Studying traditional Chinese medicine

Simultaneous determination of five marker constituents in Ssanghwa tang by HPLC/DAD

A HPLC-DAD method was established for the simultaneous evaluation of five bioactive compounds in Ssanghwa tang (SHT) including glycyrrhizin, paeoniflorin, cinnamic acid, decursin and 6-gingerol. These compounds were separated in less than 40 min using a Dionex C(18) column with a gradient elution system of water and methanol at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. Calibration curve of standard components presented excellent linear regression (R(2) > 0.9903) within the test range. Limit of detection and limit of quantification varied from 0.07 to 0.46 mug/ml and 0.13 to 1.11 mug/ml, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of data of the intraday and interday experiments were less than 3.67 and 5.73%, respectively. The accuracy of recovery test ranged from 95.98 to 105.88% with RSD values 0.10- 4.82%.

Simultaneous chemical fingerprint and quantitative analysis of Ginkgo biloba extract by HPLC-DAD

A reverse-phase liquid chromatography method with diode array detection was developed to evaluate the quality of Ginkgo biloba extract through establishing chromatographic fingerprint and simultaneous determination of eight flavonoid compounds, namely rutin, myricetin, quercitrin, quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol, apigenin, and isorhamnetin. The chromatographic separation was performed on an Agilent SB-C18 column (250 x 4.6 mm, 5.0 microm) with a gradient elution program using a mixture of methanol and 0.1% formic acid (v/v) as mobile phase within 55 min at 360-nm wavelength. The correlation coefficients of similarity for different batches of G. biloba extract from the same manufacturer and G. biloba extract from different manufacturers were determined from the LC fingerprints, and they shared a close similarity. The eight flavonoid compounds showed good regression (R(2) > 0.9995) within test ranges, and the recovery of the method was in the range of 94.1-101.4%. In addition, the content of those eight flavonoid compounds in G. biloba extract prepared by different manufacturers of China was determined to establish the effectiveness of the method. The results indicated that the developed method by having a combination of chromatographic fingerprint and quantification analysis could be readily utilized as a quality control method for G. biloba extract and its related traditional Chinese medicinal preparations.

Structural elucidation of metabolites of tanshinone I and its analogue dihydrotanshinone I in rats by HPLC-ESI-MSn

Tanshinone I and its analogue dihydrotanshinone I are the major active components isolated from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge and Salvia Przewalskii Maxim. These compounds have been found to possess significant antibacterial, anti-dermatophytic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities. Fifteen phase I metabolites and two phase II metabolites of tanshinone I and dihydrotanshinone I in rat bile were elucidated and identified by a sensitive HPLC-ESI-MS(n) method. The molecular structures of the metabolites are presented on the basis of the characteristics of their precursor ions, product ions and chromatographic retention times. The results indicate that the phase I metabolites are biotransformed through four main pathways: dehydrogenation, hydroxylation, furan ring cleavage and oxidation metabolism. Phase II metabolites were mainly identified as the sulfated conjugates which showed a characteristic neutral loss of 80 Da. The biotransformed pathways of tanshinone I and dihydrotanshinone I were proposed on the basis of the investigation.

Identification and comparative quantification of bio-active phthalides in essential oils from si-wu-tang, fo-shou-san, radix angelica and rhizoma chuanxiong

Phthalides are important bio-active constituents in Si-Wu-Tang and Fo-Shou-San, two commonly used Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) combined prescriptions mainly derived from Radix Angelica and Rhizoma Chuanxiong. In this paper, the contents of eight phthalides, including Z-ligustilide, E-ligustilide, Z-butylenephthalide, E-butylene-phthalide, 3-butylphthalide, neocnidilide and senkyunolide A were determined or estimated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed GC-MS was a simple, rapid, and high sensitive method for analyzing phthalides in Si-Wu-Tang, Fo-Shou-San, Radix Angelica and Rhizoma Chuanxiong, and the extractable contents of each phthalides including Z-ligustilide, E-ligustilide, Z-butylenephthalide, etc. varied after Radix Angelica, Rhizoma Chuanxiong were combined into a formulation, such as Si-Wu-Tang and Fo-Shou-San. Furthermore, inhibition activity of essential oils from Si-Wu-Tang, Fo-Shou-San, Radix Angelica and Rhizoma Chuanxiong on uterine contraction was tested in an in vitro assay, and the results showed that the activity of the essential oil is higher as the content of the phthalides increase, which demonstrated that phthalides are possibly main active components inhibiting mice uterine contraction in vitro. All of the results suggested that comparative analysis of chemical components and pharmacological activities of each herb and formula is possibly helpful to elucidate the active components in traditional Chinese medicine, and to reveal the compatibility mechanism of TCM formulae.

