Characterization of chemical constituents and absorbed components, screening the active components of gelanxinning capsule and an evaluation of therapeutic effects by ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry

Chinese Herbal Medicines for Coronary Heart Disease: Clinical Evidence, Pharmacological Mechanisms, and the Interaction with Gut Microbiota

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a common type of cardiovascular disease (CVD) that has been on the rise in terms of both incidence and mortality worldwide, presenting a significant threat to human health. An increasing body of studies has shown that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), particularly Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs), can serve as an effective adjunctive therapy to enhance the efficacy of Western drugs in treating CHD due to their multiple targets and multiple pathways. In this article, we critically review data available on the potential therapeutic strategies of CHMs in the intervention of CHD from three perspectives: clinical evidence, pharmacological mechanisms, and the interaction with gut microbiota. We identified 20 CHMs used in clinical practice and it has been found that the total clinical effective rate of CHD patients improved on average by 17.78% with the intervention of these CHMs. Subsequently, six signaling pathways commonly used in treating CHD have been identified through an overview of potential pharmacological mechanisms of these 20 CHMs and the eight representative individual herbs selected from them. CHMs could also act on gut microbiota to intervene in CHD by modulating the composition of gut microbiota, reducing trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) levels, increasing short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and maintaining appropriate bile acids (BAs). Thus, the therapeutic potential of CHMs for CHD is worthy of further study in view of the outcomes found in existing studies.

Chemical profiling and mechanistic studies of Zhi-Shang-Feng granules against influenza virus by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with Q exactive focus hybrid quadrupole orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry in combination with network pharmacology analysis

Zhi-Shang-Feng Granules are used in the clinical treatment of influenza to relieve headaches, chills and fever, bronchitis, nasal congestion, neuralgia and other symptoms. To decipher the components responsible for therapeutic effects of Zhi-Shang-Feng g ranules against influenza virus, an analytical method based on high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with Q exactive focus hybrid quadrupole orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry was developed and the chemical profile of Zhi-Shang-Feng granules was characterized. Then, the identified components were used to conduct network pharmacological analysis and determine the potential mechanism of Zhi-Shang-Feng Granules. As a result, 177 compounds were putatively identified through comprehensive analysis by liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry, of which 23 compounds were unambiguously confirmed with reference standards. Components in Zhi-Shang-Feng Granules were found to specifically act on different enzymes, G-protein-coupled receptors, ion channels and transporters in the immune, endocrine, nervous, and circulatory systems. The potential mechanism was related to several biological processes, including cell growth and death, pattern recognition receptor signalling, signalling by interleukins, and lipid metabolism. The combination of chemical profile characterization and network construction provided useful insight into the overall chemical composition of Zhi-Shang-Feng granules and revealed their potential anti-infection, anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory mechanisms against influenza virus infected disease.

[Rapid analysis of serum components and metabolites of Sanzi San by high performance liguid chromatography-quadrupole/ electrostatic field orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry]

