of this method are in line with the guiding principles of biological sample analysis methods, and it can be used to evaluate the pharmacokinetic characteristics of Erlong Zuoci Pill extract in rats.

Mechanism of sodium salicylate-induced damage to HEI-OC1 cells based on metabonomics / 中国药科大学学报

@#The effect of sodium salicylate on the endogenous metabolism of hair cell-like cells (HEI-OC1).of mice was analyzed based on liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF/MS).Firstly, HEI-OC1 cells were treated with different concentrations of sodium salicylate, and cell survival was examined by the CCK-8 method. Next, sodium salicylate was administered for different duration to observe the changes in cell morphology. Inter-group differential metabolites were screened out, and the associated metabolic pathways were analyzed based on metabonomic technology.Results showed that sodium salicylate could significantly inhibit the survival rate of HEI-OC1 cells, and that, as the concentration increased, the inhibitory effect became stronger. Also, the cell morphology could be elongated after administration and return to normal after withdrawal.Eighteen differential metabolites such as orotic acid, uridine and aspartic acid were screened out after treatment of sodium salicylate, which mainly involving two possible metabolic pathways, namely the metabolism of alanine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid, and that of pyrimidine.In summary, the application of metabolomics technology to evaluate the effect of sodium salicylate on hair cells from the microscopic perspective can provide new ideas for the study of sodium salicylate ototoxicity and development of tinnitus.

Stereoselective pharmacokinetics of itraconazole enantiomers in rats / 中国药科大学学报

@#To investigate the stereoselective pharmacokinetics of itraconazole enantiomers in rats, four cis-ITR stereoisomers at the dose of 15 mg/kg were administered orally to rats. Blood was collected and single stereoisomer of ITZ and hydroxy-itraconazole(OH-ITZ)were determinated simultaneously by LC-MS/MS. Samples were extracted by protein precipitation with acetonitrile. Durashell HILIC column(100 mm×2. 1 mm, 5. 0 m)was used as the analytical column, while a mixture of solvent A(0. 02% acetic acid and 5 mmol/L ammonium acetate in water)and B(50% acetonitrile and 50% methyl alcohol)was used as the mobile phase. A 5. 5 min binary gradient elution(delivered at 0. 5 mL/min)was performed for the separation. LC-MS/MS was performed in positive ion mode with multiple reactions monitoring(MRM). The pharmacokinetic parameters of itraconazole enantiomers after the administration were estimated as follows: the plasma levels and AUC0-∞ of OH-(2S, 4R, 2R)-ITZ and OH-(2S, 4R, 2S)-ITZ were higher than those of OH-(2R, 4S, 2R)-ITZ and OH-(2R, 4S, 2S)-ITZ(P< 0. 001). At the same time, female rats exhibited greater cmax, t1/2, AUC0-∞ than male rats, and the absorption of male rats was more rapid than those of females. The findings indicate significant stereoselective differences in the pharmacokinetic parameters of itraconazole enantiomers and gender difference in rats.

Metabolomic approach to evaluating the effect of the mixed decoction of kelp and licorice on system metabolism of SD rats / 药学学报

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of the single and mixed decoction of Thallus laminariae (kelp) and Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) on the metabolism and their difference. The mixed decoction of kelp and licorice and the single decoction were made and intragastrically administered to the SD rats. The effect on system metabolism, the toxicity of liver and kidney were assessed by GC-MS profiling of the endogenous molecules in serum, routine biochemical assays and histographic inspection of tissues from SD rats, separately. The mixed decoction of kelp and licorice induced more obvious pathological abnormalities in SD rats than a single decoction of kelp, while the extracts of licorice did not show any pathological change. Neither the mixed, nor the single decoction showed abnormal histopathology. After intragastric administration of extracts for 5 days, the mixed decoction induced a decrease of ALT (no significant change in the groups of single decoction) and an increase of BUN (so did the single decoction of kelp). Metabolomic profile of the molecules in serum revealed that the metabolic patterns were all obviously affected for the three groups, i.e., the mixed and single decoction of kelp and licorice. The rats given with the single decoction of kelp showed a similar pattern to that of the mixed decoction, indicating that the kelp primarily contributed the perturbation of metabolism for the mixed decoction. All three groups induced a decrease of branched chain amino acids, TCA cycle intermediates and glycolysis intermediates (e.g., pyruvic acid and lactic acid) and an increase of 3-hydroxybutyric acid. Kelp decoction showed stronger potential in reducing TCA cycle intermediates and glycolysis intermediates than the other two groups, while the levels of branched chain amino acids were the lowest after licorice extracts were given. These results suggested that the effect of the mixed decoction on metabolism was closely associated with both kelp and licorice. The continuous administration of single decoction of kelp and the mixed decoction of licorice and kelp resulted in pathological abnormalities in kidney of SD rats. The mixed decoction of kelp and licorice distinctly perturbed sera molecules and hence system metabolism, which showed associated with those of kelp and licorice. Although the metabolic effect was associated with both kelp and licorice, the results suggested kelp contributed to it primarily.

