A two-step ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/time of flight mass spectrometry with mass defect filtering method for rapid identification of analogues from known components of different chemical structure types in Fructus Gardeniae-Fructus Forsythiae herb pair extract and in rat's blood.

Fructus Gardeniae-Fructus Forsythiae herb pair is an herbal formula used extensively to treat inflammation and fever, but few systematic identification studies of the bioactive components have been reported. Herein, the unknown analogues in the first-step screening were rapidly identified from representative compounds in different structure types (geniposide as iridoid type, crocetin as crocetin type, jasminoside B as monocyclic monoterpene type, oleanolic acid as saponin type, 3-caffeoylquinic acid as organic acid type, forsythoside A as phenylethanoid type, phillyrin as lignan type and quercetin 3-rutinoside as flavonoid type) by UPLC-Q-Tof/MS combined with mass defect filtering (MDF), and further confirmed with reference standards and published literatures. Similarly, in the second step, other unknown components were rapidly discovered from the compounds identified in the first step by MDF. Using the two-step screening method, a total of 58 components were characterized in Fructus Gardeniae-Fructus Forsythiae (FG-FF) decoction. In rat's blood, 36 compounds in extract and 16 metabolites were unambiguously or tentatively identified. Besides, we found the principal metabolites were glucuronide conjugates, with the glucuronide conjugates of caffeic acid, quercetin and kaempferol confirmed as caffeic acid 3-glucuronide, quercetin 3-glucuronide and kaempferol 3-glucuronide by reference standards, respectively. Additionally, most of them bound more strongly to human serum albumin than their respective prototypes, predicted by Molecular Docking and Simulation, indicating that they had lower blood clearance in vivo and possibly more contribution to pharmacological effects. This study developed a novel two-step screening method in addressing how to comprehensively screen components in herbal medicine by UPLC-Q-Tof/MS with MDF.

Pharmacokinetics screening for multi-components absorbed in the rat plasma after oral administration of traditional Chinese medicine Flos Lonicerae Japonicae-Fructus Forsythiae herb couple by sequential negative and positive ionization ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometric detection.

The current study aims to investigate the pharmacokinetics of multi-components (caffeic acid, quinic acid, genistein, luteolin, quercetin, neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, arctigenin, genistin, luteoloside, astragalin, hyperoside, isoquercitrin, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, rutin, loganin, pinoresinol-ß-d-glucoside, phillyrin, isoforsythoside, forsythoside A and forsythoside B) following oral administration of Flos Lonicerae Japonicae-Fructus Forsythiae herb couple in rats. A rapid and sensitive UPLC-ESI-MS/MS with sequential positive and negative ionization modes was developed to determine the 23 absorbed ingredients using one sample preparation combined with three chromatographic conditions in rat plasma. After mixing with internal standard (IS) (tinidazole and chloramphenicol), samples were pretreated by liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) with n-butyl alcohol/ethyl acetate (1:1, v/v). The separations for pinoresinol-ß-d-glucoside, phillyrin, isoforsythoside, forsythoside A and forsythoside B were performed on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column (100mm×2.1mm, 1.7µm) with acetonitrile/methanol (4:1, v/v)-water as mobile phase. For analyzing quinic acid, an ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 column (100mm×2.1mm, 1.8µm) was applied with acetonitrile/methanol (4:1, v/v)-0.01% formic acid as mobile phase after dilution up to 25-fold. The same column was applied to the other components with acetonitrile/methanol (4:1, v/v)-0.4% formic acid as mobile phase. The method validation results demonstrated that the proposed method was sensitive, specific and reliable, which was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of the multi-components after oral administration of Flos Lonicerae Japonicae-Fructus Forsythiae herb couple.

Simultaneous determination of caffeic acid derivatives by UPLC-MS/MS in rat plasma and its application in pharmacokinetic study after oral administration of Flos Lonicerae-Fructus Forsythiae herb combination.

