Simultaneous Determination of Four Triterpenoid Saponins in Aralia elata Leaves by HPLC-ELSD Combined with Hierarchical Clustering Analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Aralia elata leaves are known to have several biological activities, including anti-arrythmia, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-fatigue, antimicrobial and antiviral effects. Our previous study found that triterpenoid saponins from the leaves of A. elata had antitumor effects. Quantification of the triterpenoids is important for the quality control of A. elata leaves. OBJECTIVE: To establish high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light scattering detection (HPLC-ELSD) for the simultaneous determination of four major triterpenoid saponins, including Aralia-saponin IV, Aralia-saponin VI, 3-O-ß-d- glucopyranosyl-(1 â†’ 3)-ß-d-glucopyranosyl-(1 â†’ 3)-ß-d-glucopyranosyl oleanolic acid 28-O-ß-d-glucopyranoside (Aralia-saponin TTP)and Aralia-saponin V. METHODOLOGY: The separation was carried out on a Dikma Diamonsil C18 column (4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 µm) efficiently with gradient elution consisting of acetonitrile and water. RESULTS: All calibration curves showed good linear regression (R2  > 0.9996) within the ranges of tested concentrations. This validated method was applied to determine the contents of the four major triterpenoid saponins in 53 samples from different regions of northeast China. Hierarchical clustering analysis was first used to classify and differentiate Aralia elata leaves. CONCLUSION: The method developed was successfully applied to analyse four major triterpenoid saponins in Aralia elata leaves which is helpful for quality control of the herb. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Simultaneous quantification of triterpenoid saponins in rat plasma by UHPLC-MS/MS and its application to a pharmacokinetic study after oral total saponin of Aralia elata leaves.

A rapid, sensitive, and reliable analytical ultra performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for the simultaneous determination of Aralia-saponin IV, 3-O-ß-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→3)-ß-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→3)-ß-d-glucopyranosyl oleanolic acid 28-O-ß-d-glucopyranoside, Aralia-saponin A and Aralia-saponin B after the oral administration of total saponin of Aralia elata leaves in rat plasma. Plasma samples were pretreated by protein precipitation with methanol. The analysis was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 column. The detection was performed on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer in multiple reaction monitoring mode using an electrospray ionization source with negative ionization mode. Under the experimental conditions, the calibration curves of four analytes had good linearity values (r > 0.991). The intra- and inter-day precision values of the four analytes were ≤ 11.6%, and the accuracy was between -6.2 and 4.2%.The extraction recoveries of four triterpenoid saponins were in the range of 84.06-91.66% (RSD < 10.5%), and all values of the matrix effect were more than 90.30%. The developed analytical method was successfully applied to pharmacokinetic study on simultaneous determination of the four triterpenoid saponins in rat plasma after oral administration of total saponin of Aralia elata leaves, which helps guiding clinical usage of Aralia elata leaves.