Sanzi San, a Mongolian medicine, comprises three herbs: Terminalia chebula, Melia toosendan, and Gardenia jasminoides. Clinically, Sanzi San is administered orally and distributed via blood to the action site, which implies that the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) are closely related to the pharmacological action and curative effect. Therefore, possible explanations for the material basis of Sanzi San were explored in this study preliminarily. A strategy based on serum pharmacochemistry was first applied to explore the absorbed bioactive components and metabolites of Sanzi San. Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal and dosing groups, which were provided with the Sanzi San's water extract for three days. Then, the rat's blood samples were obtained from their abdomiral aorta using a sterile blood collection tube after administering the medicine. The blood samples were then centrifuged at 3500 r/min for 10 min to obtain the serum samples. A practical method based on high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole and electrostatic field orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q/Orbitrap HRMS) was developed to screen and analyze numerous bioactive components and metabolites adsorbed in the serum of the dosing rats after oral administration of the Sanzi San's water extract. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a SHIMADZU GIST C18 chromatographic column (150 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm). The temperature of the column was maintained at 30 ℃. The flow rate was 0.5 mL/min, and the injection volume was 10 μL. The mobile phase comprised an aqueous solution of 0.1% formic acid and methanol under gradient elution. A heated electrospray ion (HESI) source was used with positive and negative ion scanning modes. To rapidly screen out and identify the absorbed bioactive components and metabolites of Sanzi San in the rat serum samples, a simple three-step approach was developed. First, the known components in Sanzi San were listed systematically by exploring various databases, such as the Web of Science, PubMed, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure. In addition, relevant information on drug biotransformation and the characteristic fragmentation patterns of parent compounds were summarized. Second, the absorbed components and metabolites were ascertained using the Xcalibur 3.0 software. Based on the information related to the parent compound's structure, the software could be used to identify the unique peaks by comparing the chromatograms of the normal and dosing samples. Consequently, the total ion chromatograms of serum samples were established. Finally, the Compound Discover 3.0 software was used to predict the metabolic pathways and fragmentation of the absorbed compounds. Using this approach, 55 compounds were characterized, including 41 prototype components and 14 metabolites. The main prototype components in the serum sample were tannins, iridoids, and phenolic acids. The details of these compounds have been summarized and presented. Regarding the absorbed bioactive components and metabolites in the serum samples of rats administered with Sanzi San, phase Ⅰ and phase Ⅱ biochemical reactions were involved in the biotransformation pathways. The phase Ⅰ reaction modified the components and created sites for the phase Ⅱ reaction, involving reduction and hydrolysis. The phase Ⅱ reaction coupled groups to existing conjugation sites, including glucuronide to glucuronic acid, sulfate, and methyl. MS/MS spectra indicated that methylation, demethylation, and dehydroxylation are the metabolic pathways of procyanidins. Additionally, glucuronidation, deglucosidation, hydration, and demethylation are the metabolic pathways of iridoids in Sanzi San. This study comprehensively analyzed the components of the Sanzi San's water extract absorbed in the rat's serum. Our results revealed information regarding the pharmacodynamic substances and the major pathways involved in the ADME of Sanzi San. Further, potential medicinal ingredients for the pharmacological effects and clinical use of Sanzi San were explored at the serum pharmacochemistry level.

Rapidly identifying bioactive compounds from Zhisou oral liquid by immobilized receptor-based high-performance affinity chromatography

The identification of bioactive compounds in complex matrices remains a major challenge due to the lack of highly efficient and specific methods. This work developed an approach based on high-performance affinity chromatography to identify the potential antitussive compounds from Zhisou oral liquid . The main methods include the synthesis of immobilized beta2-adrenoceptor by a one-step method, the screening and identification of the potential bioactive compounds by the receptor column coupled with mass spectrometry, and the binding mechanism analysis of the compounds to the receptor by the in vivo experiment, injection amount dependent method and molecular simulation. We identified the potential bioactive compounds of Zhisou oral liquid as glycyrrhizic acid, platycodin D, tuberostemonine, and hesperidin. In vivo experiment showed that the combinational utilization of the four compounds was possible to present an equivalent antitussive effect to the formula. The docking results demonstrated that hydrogen bonds and Van der Waals forces were the main forces to drive the binding of the four compounds to beta2-adrenoceptor. We concluded that the four compounds are the effective components in Zhisou oral liquid. The proposed strategy is possible to provide an alternative for the development of highly efficient methods to pursue the bioactive compounds of complex matrices.

Exploring lipid biomarkers of coronary heart disease for elucidating the biological effects of gelanxinning capsule by lipidomics method based on LC-MS

High-throughput lipidomics technology was used to explore the potential therapeutic targets and mechanism of action of gelanxinning capsule on rat model with coronary heart disease (CHD). This study attempts to provide a novel method to interpret the molecular mechanism of traditional medicine. The lipid markers of CHD were determined by full-scan analysis based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography-high-definition mass spectrometry. Then, the metabolic changes associated with gelanxinning capsule treatment via the modulation of lipid biomarkers and pathway in rats were characterized. After gelanxinning treatment, the metabolic profile tended to recover compared with the model group. A total of 26 potential biomarkers were identified to represent the disorders of lipid metabolism in CHD animal model, of which 19 were regulated by gelanxinning capsule administration, and four metabolic pathways such as glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchor biosynthesis, and glycerolipid metabolism were involved. From the pathway analysis, it was found that glycerophospholipid metabolism and sphingolipid metabolism with significant differences have the potential to be regarded as new targets for the treatment of CHD. Gelanxinning capsule with its good therapeutic effect protects against CHD by regulating lipid biomarkers and pathway from lipidomics-guided biochemical analysis.