Fingerprint profiling of acid hydrolyzates of polysaccharides extracted from the fruiting bodies and spores of Lingzhi by high-performance thin-layer chromatography

FT-IR methodology for quality control of arabinogalactan protein (AGP) extracted from green tea (Camellia sinensis )

A rapid methodology of quality control was developed for arabinogalactan proteins (AGP) extracted and purified from green tea. Using the vectorial angle method and IR spectrum analysis, the 1200-800 cm(-1) region in second-derivative IR spectra was determined as the key fingerprinting region of green tea AGP, with the 1090-900 cm(-1) region reflecting their conservative and common characteristics. In fact, the key monosaccharides, galactose (Gal) and arabinose (Ara), were shown to have intense peaks at about 1075 and 1045 cm(-1), respectively, and uronic acids at about 1018 cm(-1) in second-derivative IR spectra. The variable region was identified to be at about 1134-1094 and 900-819 cm(-1) and was probably due to compositional and structural differences between AGPs. The constructed methodology was tested on green tea AGP extracted by three treatments and purified to apparent homogeneity as water-extracted Camellia sinensis AGP (CSW-AGP), pectinase-extracted C. sinensis AGP (CSP-AGP), and trypsin-extracted C. sinensis AGP (CST-AGP) with an Ara/Gal ratio of 1.37, 1.57, and 1.82, respectively. Regarding in vitro antioxidant activity, the AGPs (CSW-AGP and CST-AGP) with higher similarity (closer cos theta values calculated for second-derivative IR spectra) exhibited a similar ability of chelating ferrous ions and had a similar capability for scavenging hydroxyl radicals. In conclusion, the combination of second-derivative IR spectrum analysis and the vectorial angle method has allowed a successful characterization of green tea AGPs and was shown to be suitable for their compositional and activity discrimination and rapid quality evaluation.

Genetic and Withaferin A Analysis of Iranian Natural Populations of Withania Somnifera and W. Coagulans by RAPD and HPTLC

For successful conservation and breeding of a medicinal species, it is important to evaluate its genetic diversity as well as its content of phytochemical compounds. The aim of the present study was to investigate the genetic variation of Iranian natural populations of W. somnifera and W. coagulans, using the RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA) markers, and their withaferin A content. Using 16 RAPD primers, a total of 282 RAPD bands were achieved. The highest and lowest percentages of polymorphism were observed with primers OPAD-15 (100.0%) and OPC-06 (75.0%), respectively. Cluster analysis of the genotypes was performed based on data from polymorphic RAPD bands, using Dice's similarity coefficient and the UPGMA clustering method. Variations in the RAPD results were found to reflect geographical distribution and genetic factors of the plant populations. The HPTLC analysis of the studied samples revealed the presence of withaferin A in W. coagulans and W. somnifera. Moreover, the concentration of withaferin A had a range from 2.2 to 32.5 μg/g DW and was higher in the aerial part than in the root in all used samples. The results of the present study show that there is a high level of variation in the Iranian natural population of Withania, which is significant for conservation and breeding programs to improve production of withaferin A.

Influence of structural features on immunostimulating activity of glucans extracted from Agaricus blazei mushroom

High molecular weight b-D-glucans derived from Basidiomycetes cell walls are able to specifically activate cellular and humoral components of the host immune system. The aim of this paper was to examine immunomodulating activity of native, chemically and enzimatically modified glucans from Agaricus blazei mushroom and to determine which structural features are of primary importance for their stimulation referring to humane immune cells. The immunomodulating activities were tested in vitro, by stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and measuring of interferon-gamma (IFN-g) production by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Measurements of immunomodulatory capacity of Agaricus blazei native glucans showed their expressive immunostimulating effect on activated PBMCs and synthesis of IFN-g. The results obtained after the stimulation of cells with 1M H2SO4 and 1M NaOH, the treated glucans showed that primary structure is of more importance than the tertiary structure of the triple helix for their immunostimulating activity and synthesis of IFN-g. Glucans of lower molecular weight obtained after acid hydrolysis appeared as effective immunostimulators of PBMC's. The results obtained after the incubation of cells with 1,6 b-glucanase modified glucans suggest that b-(1,6) binding of glucose monomers probably has no importance for the production of imunostimulating effects, in vitro. This confirmed that b-(1,3) bonds are the primary determinants of immunomodulatory activities and stimulation of IFN-g synthesis.