DCDB: drug combination database

SUMMARY

Rapid advances in pharmaceutical sciences have brought ever-increasing interests in combined therapies for better clinical efficacy and safety, especially in cases of complicated and refractory diseases. Innovative experimental technologies and theoretical frameworks are being actively developed for multicomponent drug research. In this work, we present the Drug Combination Database, with aims to facilitate analyses of known drug combinations, to summarize patterns of beneficial drug interactions, and to provide a basis for theoretical modeling and simulation of such drug interactions. Its current version (1.0) collected 499 approved or investigational drug combinations, including 40 unsuccessful drug combinations, involving 485 individual drugs, from >6000 references.

Separation, characterization and dose-effect relationship of the PPARgamma-activating bio-active constituents in the Chinese herb formulation 'San-Ao decoction'

San-ao decoction (SAD), comprising Herba Ephedrae, Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae and Seneb Armeniacae Amarum, is one of the most popular traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulae for asthma. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are key regulators of lipid and glucose metabolism and have become important therapeutic targets for various deseases, PPARγ activation might exhibit anti-inflammatory properties in different chronic inflammatory processes. The EtOAc fraction of SAD showed a significant effect on PPARγ activation. A simple and rapid method has been established for separation and characterization of the main compounds in the PPARγ-activating fraction of SAD by ultra-fast HPLC coupled with quadropole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS). A total of 10 compounds were identified in the activating fraction of SAD, including amygdalin (1), liquiritin (2), 6′-acetyliquiritin (3), liquiritigenin (4), isoliquiritigenin (5), formononetin (6), licoisoflavanone (7), glycycoumarin (8), glycyrol (9) and quercetin (10). The results also characterized formononetin as a predominant component in this fraction. The dose-effect relationship comparison study of formononetin and the EtOAc fraction of SAD by adding formononetin was performed, the results suggested that formononetin was the major component of the EtOAc fraction of SAD responsible for activating PPARγ, and the method will possibly be applied to study the complex biological active constituents of other TCMs.

Potency fingerprint of herbal products Danshen injection for their quality evaluation

The fingerprint technique has been studied frequently as a useful strategy for quality of traditional Chinese medicine. A novel potency fingerprint that can quantitatively analyze the antioxidant activity of individual constituent and provide the total antioxidant activities of the samples has been developed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultraviolet and pyrogallol-luminol chemiluminescence detection (HPLC-diode array detection (DAD)-PLD). Hierarchical clustering analysis has been used as a powerful pattern recognition tool to identify and classify Danshen injection from different factories. In addition, the combination use of the chromatographic fingerprint and potency fingerprint with principal component analysis was applied to quality control of Danshen injection. The results demonstrated that the proposed potency fingerprint was a useful means to control the quality and to clarify the possible mechanism of action of herbal products.

Identification and determination of the major constituents in Traditional Chinese Medicinal formula Danggui-Shaoyao-San by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS

Danggui-Shaoyao-San (DSS), a famous traditional Chinese medicine formula consisting of six herbal medicines (Paeonia lactiflora, Angelica sinensis, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Poria cocos, Atractylodis macrocephalae and Rhizoma Alismatis), has been used as a classical gynecological remedy in China for centuries. However, its active substances have remained unknown. In this paper, an HPLC/DAD/ESI-MS/MS method was developed for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the major constituents in DSS. The ESI-MS/MS fragmentation behavior of the reference compounds was proposed for aiding the structural identification of components in DSS extract. Forty-one compounds including monoterpene glycosides, phenolic acids, phathalides, sesquiterpenoids and triterpenes were identified or tentatively characterized by comparing their retention times, UV and MS spectra with those of authentic compounds or literature data, and 14 of them (gallic acid, albiflorin, paeoniflorin, ferulic acid, benzoic acid, senkyunolide I, coniferyl ferulate, senkyunolide A, 3-butylphthalide, Z-ligustilide, Z-butylidenephthalide, atractylcnolide II, atractylcnolide I and levistolide A) were determined by HPLC-DAD using a C18 column and gradient elution of acetonitrile/water-formic acid (100:0.1, v/v). The linearity, precision, accuracy, LOD and LOQ were validated for the quantification method, which proved sensitive, accurate and reproducible. The study might provide a basis for the quality control of DSS extracts and preparations.

Study designs of randomized controlled trials not based on Chinese medicine theory are improper

Current biomedical research methods to evaluate the efficacy of Chinese medicine interventions are often conceptually incompatible with the theory and clinical practice of Chinese medicine. In this commentary, we (1) highlight the theory and principles underlying Chinese medicine clinical practice; (2) use ginseng as an example to describe clinical indications in Chinese medicine; (3) propose a framework guided by Chinese medicine theory for the evaluation of study designs in Chinese medicine research; and (4) evaluate 19 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of ginseng. Our analysis indicates that all 19 trials with both positive and negative results confirm the specific effects of ginseng indicated by Chinese medicine theory. Study designs guided by Chinese medicine theory are necessary to validate and improve future randomized controlled clinical trials in Chinese medicine.

