Identification of Ophiocordyceps sinensis and Its Artificially Cultured Ophiocordyceps Mycelia by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography/Orbitrap Fusion Mass Spectrometry and Chemometrics

The Effect of Fermentation on the Chemical Constituents of Gastrodia Tuber Hallimasch Powder (GTHP) Estimated by UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS and HPLC

OBJECTIVE

To compare the effect of fermentation on the chemical constituents of Gastrodia Tuder Halimasch Powder (GTHP), to establish its fingerprinting and multicomponent content determination, and to provide a basis for the processing, handling, and clinical application of this herb.

METHODS

Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS) was used to conduct a preliminary analysis of the chemical constituents in GTHP before and after fermentation. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine some major differential components of GTHP and establish fingerprints. Cluster analysis (CA), and principal component analysis (PCA) were employed for comprehensive evaluation.

RESULTS

Seventy-nine compounds were identified, including flavonoids, organic acids, nucleosides, terpenoids, and others. The CA and PCA results showed that ten samples were divided into three groups. Through standard control and HPLC analysis, 10 compounds were identified from 22 peaks, namely uracil, guanosine, adenosine, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), daidzin, genistin, glycitein, daidzein, genistein, and ergosterol. After fermentation, GTHP exhibited significantly higher contents of uracil, guanosine, adenosine, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, and ergosterol and significantly lower genistein and daidzein contents.

CONCLUSIONS

The UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS and HPLC methods can effectively identify a variety of chemical components before and after the fermentation of GTHP. This study provides a valuable reference for further research on the rational clinical application and quality control improvement of GTHP.

Rapid Identification of 3,6'-Disinapoyl Sucrose Metabolites in Alzheimer's Disease Model Mice Using UHPLC-Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system characterized by the progressive impairment of neural activity. Studies have shown that 3,6'-disinapoyl sucrose (DISS) can alleviate the pathological symptoms of AD through the activation of the cAMP/CREB/BDNF signaling pathway. However, the exact biochemical mechanisms of action of DISS are not clear. This study explores metabolism of DISS in an AD mouse model, induced by the microinjection of a lentiviral expression plasmid of the APPswe695 gene into CA1 of the hippocampus. After gavage administration of DISS (200 mg/kg), the kidneys, livers, brains, plasma, urine, and feces were collected for UHPLC-Orbitrap mass spectrometry analysis. Twenty metabolites, including the prototype drug of DISS, were positively or tentatively identified based on accurate mass measurements, characteristic fragmentation behaviors, and retention times. Thus, the metabolic pathways of DISS in AD mice were preliminarily elucidated through the identification of metabolites, such as ester bond cleavage, demethoxylation, demethylation, and sinapic acid-related products. Furthermore, differences in the in vivo distribution of several metabolites were observed between the model and sham control groups. These findings can provide a valuable reference for the pharmacological mechanisms and biosafety of DISS.

Enhancement of protoplast preparation and regeneration of Hirsutella sinensis based on process optimization

OBJECTIVE

To explore the optimal methods for the protoplast preparation and regeneration of Hirsutella sinensis by optimizing the limiting factors.

RESULTS

During the treatment of enzymatic protoplast preparation, mycelium cultured for 7 days was the optimal start material. The maximum protoplast preparation rate of 4.3 × 10⁷ protoplasts/g fresh weight (FW) was obtained after 0.5 h treatment of 1 mg/ml mixed lytic enzymes in KH₂PO₄-K₂HPO₄ buffer (pH 5.5) with 0.6 M KCl at 18 °C. As for the protoplast regeneration, the maximum protoplast regeneration rate reached 12.32% through 5 × 10³ protoplasts mL^-1 cultivated for 20 days in the regeneration medium with 0.6 M mannitol and 1.5% agar.

CONCLUSIONS

The preparation and regeneration of H. sinensis protoplasts was firstly established based on process optimization and it provided a foundation for the study of H. sinensis mutagenesis.