Effects on tyrosinase activity by the extracts of Ganoderma lucidum and related mushrooms

The inhibitory effects on tyrosinase activity by extracts of several mushrooms belonging to Basidiomycetes were evaluated. Among the tested mushrooms (Ganoderma lucidum, Antrodia camphorata, Agaricus brasiliensis, and Cordyceps militaris), G. lucidum exhibited significant inhibition of tyrosinase activity (IC(50) value 0.32 mg/ml), compared to those prepared from other Basidiomycetes. Tyrosinase inhibitors are effective components of skin-lightening compounds and other cosmetics; currently many of the facial mask cosmetics in the market contain Ganoderma extracts in their ingredients. The finding that mushroom extracts contain tyrosinase activity inhibition will contribute to better understanding of how their 'healing' properties in various Chinese traditional herbal on skin care products.

Optimization for the production of exopolysaccharide from Fomes fomentarius in submerged culture and its antitumor effect in vitro

A medicinal mushroom Fomes fomentarius, was isolated from the fruiting body of a wild F. fomentarius and identified by ITS-5.8S rDNA sequencing analysis. Then, the optimization of submerged culture conditions and nutritional requirements of mycelial biomass and exopolysaccharide (EPS) production from F. fomentarius was studied using orthogonal matrix method. Under the optimal culture condition, the maximum EPS concentration reached 3.64 g l(-1), which is about four times higher than that at the basal medium. Furthermore, the EPS from F. fomentarius has a direct antiproliferative effect in vitro on SGC-7901 huaman gastric cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Moreover, it was about three times that EPS at noncytocxity concentration of 0.25 mg ml(-1) could sensitize doxorubicin(Dox)-induced growth inhibition of SGC-7901 cells after 24h treatment.

Validation of HPTLC method for the analysis of taraxerol in Clitoria ternatea

A new, simple, sensitive, selective and precise HPTLC method has been developed for the determination of taraxerol in Clitoria ternatea L. Determination of taraxerol was performed on TLC aluminium plates. Linear ascending development was carried out in twin trough glass chamber saturated with hexane and ethyl acetate (80:20 v/v). The plate was then dried and sprayed with anisaldehyde reagent. A Camag TLC scanner III was used for spectrodensitometric scanning and analysis at 420 nm. The system was found to give compact spots for taraxerol (R(f) 0.53). The calibration plot was linear in the range of 100-1200 ng of taraxerol. The correlation coefficient of 0.9961 was indicative of good linear dependence of peak area on concentration. The concentration of taraxerol was found to be 12.4 mg/g w/w in the hydroalcoholic extract of C. ternatea root. To study the accuracy and precision of the method, recovery studies were performed. Recovery values from 99.65 to 99.74% showed excellent reliability and reproducibility of the method. The limits of detection and quantification were determined to be 31 and 105 ng/spot, respectively. The proposed HPTLC method for quantitative monitoring of taraxerol in C. ternatea can be used for routine quality testing of C. ternatea extract used in Ayurvedic formulations.

Principles of qualitative analysis in the chromatographic context

This article presents the state of the art of qualitative analysis in the framework of the chromatographic analysis. After establishing the differences between two main classes of qualitative analysis (analyte identification and sample classification/qualification) the particularities of instrumental qualitative analysis are commented on. Qualitative chromatographic analysis for sample classification/qualification through the so-called chromatographic fingerprint (for complex samples) or the volatiles profile (through the direct coupling headspace-mass spectrometry using the chromatograph as interface) is discussed. Next, more technical exposition of the qualitative chromatographic information is presented supported by a variety of representative examples.

Recent developments in sample preparation for chromatographic analysis of carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are a very important group of compounds due to their roles as structural materials, sources of energy, biological functions and environmental analytes; they are characterized by their structural diversity and the high number of isomers they present. While many advances have been made in carbohydrate analysis, the sample preparation remains difficult. This review aims to summarize the most important treatments which have been recently developed to be applied prior to the analysis of carbohydrates by chromatographic techniques. Due to the multiplicity of structures and matrices, many different techniques are required for clean-up, fractionation and derivatization. A number of new techniques which could be potentially adequate for carbohydrate characterization have also been revised.