An unsupervised partition method based on association delineated revised mutual information

Background

The syndrome is the basic pathological unit and the key concept in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the herbal remedy is prescribed according to the syndrome a patient catches. Nevertheless, few studies are dedicated to investigate the number of syndromes and what these syndromes are. Correlative measure based on mutual information can measure arbitrary statistical dependences between discrete and continuous variables.

Results

We presented a revised version of mutual information to discriminate positive and negative association. The entropy partition method self-organizedly discovers the effective patterns in patient data and rat data. The super-additivity of cluster by mutual information is proved and N-class association concept is introduced in our model to reduce computational complexity. Validation of the algorithm is performed by using the patient data and its diagnostic data. The partition results of patient data indicate that the algorithm achieves a high sensitivity with 96.48% and each classified pattern is of clinical significance. The partition results of rat data show the inherent relationship between vascular endothelial function related parameters and neuro-endocrine-immune (NEI) network related parameters.

Conclusion

Therefore, we conclude that the algorithm provides an excellent solution to patients and rats data problem in the context of traditional Chinese medicine.

Fingerprint profile of Ginkgo biloba nutritional supplements by LC/ESI-MS/MS

Ginkgo biloba is one of the most popular herb nutrition supplements, with terpene lactones and flavonoids being the two major active components. A fingerprint profile method was developed using a capillary HPLC/MS method which can identify more than 70 components from the G. biloba product. The method allows the flavonoids and terpene lactones to be detected simultaneously and information of both the parent ion and its fragmentation can be obtained in just one HPLC/MS run. Targeted post-acquisition analysis allows mass spectrometric information regarding the identification of flavonoid components to be easily distinguished from other data, however the same approach for terpene lactones was less successful due to dimer formation and requires further development. The fingerprint profiles of five commercial G. biloba nutritional supplements were obtained and compared; variation of some components among the samples was observed and fortification could be detected. In the quality control analysis of the G. biloba product this method could be viewed as complementary to specific quantitative analysis of some bioactive components of the herb.

Multiple target cell extraction and LC-MS analysis for predicting bioactive components in Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae

A method for predicting bioactive candidates in herbal medicines (HMs) was developed using four types of target cell extraction followed by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection-mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-MS) analysis. Through the proposed method, some potential bioactive components in Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae, a widely used HM for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, were screened in view of interacting with endothelial cells, myocardial cells, blood platelets and red cells. Specifically, eleven compounds were detected in the desorption eluate of endothelial cells, nine in myocardial cells, fifteen in blood platelets and five in red cells. Totally, sixteen compounds were detected and fourteen of them were identified qualitatively in terms of their MS spectra and in comparison with some of the reference compounds. The results indicate that the proposed method may be applied to prediction of the bioactive multi-compounds in HMs.

Analysis of interaction property of bioactive components in Flos Lonicerae Japonicae with protein by microdialysis coupled with HPLC-DAD-MS

Interaction of the Flos Lonicerae Japonicae (FLJ) with protein was studied by microdialysis coupled with HPLC-DAD-MS. Eight compounds were identified by comparing their t(R), UV data and MS data with reference compounds. Microdialysis recoveries and binding degrees of compounds in FLJ with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were determined. Recoveries of microdialysis sampling ranged from 51.3 to 73.2% with relative standard deviation (RSD) below 3.1%, and the binding degrees of those compounds to BSA ranged from 4.8 to 61.2 (0.3 mM BSA) and from 11.1 to 76.2% (0.6 mM BSA), respectively. The results showed that the binding properties of compounds in FLJ were influenced by pH. Furthermore, the binding degrees of five reference compounds were determined separately under the same conditions, the binding degrees of chlorogenic acid, luteolin-3-O-glucoside and 4,5-di-O-caffeoyl quinic acid was lower in FLJ than in single compound solution, on the contrary the binding degree of caffeic acid and rutin was higher in FLJ, which indicated that a significant effects of the interaction of compounds with each other on their binding degrees to BSA. The results showed that there were ten compounds had interaction with BSA, eight of them were the proven active compounds, and the other two compounds had similar binding degree with the proven active compounds, so the ten compounds might possess potential activities.