Profiling and identification of aqueous extract of Cordyceps sinensis by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry

Characterization of aqueous extract in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is challenging due to the poor retention of the analytes on conventional C₁₈ columns. This study presents a systematic characterization method based on a rapid chromatographic separation (8 min) on a polar-modified C₁₈ (Waters Cortecs T3) column of aqueous extract of Cordyceps sinensis. UHPLC-HRMS method was used to profile components in both untargeted and targeted manners by full MS/PIL/dd-MS² acquisition approach. The components were identified or tentatively identified by reference standards comparison, fragmentation rules elucidation and available databases search. A total of 91 components, including 10 nucleobases, 20 nucleosides, 39 dipeptides, 18 amino acids and derivatives and 4 other components, were characterized from the aqueous extract of C. sinensis. And this was the first time to systematically report the presence of nucleosides and dipeptides in C. sinensis, especially for modified nucleosides. The chemical basis inquiry of this work would be beneficial to mechanism exploration and quality control of C. sinensis and related products. Meanwhile, this work also provided an effective solution for characterization of aqueous extract in TCM.

Comparative study of the composition of cultivated, naturally grown Cordyceps sinensis, and stiff worms across different sampling years

Natural Cordyceps sinensis, which is a valuable anti-tumor, immunomodulatory, and antiviral agent in Asia, has been overexploited in recent years. Therefore, it is important for cultivated C. sinensis to be recognized in the market. In this research, the main components of entirely cultivated, naturally grown C. sinensis, and stiff worms across different sampling years were detected and compared by HPLC-MS and UV spectrometry. The results indicated that the mean levels of adenosine and cordycepin were significantly higher, whereas the mean levels of mannitol and polysaccharides were remarkably lower in the cultivated type than in the natural type. No distinct difference in the average soluble protein content was observed. The composition of the stiff worms was similar to that of the natural herb, except that the total soluble protein content was higher, and that of mannitol was lower. In addition, the ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy of the three types showed high similarity at 260 nm. This research indicates that the main nutritional composition of cultivated and natural C. sinensis is identical and that cultivated type can be used as an effective substitute.

High-throughput screening of the nucleosides and nucleotides using characteristic structural fragments fusion

Cordyceps sinensis is a traditional Chinese food. A high-throughput screening and quantitative method based on hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled to quadrupole/Orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry has been proposed for the joint measurement of nucleosides and their corresponding nucleotides in thirty-two Cordyceps sinensis samples. A total of thirty-two natural samples from six regions were enrolled. A multiple-step analysis strategy, including features extraction, noise level evaluation, mass shift correction and suspect spectral library spectra searching, was employed to discover, identify and validate the nucleosides and nucleotides. The remaining unknown compounds were identified with the characteristic structural fragments. The on-line dispersive solid-phase extraction system eliminates human-based steps errors and affords superior method reproducibility in the presence of hexafluoro-2-propanol and diethylamine as hydrophilic ion-pairing reagents. In view of the great difference of the quality, this high coverage confirmation strategy is of great reference value to the future quantitative analysis of potential nucleosides and nucleotides. Nucleosides and nucleotides ingredients could be considered as origins and quality assessment index of C. sinensis.

Novel Arsenic Markers for Discriminating Wild and Cultivated Cordyceps

Ophiocordyceps sinensis has been utilized in China and adjacent countries for thousands of years as a rare functional food to promote health and treat diverse chronic diseases. In recent years, adulterants are usually identified in the processed products of wild O. sinensis. However, the effective adulteration examination has to be additionally performed except their routine test, and accordingly is time- and money-consuming. Recently, arsenic determination has become a necessary test for confirming whether the concentrations of inorganic arsenic are over the O. sinensis limit. In this work, the contents of total arsenic and As species in cultivated O. sinensis, Cordyceps militaris, and other edible fungi were determined by ICP-MS and HPLC-ICP-MS. The results suggest that the As speciation exhibits a species-specific behavior, and accompanies the effect of the As background. The proportions of unknown organic As and contents of total As may be considered as sensitive markers for discriminating wild O. sinensis. This result provides a novel clue for discriminating wild and artificially cultivated mushrooms/their products, with emphasis on arsenic markers for authenticating wild O. sinensis.