A review of the expression and activity of drug metabolism enzymes in tumorous cells / 药学学报

Tumorous cells are characterized by distinctive metabolic reprogramming and living conditions. Understanding drug metabolizing features in tumor cells will not only favor the estimation of metabolic rate, elimination half life and the assessment of potency, but also facilitate the optimal design of anti-tumor drugs/prodrugs. This article reviewed the expression and activity features of major drug metabolizing enzymes (DMEs) in solid tumorous tissues, such as liver, intestine, breast and lung, and the difference from the correspondingly normal tissues, exemplified by the metabolic properties of some classic antitumor-agents in tumorous tissues. In combination with the data retrieved in vitro tumor cell lines, we discussed the similarities and differences of DMEs expression and function between tumor tissues (in vivo) and tumor cells (in vitro), and proposed the possible factors that cause the differences.

Progress in the personalized medicine using pharmacometabonomics / 药学学报

Pharmacometabonomics, as an emerging branch of system biology, has been increasingly used in personalized medicine and showed broad prospects. By means of metabonomics, the complicated and detailed metabolic profile of the patient is described, thus providing more detailed description of the disease phenotype. With this understanding, response of different individuals to the drugs are predicted or evaluated through inherent genetic information of the individual combined with the environmental factors. As a result, appropriate drugs and dosage are chosen, which greatly promotes the realization of the individualized therapy goals. This article describes the emerging field of pharmacometabonomics, and the research results of personalized medicine based on the pharmacometabonomics in recent years are reviewed in detail.

Plasma metabonomics study of ischemic cerebral apoplexy rats treated with Tongsaimai pellets / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe abnormal metabolic changes caused by ischemic cerebral apoplexy and the regulating action of Tongsaimai pellets on abnormal metabolism by analyzing the change of small molecules in plasma of ischemic cerebral apoplexy rat. To find the potential biomarkers, and to explore metabolic mechanisms of Tongsaimai pellets.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Rat models of middle cerebral artery occlusion was established with electric coagulation, and rats were divided into 4 groups, model group, sham-operation group, Tongsaimai pellets group and positive control group. Tongsaimai pellets and positive control group were orally administrated by 13.2 g x kg(-1) x d(-1) of crude drugs and 32 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) of Nimodipine respectively, m odel and sham-operation group by equal volume of distilled water for a week. Plasma of model and sham-operation group were collected, and plasma of Tongsaimai pellets and positive control group were collected on the 1st, 3rd , 7th day after administration. Endogenous metabolites of four groups were determined with GC-MS. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was applied to analyze multivariate data and set up model, and T-test was used in significant statistical analysis.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Compared with sham-operation group rats, pyruvic acid, taurine and hydroxyproline obviously increased in model group rats, while lactic acid, glyceric acid, aminomalonic acid, fructose, tryptophan and leucine significantly decreased, so these metabolites were potential metabolic biomarkers. These endogenous metabolites except taurine got restoration in Tongsaimai group rats.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Abnormal metabolite level in plasma can be certainly recovered by Tongsaimai pellets, and the treatment of Tongsaimai pellets can be connected with the regulation of related metabolic pathways.</p>

Metabonomic phenotype of "formula corresponding to pattern types" based on "qi and yin deficiency pattern" of myocardial ischemia rat model / 药学学报