Characterization of flavonoids in the extract of Sophora flavescens Ait. by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array detector and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

A method coupling high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode-array detector (DAD) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI) was established for the separation and characterization of flavonoids in Sophora flavescens Ait. Based on the chromatographic separation of most flavonoids present in S. flavescens Ait., a total of 24 flavonoids were identified. Fourteen compounds were unambiguously identified comparing experimental data for retention time (t(R)), UV and MS spectra with those of the authentic compounds: 3',7-dihydroxy-4'-methoxy-isoflavone (13), trifolirhizin (14), kurarinol (18), formononetin (19), 7,4'-dihydroxy-5-methoxy-8-(gamma,gamma-dimethylallyl)-flavanone (22), maackiain (21), isoxanthohumol (23), kuraridine (26), kuraridinol (27), sophoraflavanone G (30), xanthohumol (31), isokurarinone (33), kurarinone (35) and kushenol D (38), and additional 10 compounds were tentatively identified as kushenol O (10), trifolirhizin-6''-malonate (15), sophoraisoflavanone A (20), norkurarinol/kosamol Q (24), kushenol I/N (25), kushenol C (28), 2'-methoxykurarinone (29), kosamol R (32), kushecarpin A (34) and kushenol A (37) by comparing experimental data for UV and MS spectra with those of literature. Furthermore, fragmentation pathways in positive ions mode of 24 flavonoid compounds of types of flavanone, flavanonol, flavonol, chalcone, isoflavone, isoflavanone and ptercocarpane were summarized. Some common features, such as CH(3)., H(2)O, CO, CO(2), C(3)O(2) and C(2)H(2)O losses, together with Retro-Diels-Alder fragmentations were observed in the prenylated flavonoids in S. flavescens Ait. The loss of the lanandulyl chain was their characteristic fragmentation, which might help deducing the structure of unknown flavonoid compounds. The present study provided an approach to rapidly characterize bioactive constituents in S. flavescens Ait.

A gradient HPLC method for the quality control of chlorogenic acid, linarin and luteolin in Flos Chrysanthemi Indici suppository

The Flos Chrysanthemi Indici suppository, a famous traditional Chinese medicine, is marketed for the treatment of prostatitis and chronic pelvic inflammation. A simple, relatively rapid and accurate high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was applied to the simultaneous determination of chlorogenic acid, linarin and luteolin in Flos Chrysanthemi Indici suppository. The good separation was achieved on a Hypersil ODS column by a gradient elution using the mixture of acetonitrile and aqueous 1.0% acetic acid as mobile phase within 23 min. The method was validated for three active phenolic compounds with the relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) of intra- and inter-day precision below 3.0%, and the detection limits (S/N=3) of chlorogenic acid, linarin and luteolin were 0.32, 0.08 and 0.05 microg ml(-1), respectively. This assay was successfully applied to the determination of three active phenolic compounds in Flos Chrysanthemi Indici suppository samples with the quantitative recoveries in the range of 94.7-101.8%. The results indicate that the developed HPLC method can be readily utilized as a quality control method for Flos Chrysanthemi Indici suppository and its related traditional Chinese medicinal preparations.

Quality evaluation ofGanoderma through simultaneous determination of nine triterpenes and sterols using pressurized liquid extraction and high performance liquid chromatography

A method combining HPLC and pressurized liquid extraction was developed for simultaneous quantification of nine components, including eight triterpenes (ganoderic acid A, ganoderic acid Y, ganoderic acid DM, ganoderol A, ganoderol B, ganoderal A, methyl ganoderate D and ganoderate G) and a sterol (ergosterol), in Ganoderma. The determination was achieved by using a Zorbax ODS C18 analytical column (4.6 x 250 mm id, 5 microm) and gradient elution with diode-array detection. All calibration curves showed good linearity (r2 > 0.9997) within the test ranges. The developed method showed good repeatability for the quantification of the nine investigated components in Ganoderma with intra- and inter-day variations of less than 2.4% and 4.1%, respectively. The validated method was successfully applied to quantify the nine components in two species of Ganoderma, i.e. G. lucidum and G. sinense, used as Lingzhi in China. Furthermore, hierarchical clustering analysis based on the nine components in HPLC profiles from the tested 11 samples showed that chemical characteristics were significantly different between G. lucidum and G. sinense, which suggested that clinical investigation should be performed so as to ensure the safety and efficacy of medication.