Investigation on the absorption kinetics of chlorogenic acid in rats by HPLC

Chlorogenic acid (ChA), a major phenolic compound in the Flos Lonicerae, is widely used in the traditional Chinese medicine practice. The purpose of this study is to report the pharmacokinetic parameters of ChA in rats after oral administration and explore its absorption profile briefly. A two-compartment model was proposed and validated through the program to explain the apparent triphasic phenomenon of ChA in rats after intragastric administration. A rapid absorption and a relatively slow distribution followed by a slower elimination phase were observed. At the administered doses of 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg, the values of absorption half-life (t 1/2 Ka) were 10.23, 18.66 and 28.13 min. The values of distribution half-life (t1/2) were 12.35, 31.04 and 39.19 min. And the values of elimination half-life (t1/2P) were 231.64, 337.23 and 420.81 min. The volume of distribution at the three doses were 55.26, 35.56, 32.22 L/kg, respectively. The AUC0-->infinity (area under the concentration-time curve) was not proportional to the administered dose. In the range of the doses examined, the absorption pharmacokinetics of ChA in rats was based on nonlinear kinetics.

Screening and identification of permeable components in a combined prescription of Danggui Buxue decoction using a liposome equilibrium dialysis system followed by HPLC and LC-MS

A new method, i.e., liposome equilibrium dialysis followed by HPLC and LC-MS analysis, has been developed for the screening of permeable components in combined prescriptions of Danggui Buxue decoction (CPDBD). Multiple permeable components were simultaneously predicted by comparison of chromatograms of CPDBD extract before and after interaction with liposome membranes. A diode-array detector (DAD) and an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) were used, and the permeable compounds were identified by comparison with the available reference compounds and confirmed by on-line LC-MS. About fifteen compounds in a CPDBD extract were found to interact with liposome membranes. They were identified as calycosin-7-O-beta-D-glucoside (1), senkyunolide I or H (2), ononin (3), (6alphaR,11alphaR)-9,10-dimethoxypterocarpan-3-O-beta-D-glucoside (4), (3R)-2'-hydroxy-3',4'-dimethoxyisoflavan-7-O-beta-D-glucoside (5), calycosin (6), astragaloside IV (7), isoastragaloside II (8), formononetin (9), (6alphaR, 11alphaR),-3-hydroxy-9,10-dimethoxypterocarpan (10), (3R)-7,2'-dihydroxy-3',4'-dimethoxyisoflavan (11), astragaloside I (12), isoastragaloside I (13), E-ligustilide (14), and Z-ligustilide (15), respectively. Among all permeable components, 1, 3, 6, and 9 (flavonoids), 2, 14, and 15 (phthalides), and 7 (saponins) have been considered as major bioactive components in CPDBD. Therefore, this new method appears useful as a first step in the screening of bioactive components in natural products including Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs).

Understanding ZHENG in traditional Chinese medicine in the context of neuro-endocrine-immune network

Traditional Chinese medicine uses ZHENG as the key pathological principle to understand the human homeostasis and guide the applications of Chinese herbs. Here, a systems biology approach with the combination of computational analysis and animal experiment is used to investigate this complex issue, ZHENG, in the context of the neuro-endocrine-immune (NEI) system. By using the methods of literature mining, network analysis and topological comparison, it is found that hormones are predominant in the Cold ZHENG network, immune factors are predominant in the Hot ZHENG network, and these two networks are connected by neuro-transmitters. In addition, genes related to Hot ZHENG-related diseases are mainly present in the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathway, whereas genes related to both the Cold-related and Hot-related diseases are linked to the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway. These computational findings were subsequently verified by experiments on a rat model of collagen-induced arthritis, which indicate that the Cold ZHENG-oriented herbs tend to affect the hub nodes in the Cold ZHENG network, and the Hot ZHENG-oriented herbs tend to affect the hub nodes in the Hot ZHENG network. These investigations demonstrate that the thousand-year-old concept of ZHENG may have a molecular basis with NEI as background.

Analysis of interaction property of bioactive components in Danggui Buxue Decoction with protein by microdialysis coupled with HPLC–DAD–MS

Interaction of a commonly used combined prescription of Danggui Buxue Decoction (CPDBD) with protein was studied by microdialysis coupled with HPLC-DAD-MS. Nine compounds in CPDBD were unequivocally identified by comparing with their t(R), MS data and UV spectra with those of reference compounds, and simultaneously quantified. Microdialysis recoveries and binding degrees of 20 compounds in CPDBD with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were determined. Recoveries of microdialysis sampling ranged from 66.9 to 91.5% with RSD below 3.0%, and the binding degrees of those to BSA ranged from 6.3 to 59.8% (0.3mM BSA) and from 6.9 to 86.6% (0.6mM BSA). The results were determined at pH 7.4 and the influence of different pH value was investigated. Furthermore, the binding degrees of eight reference compounds were determined separately under the same conditions, indicating a significant effect of the interaction of compounds with each other on their binding degrees to BSA. By comparing their binding degrees with BSA with those of proven active compounds in CPDBD, i.e. chlorogenic acid (3), ferulic acid (6), ononin (12) and calycosin (16), other five compounds were found to possess potential activities, which were tentatively identified as calycosin-7-O-beta-D-glucoside-6-O-malonate (9), senkyunolide I or H (10), formononetin-7-O-beta-D-glucoside-6-O-malonate (17), and two unknown compounds.