In order to explore the scientific connotation of "Fangzhengduiying (formula corresponding to pattern types)", "Qiyinliangxuzheng (Qi and Yin deficiency pattern)" of myocardial ischemia rat model and GC-TOF/MS based metabonomic method were used for comparing the effects of Sheng-mai injection, Salvia injection and propranolol in the present study. After data processing and pattern recognition, Sheng-mai injection showed better efficacy than the other two drugs in accordance with not only visual observation from PLS-DA scores plots but also the number of abnormal endogenous compounds restored to the normal level. Further studies showed that Sheng-mai injection could normalize the level of plasma endothelin-1, the index related to cardiovascular diseases and sleep disorders, which verified the results of metabonomics. Finally, the regulated metabolites and related metabolic pathways were analyzed, and it was supposed that the effects of Sheng-mai injection involved in the alternation of energy metabolism, lipid metabolism, amino acids metabolism, and so on. These findings provided scientific evidence to Shengmai "Fang" used for "Qi and Yin deficiency pattern" correspondingly, indicating that metabonomics has great potential in traditional Chinese medical research, which provides a novel approach and way to modernization of traditional Chinese medicine.

Global analysis of metabolites in rat and human urine based on gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Sediment in urine may contain low-molecular-weight compounds that should be included in the analysis. To date, no systematic investigation has addressed this issue. We investigated three primary factors that influence the extraction efficiency of metabolites during preparation of urine samples for metabolomic research: centrifugation, pH, and extraction solvents. Obtained with the use of gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC/TOFMS) technique and principal component analysis (PCA), our results indicate that (1) conventional centrifugation causes an apparent loss of some metabolites, indicating that urine samples for metabolomic research should not be centrifuged before procedures are undertaken to recover the metabolites; (2) pH adjustment has a large impact on the recovery of metabolites and is therefore not encouraged; (3) with design of experiment analysis, methanol and water yield the optimal extraction efficiency. Differences between rat and human urine were observed and are discussed. Ninety-nine metabolites identified in rat and human urine are presented. An efficient protocol is proposed for the pretreatment of urine samples.

Inhibitory effects of seven components of danshen extract on catalytic activity of cytochrome P450 enzyme in human liver microsomes.

The potential for herb-drug interactions has recently received greater attention worldwide, considering the fact that the use of herbal products becomes more and more widespread. The goal of this work was to examine the potential for the metabolism-based drug interaction arising from seven active components (danshensu, protocatechuic aldehyde, protocatechuic acid, salvianolic acid B, tanshinone I, tanshinone IIA, and cryptotanshinone) of danshen extract. Probe substrates of cytochrome P450 enzymes were incubated in human liver microsomes (HLMs) with or without each component of danshen extract. IC(50) and K(i) values were estimated, and the types of inhibition were determined. Among the seven components of danshen extract, tanshinone I, tanshinone IIA, and cryptotanshinone were potent competitive inhibitors of CYP1A2 (K(i) = 0.48, 1.0, and 0.45 microM, respectively); danshensu was a competitive inhibitor of CYP2C9 (K(i) = 35 microM), and cryptotanshinone was a moderate mixed-type inhibitor of CYP2C9 (K(i) = 8 microM); cryptotanshinone inhibited weakly and in mixed mode against CYP2D6 activity (K(i) = 68 microM), and tanshinone I was a weak inhibitor of CYP2D6 (IC(50) = 120 microM); and protocatechuic aldehyde was a weak inhibitor of CYP3A4 (IC(50) = 130 and 160 microM for midazolam and testosterone, respectively). These findings provided some useful information for safe and effective use of danshen preparations in clinical practice. Our data indicated that it was necessary to study the in vivo interactions between drugs and pharmaceuticals with danshen extract.

GC/MS analysis of the rat urine for metabonomic research.

In this paper, an optimized protocol was established and validated for the metabonomic profiling in rat urine using GC/MS. The urine samples were extracted by methanol after treatment with urease to remove excessive urea, then the resulted supernatant was dried, methoximated, trimethylsilylated, and analyzed by GC/MS. Forty-nine endogenous metabolites were separated and identified in GC/MS chromatogram, of which 26 identified compounds were selected for quantitative analysis to evaluate the linearity, precision, and sensitivity of the method. It showed good linearity between mass spectrometry responses and relative concentrations of the 26 endogenous compounds over the range from 0.063 to 1.000 (v/v, urine/urine+water) and satisfactory reproducibility with intra-day and inter-days precision values all below 15%. The metabonomic profiling method based on GC/MS was successfully applied to urine samples from hyperlipidemia model rats. Obviously, separated clustering of model rats and the control rats were shown by principal components analysis (PCA); time-dependent metabonomic modification was detected as well. It was suggested that metabonomic profiling based on GC/MS be a robust method for urine samples.