The current study aims to investigate the pharmacokinetic study of eight caffeic acid derivatives (forsythoside A, isoforsythoside, forsythoside B, neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid) following oral administration of Flos Lonicerae-Fructus Forsythiae herb combination in rats. A rapid and sensitive ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed to determine the eight caffeic acid derivatives simultaneously in rat plasma. After mixing with the internal standard (IS) tinidazole, plasma samples were pretreated by liquid-liquid extraction with n-butyl alcohol/ethyl acetate (7:3, v/v). The separation was performed on an Acquity UPLC HSS T3 C18 column (100mm×2.1mm, 1.8µm) at a flow rate of 0.4mLmin(-1), and acetonitrile/methanol (4:1, v/v)-0.4% formic acid was used as mobile phase. The detection was performed on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) via electrospray ionization (ESI) source with positive and negative ionization modes. All calibration curves had good linearity (r>0.991) over the concentration ranges of 1.097-2246ngmL(-1) for neochlorogenic acid, 6.535-6692ngmL(-1) for chlorogenic acid, 2.103-2153ngmL(-1) for cryptochlorogenic acid, 0.5058-129.5ngmL(-1) for 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 0.3205-82.05ngmL(-1) for 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 1.002-512.8ngmL(-1) for isoforsythoside, 0.4795-982.1ngmL(-1) for forsythoside A and 0.7587-776.9ngmL(-1) for forsythoside B, respectively. The intra- and inter-batch precisions were all within 15% and the accuracy (relative error, RE%) all ranged from 85.68% to 114.7%. It was shown from pharmacokinetic parameters that the rank order of AUC0-t, Cmax and T1/2k for phenolic acids was chlorogenic acid>neochlorogenic acid≥cryptochlorogenic acid>3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid≥3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (most of them had significant differences), which corresponded to their administration dosages to rats, but that of MRT0-t and T1/2z were opposite. Besides, the AUC0-t, Cmax, MRT and T1/2z except T1/2k of isoforsythoside and forsythoside B had no significant difference, compared to that of forsythoside A though their administration dosages were significantly lower than that of forsythoside A. All results showed that the method was applied to the pharmacokinetic study of the eight caffeic acid derivatives in rat plasma successfully after oral administration of Flos Lonicerae-Fructus Forsythiae herb combination, and there were significant differences of caffeic acid derivatives even isomers in the pharmacokinetic parameters.

Simultaneous determination of phenolic acids by UPLC-MS/MS in rat plasma and its application in pharmacokinetic study after oral administration of Flos Lonicerae preparations.

The current study aims to investigate the pharmacokinetic study of five phenolic acids (neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid) following oral administration of Flos Lonicerae preparations in rats. A rapid and sensitive ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed to simultaneously determine the five phenolic acids in rat plasma. After mixing with the internal standard (IS) tinidazole, plasma samples were pretreated by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate/n-hexane (9:1, v/v). The separation was performed on an Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column (100mm×2.1mm, 1.7µm) at a flow rate of 0.4mlmin(-1), and acetonitrile/methanol (4:1, v/v)-0.4% formic acid was used as mobile phase. The detection was performed on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) via electrospray ionization (ESI) source with positive ionization mode. All calibration curves had good linearity (r>0.991) over the concentration ranges of 0.74-378ngml(-1) for neochlorogenic acid, 0.50-1030ngml(-1) for chlorogenic acid, 1.9-250ngml(-1) for cryptochlorogenic acid, 0.74-380ngml(-1) for 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, and 5.1-328ngml(-1) for 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid. The intra-and inter-day precision were within 15% and the accuracy ranged from 86.2% to 114.1%.

Permeation of astilbin and taxifolin in Caco-2 cell and their effects on the P-gp.

This study was designed to understand the transport profiles of astilbin and taxifolin in Caco-2 cell model and their effects on the function and expression of P-glycoprotein. The transport studies were examined using Caco-2 cells cultured on Transwell inserts. Their effects on the function and expression of P-glycoprotein were detected using Western Blot and RT-PCR. The transport was concentration and temperature dependent. The apparent permeability (P(app)) of these two compounds in the secretory direction was larger than that in the absorptive direction in the concentration range of 10-1000 microM. Those compounds had no effects on the P-glycoprotein-mediated transport of Rhodamine 123. Caco-2 cells exposed to astilbin or taxifolin for 36 h exhibited higher P-glycoprotein activity through up-regulating P-glycoprotein expression at protein and mRNA levels. These results indicated that P-glycoprotein and Multidrug Resistance Protein 2 might play important roles in limiting the bioavailability of those compounds. Drugs which are the inhibitors of P-glycoprotein or Multidrug Resistance Protein 2 may increase the oral bioavailability of astilbin or taxifolin and the possibility of unwanted drug-food interactions. The increased expression of P-glycoprotein in Caco-2 cells may serve as an adaptation and defense mechanism in limiting the entry of xenobiotics into the body.