An approach to develop binary chromatographic fingerprints of the total alkaloids from Caulophyllum robustum by high performance liquid chromatography/diode array detector and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

An approach was proposed to develop binary chromatographic fingerprints by means of high performance liquid chromatography/diode array detector (HPLC/DAD) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). HPLC fingerprint and GC/MS fingerprint that, respectively, represent chemical characteristics of aporphinoid and quinolizidine alkaloids of the total alkaloids from Caulophyllum robustum were developed, which were used to construct binary chromatographic fingerprints of the total alkaloids. Moreover, the authentication and validation of the binary fingerprints were performed. Then, a data-level information fusion method was employed to capture the chemical information encoded in two chromatographic fingerprints. Finally, based on the fusion results, the quality of 10 batches of the total alkaloids samples was further evaluated by similarity measure and cluster analysis method. In comparison with conventional fingerprint, the binary chromatographic fingerprints which represent the characteristics of more constitutions can comprehensively and properly reveal the quality characteristics of the total alkaloids. The binary chromatographic fingerprints can reach more objective conclusions in the practice of quality control of the total alkaloids. In conclusion, the binary chromatographic fingerprints are suitable for quality control of the total alkaloids. The presented approach is a powerful and meaningful tool to comprehensively conduct the quality control of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Anticancer effects of Chinese herbal medicine, science or myth?

Currently there is considerable interest among oncologists to find anticancer drugs in Chinese herbal medicine (CHM). In the past, clinical data showed that some herbs possessed anticancer properties, but western scientists have doubted the scientific validity of CHM due to the lack of scientific evidence from their perspective. Recently there have been encouraging results, from a western perspective, in the cancer research field regarding the anticancer effects of CHM. Experiments showed that CHM played its anticancer role by inducing apoptosis and differentiation, enhancing the immune system, inhibiting angiogenesis, reversing multidrug resistance (MDR), etc. Clinical trials demonstrated that CHM could improve survival, increase tumor response, improve quality of life, or reduce chemotherapy toxicity, although much remained to be determined regarding the objective effects of CHM in human in the context of clinical trials. Interestingly, both laboratory experiments and clinical trials have demonstrated that when combined with chemotherapy, CHM could raise the efficacy level and lower toxic reactions. These facts raised the feasibility of the combination of herbal medicines and chemotherapy, although much remained to be investigated in this area.

Components of the peptidome and transcriptome persist in lin wa pi: the dried skin of the Heilongjiang brown frog (Rana amurensis) as used in traditional Chinese medicine

Although the ancient practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) utilizes predominantly herbal ingredients, many of which are now the subject of intense scientific scrutiny, significant quantities of animal tissue-derived materials are also employed. Here we have used contemporary molecular techniques to study the material known as lin wa pi, the dried skin of the Heilongjiang brown frog, Rana amurensis, that is used commonly as an ingredient of many medicines, as a general tonic and as a topical antimicrobial/wound dressing. Using a simple technology that has been developed and validated over several years, we have demonstrated that components of both the skin granular gland peptidome and transcriptome persist in this material. Interrogation of the cDNA library constructed from the dried skin by entrapment and amplification of polyadenylated mRNA, using a "shotgun" primer approach and 3'-RACE, resulted in the cloning of cDNAs encoding the precursors of five putative antimicrobial peptides. Two (ranatuerin-2AMa and ranatuerin-2AMb) were obvious homologs of a previously described frog skin peptide family, whereas the remaining three were of sufficient structural novelty to be named amurins 1-3. Mature peptides were each identified in reverse phase HPLC fractions of boiling water extracts of skin and their structures confirmed by MS/MS fragmentation sequencing. Components of traditional Chinese medicines of animal tissue origin may thus contain biologically active peptides that survive the preparation procedures and that may contribute to therapeutic efficacy.

Quality evaluation of Radix Astragali through a simultaneous determination of six major active isoflavonoids and four main saponins by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array and evaporative light scattering detectors

A method, high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array and evaporative light scattering detectors (HPLC-DAD-ELSD), was developed to evaluate the quality of Radix Astragali through a simultaneous determination of six major active isoflavonoids and four main saponins. The wavelength at 280 nm was chosen to determine six isoflavonoids: calycosin-7-O-beta-D-glucoside (1), ononin (2), (6alphaR, 11alphaR)-9,10-dimethoxypterocarpan-3-O-beta-D-glucoside (3), (3R)-2'-hydroxy-3',4'-dimethoxyisoflavan-7-O-beta-D-glucoside (4), calycosin (5), and formononetin (6); and ELSD connected after DAD was employed to determine four saponins: astragaloside IV (7), astragaloside II (8), astragaloside I (9), and acetylastragaloside I (10). This assay was fully validated with respect to precision, repeatability and accuracy. The proposed method was successfully applied to quantify the ten components in eleven samples from different localities in China; significant variations were demonstrated in the content of these compounds in the samples from different areas. This simple, rapid, low-cost and reliable HPLC-DAD-ELSD method is suitable for routine quantitative analysis and quality control of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) consisting of bioactive multi-components with different structures such as Radix Astragali.

Simultaneous analysis of nine active components in Gegen Qinlian preparations by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection

HPLC with diode array detection (HPLC/DAD) was employed to determine the quantities of puerarin, daidzin, daidzein, berberine, palmatine, coptisine, baicalin, baicalein, and glycyrrhizin in Gegen Qinlian preparations of three different pharmaceutical forms including decoction, dispensing granule and pill. The calibration curves for the nine bioactive components were linear in the given concentration ranges. The precision of the method was in the range of 0.2 - 5.0% (RSD), and the recoveries of this method were between 96.5 and 104.1%. The proposed method was applicable to analyze Gegen Qinlian preparations.

A Computational Approach to Botanical Drug Design by Modeling Quantitative Composition?activity Relationship

Herbal medicine has been successfully applied in clinical therapeutics throughout the world. Following the concept of quantitative composition-activity relationship, the presented study proposes a computational strategy to predict bioactivity of herbal medicine and design new botanical drug. As a case, the quantitative relationship between chemical composition and decreasing cholesterol effect of Qi-Xue-Bing-Zhi-Fang, a widely used herbal medicine in China, was investigated. Quantitative composition-activity relationship models generated by multiple linear regression, artificial neural networks, and support vector regression exhibited different capabilities of predictive accuracy. Moreover, the proportion of two active components of Qi-Xue-Bing-Zhi-Fang was optimized based on the quantitative composition-activity relationship model to obtain new formulation. Validation experiments showed that the optimized herbal medicine has greater activity. The results indicate that the presented method is an efficient approach to botanical drug design.

Screening and identification of multi-component in Qingkailing injection using combination of liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry

An approach for screening and identification of multi-component in complex traditional Chinese medicine systems with a combinative LC/MS (MS(n)) technique was described in this paper. The chemical profile of Qingkailing injection, a well-known traditional Chinese formula in China, was studied using the established method as for an application. Benefit from combining the accurate mass measurement of LC/TOF-MS to generate elemental compositions and the complementary multilevel structural information provided by LC/ion trap MS(n), 33 components in Qingkailing injection were identified in all. The three isomers of chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid and neochlorogenic acid which are derived from Flos Lonicerae, one of the medicinal materials in Qingkailing, were differentiated by verifying their MS3 fragmentation data. All the components identified were surveyed and classified according to their medicinal materials derivation. This study is expected to provide an effective and reliable pattern for comprehensive and systematic characterization of the complex traditional Chinese medicine systems.

Fingerprint analysis of Flos Lonicerae japonicae using binary HPLC profiling

Binary chromatographic profiling was employed in fingerprint analysis of Flos Lonicerae japonicae, the flower bud of Lonicera japonica Thunb. Standardized procedures were used to develop the profiling for both aqueous and ethanolic extracts. Other species in the previous Chinese Pharmacopoeia and some in folk remedy were successfully differentiated from L. japonica Thunb. by hierarchiral cluster analysis of the chromatographic profiles. Correlation analysis showed that six chromatographic peaks in ethanolic extract were positively correlated with in vitro bacteriostasis activity. Two standard fingerprints were developed with 10 genuine samples of L. japonica Thunb. Similarity analysis with a limited number of samples showed a fair consistence in the chromatographic profiling of L. japonica Thunb. from various sources and two harvests, and significant differences from other species. Combination use of the two fingerprints demonstrated confirmative identification and quality assessment of Flos Lonicerae japonicae.

A causal relationship discovery-based approach to identifying active components of herbal medicine

Herbal medicine is widely applied for clinical use in East Asia and other countries. However, unclear correlation between its complex chemical composition and bioactivity prevents its application in the West. In the present study, a stepwise causal adjacent relationship discovery algorithm has been developed to study correlation between composition and bioactivity of herbal medicine and identify active components from the complex mixture. This approach was successfully applied in discovering active constituents from mixed extracts of Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae and Cortex Moutan. Moreover, advantage of the present approach compared with bioassay-guided isolation was demonstrated by its application on a typical herbal drug. The current work offers a new way to virtually screen active components of herbal medicine, and it might be helpful to accelerate the process of new drug discovery from natural products.

An HPLC/MS method for identifying major constituents in the hypocholesterolemic extracts of Chinese medicine formula ‘Xue-Fu-Zhu-Yu decoction’

In this paper, HPLC-ESI-MS technique was used to analyze the hypocholesterolemic extracts of 'Xue-Fu-Zhu-Yu decoction', a traditional Chinese medicine consisting of six crude drugs (i.e. Paeonia lactiflora, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Citrus aurantium, Carthamus tinctorius, Prunus persica and Bupleurum falcatum). A total of 17 compounds were identified and their plant derivations were also distinguished. Nine compounds among them were unambiguously determined as oxypaeoniflorin, amygdalin, albiflorin, paeoniflorin, ferulic acid, naringin, hesperidin, senkyunolide I and neohesperidin by comparing the retention times (tR), UV spectra and m/z values with those of the reference compounds. The other eight compounds were tentatively identified as prunasin, 6-hydroxy-kaempferol 3,6-diglucoside, 6-hydroxykaempferol 3-rutinoside-6-glucoside, galloylpaeoniflorin, 6-hydroxy-kaempferol 3-glucoside, anhydrosafflor yellow B, narirutin and kaempferol 3-rutinoside by MS2 spectra and the comparison of their UV spectra and MS spectra with literature data.

Simultaneous Determination of Components in Preparation Naodesheng Injection by High Performance Liquid Chromatograph–Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-MS/APCI)

A high-performance liquid chromatograph with mass spectrum detection (HPLC-MS/APCI) method has been established for simultaneous determination of ten major bioactive components of Naodesheng injection including safflor yellow A, puerarin, daidzein, ginsenosides (Rg1, Rg2, Rb1, Rd, Re, Rh1), and notoginsenoside R1. The separations were carried out with a Luna C18 column (5 microm, 150x4.6 mm, Phenomenex, U.S.A.) with a stepwise gradient elution of the mobile phase consisting of water (0.1% of formic acid, v/v)-methanol (0 min, 70:30; 8 min, 30:70; 20 min, 10:90) at a flow-rate of 0.8 ml/min. The proposed method was applied to analyze five various Naodesheng injections and produced data with acceptable linearity, repeatability, precision and accuracy having lower limits of quantitation (LLOQs) of 0.02-0.2 microg. The calibration curves were linear in respective range for all compounds, all of them with coefficients of determination above 0.9900. The intraday precessions were less than 5.0%. The proposed method is accurate, sensitive and simple, a useful alternative for routine analysis in the quality control of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

An approach to develop two-dimensional fingerprint for the quality control of Qingkailing injection by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection

An approach was proposed to develop two-dimensional fingerprint (2D fingerprint) by means of principal component analysis (PCA) of high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC/DAD) data. The approach was applied to establish 2D fingerprints of various Qingkailing injections which were produced by different manufacturers and procedures. In comparison with common one-dimensional fingerprint (ID fingerprint) at fixed wavelength, 2D fingerprint compiled additional spectral data and was hence more informative. Principal component analysis of the 2D fingerprint data was performed in this study, and it led to an accurate classification of various samples on their manufacturers and procedures. The quality of Qingkailing samples was further evaluated by similarity measures and the same results were achieved. For comparison, four conventional ID fingerprints were also applied to the quality assessment for the same samples. Finally, we demonstrated that 2D fingerprint was a more powerful tool to characterize the quality of samples, and could be used to comprehensively conduct the quality control of traditional Chinese medicines.

Simultaneous Determination of Major Bioactive Components in Qingkailing Injection by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Evaporative Light Scattering Detection

High-performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detection (HPLC/ELSD) was established for simultaneous determination of seven major bioactive components of Qingkailing injection including adenosine, geniposide, chlorogenic acid, baicalin, ursodeoxycholic acid, cholic acid, and hyodeoxycholic acid. The proposed method was applied to analyze ten various Qingkailing injections and produced data with acceptable linearity, repeatability, precision and accuracy having a limit of detection (LOD) of 10-50 ng. In comparison with UV detection, HPLC/ELSD permits the determination of non-chromophoric compounds without prior derivatization, and shows good compatibility to the multi-components of complex analytes. The proposed method is a useful alternative for routine analysis in the quality control of traditional Chinese medicine.

Analysis of bufadienolides in the Chinese drug ChanSu by high-performance liquid chromatography with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry

The qualitative analysis of bufadienolides in the Chinese drug ChanSu was performed using high-performance liquid chromatography with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry (APCI-MS/MS). Bufadienolides are the major bioactive constituents of ChanSu, which is used to treat heart failure and cancer in traditional Chinese medicine. The APCI-MS fragmentation behavior of bufadienolides was studied. For bufadienolides with only hydroxyl substituents, the fragmentation was characterized by successive eliminations of H(2)O and CO molecules, and the profile of MS/MS product ions was correlated with the number of hydroxyl groups. If a C-16 acetoxyl group was present, the fragmentation of [M+H](+) ions was triggered by initial loss of 60 Da (HOAc). The elimination of CO was significant for bufadienolides with a 19-formyl group, and the 19-hydroxyl group could be characterized by the loss of 30 Da (HCHO). These fragmentation rules were applied to the identification of bufadienolides in a methanolic extract of ChanSu, which was separated on a C(18) column with gradient elution. A total of 35 bufadienolides were identified, including four new constituents. The method established here facilitated the convenient and rapid quality control of ChanSu crude drug and its pharmaceutical preparations.

Solid-phase microextraction–gas chromatography–mass spectrometric analysis of volatile compounds in a compounded Chinese medicinal prescription, Xiao-Cheng-Qi-Tang

In this paper, a headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was applied for the analysis of volatile compounds in a famous compounded Chinese medicinal prescription, Xiao-Cheng-Qi-Tang. Some parameters affecting the extraction efficiency such as stirring, extraction temperature, fiber exposure time and desorption time were optimized. The best results were obtained using a 100 microm PDMS fiber during headspace extraction at 90 degrees C with stirring at 1000 rpm for 20 min. Twenty-seven compounds were identified in Xiao-Cheng-Qi-Tang including some main compounds such as d-limonene and linalool. Inter- and intra-day relative standard deviations (R.S.Ds.) were less than 15.6%, showing that the method had a good reproducibility. The result might provide some foundation for building the convincing theory on the pharmacological activity of this prescription.

Yin Zi Huang, an Injectable Multicomponent Chinese Herbal Medicine, Is a Potent Inhibitor of T-Cell Activation

OBJECTIVES

The clinical efficacy of many multiherbal Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) is partially attributable to their immunoregulatory properties. In this study we evaluated the effect of eight commonly used, commercially available multiherbal Chinese medicines on T-cell activation. We focused on Yin Zhi Huang (YZH, an injectable herbal medicine commonly used for the treatment of liver diseases in China), because it was the most potent inhibitor of T-cell activation in our experimental system. The effects of 10 ingredient components of YZH were also evaluated.

METHODS

[3H] thymidine incorporation assay was used to assess mouse T-cell proliferation after stimulation with latex beads coated with anti-CD3/CD28 antibodies. CD25, CD69, PD-1, and I-COS expression by purified mouse CD4+ T cells treated with plate-bound anti-CD3 antibody and soluble anti-CD28 antibody was analyzed by fluorescent-activated cell sorter (FACS). Cytokine/chemokine production by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated with staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS

Among tested herbal medicines, YZH was the most potent inhibitor of T-cell activation. In splenocyte proliferation assays, the inhibitory effect of YZH was dose-dependent, with a 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) of 1:3200-1:1600. Ten (10) purified compounds found in YZH were evaluated for their activity. Among them, ursolic acid (1-10 micromol), luteolin (1-10 micromol), baicalein (1-10 micromol), scopran (5-50 micromol), and crocin (5-50 micromol), exhibited dose-dependent inhibition. YZH also inhibited CD25, CD69, PD-1, and ICOS expression by stimulated mouse CD4+ T cells. In human PBMCs, YZH inhibited SEB-stimulated cytokine (interleukin [IL]-1, IL-2, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor[TNF]-alpha, interferon [IFN]-gamma) and chemokine (IP-10, MCP-1, MIP-1alpha and MIP-1beta) production in a dose-dependent manner.

CONCLUSION

Our data show for the first time that YZH is a potent inhibitor of T-cell activation, and this property may be the major mechanism underlying the clinical efficacy of YZH. Our experimental results pave the way for identification of active component(s) and/or analysis of synergistic/additive effect of a YZH ingredient in future studies.

Identification and determination of the major constituents in traditional Chinese medicine Si-Wu-Tang by HPLC coupled with DAD and ESI–MS

An HPLC/DAD/ESI/MS method was established for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the major constituents in Si-Wu-Tang, a traditional Chinese medicine formula. Based on the baseline chromatographic separation of most constituents in Si-Wu-Tang on hypersil C18 column with water-acetonitrile-acetic acid as mobile phase, 12 compounds including phenolic acids, phthalides and terpene glycoside were identified by online ESI-MS and the comparison with literature data and standard samples. Most of these compounds derive from Paeonia lactiflora and Ligusticum chuanxiong. Seven of them were quantitated by HPLC coupled with DAD. The validation of the method, including sensitivity, linearity, repeatability, recovery, were examined. The linear calibration curve were acquired with R2 > 0.99 and LOD (S/N = 3) were between 0.75 and 5 ng. The repeatability was evaluated by intra- and inter-day assays and R.S.D. value were within +/- 2.38%. The recovery rates of selected compounds were in the range of 96.64-105.21% with R.S.D. less than 3.22%.