Ganoderma - a therapeutic fungal biofactory

Ganoderma is a basidiomycete white rot fungus which has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries particularly in China, Japan and Korea. A great deal of work has been carried out on Ganoderma lucidum. The common names for preparations include Lingzhi, Munnertake, Sachitake, Reishi and Youngzhi. This review collates the publications detailing activities and compounds by representative species whilst considering the most valid claims of effectiveness. The biological activities reported of preparations from Ganoderma are remarkable and given most emphasis herein as distinct from structure/activity information. The metabolites consist of mainly polysaccharides and terpenoids. Many are activities against the major diseases of our time and so the present review is of great importance. The list of effects is huge ranging from anti-cancer to relieving blockages of the bladder. However, the reports have not all been tested scientifically with the convincing evidence is reserved for assays of pure compounds. It is a prime example of an ancient remedy being of great relevance to the modern era. There does appear to be an assumption that the therapeutic effects attributed to the fungus have been proven. The next step is to produce some effective medicines which may be hampered by problems of mass production.

Variable selection for discriminating herbal medicines with chromatographic fingerprints

When discriminating herbal medicines with pattern recognition based on chromatographic fingerprints, typically, the majority of variables/data points contain no discrimination information. In this paper, chemometric approaches concerning forward selection and key set factor analysis using principal component analysis (PCA), unweighted and weighted methods based on the inner- and outer-variances, Fisher coefficient from the between- and within-class variations were investigated to extract representative variables. The number of variables retained was determined based on the cumulative variance percent of principal components, the ratio of observations to variables and the factor indicative function (IND). In order to assess the methods for variable selection and criteria levels to determine the number of variables retained, the original and reduced datasets were compared with Procrustes analysis and a weighted measure of similarity. Moreover, the tri-variate plots of the first three PCA scores were used to visually examine the reduced datasets in low dimensional space. Herbal samples were finally discriminated by use of Bayes discrimination analysis with the reduced subsets. The case study for 79 herbal samples showed that, the methods of forward selection associating the variables with the loadings closest to 0 and key set factor analysis were preferable to determine the representative variables. Procrustes analysis and the weighted measure were not indicative to extract representative variables. High matching between the original and reduced datasets did not suggest high prediction accuracy. Visually examining the PC1-PC2-PC3 scores projection plots with the reduced subsets, not all the herb samples could be separated due to the complexity of chromatographic fingerprints.

High-performance thin-layer chromatographic fingerprints of isoflavonoids for distinguishing between Radix Puerariae Lobate and Radix Puerariae Thomsonii

The roots of Pueraria lobata (Wild.) Ohwi and Pueraria thomsonii Benth have been officially recorded in all editions of Chinese Pharmacopoeia under the same monograph 'Gegen' (Radix Puerariae, RP). However, in its 2005 edition, the two species were separated into both individual monographs, namely 'Gegen' (Radix Puerariae Lobatae, RPL) and 'Fenge' (Radix Puerariae Thomsonii, RPT), respectively, due to their obvious content discrepancy of puerarin, the major active constituent. In present paper, the fingerprint of high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) combining digital scanning profiling was developed to identify and distinguish the both species in detail. The unique properties of the HPTLC fingerprints were validated by analyzing ten batches of Pueraria lobata and P. thomsonii samples, respectively. The common pattern of the HPTLC images of the roots of Pueraria spp. and the respective different ratios of the chemical distribution can directly discern the two species. The corresponding digital scanning profiles provided an easy way for quantifiable comparison among the samples. Obvious difference in ingredient content and HPTLC patterns of the two species questioned their bio-equivalence and explained that recording both species separately in the current edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2005 edition) is reasonable due to not only the content of major constituent, puerarin, but also the peak-to-peak distribution in the fingerprint and integration value of the total components. Furthermore, the HPTLC fingerprint is also suitable for rapid and simple authentication and comparison of the subtle difference among samples with identical plant resource but different geographic locations.

Development of the chromatographic fingerprint of herbal preparations Shuang–Huang–Lian oral liquid

A simple, reliable and reproducible method, based on high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), for developing chromatographic fingerprint of complex herbal medicine Shuang-Huang-Lian (SHL) oral liquid was described. Ten batches of SHL obtained from different pharmaceutical factories were used to establish the fingerprint. In addition, the contents of baicalin and chlorogenic acid, which are two marker constituents in the preparations, were also determined. Chromatographic fingerprint, together with the contents of the markers were applied for quality control of SHL. SHL comprises three kinds of medicinal herbs: Fols Lonicerae, Radix Scutellariae and Fructus Forsythiae. According to State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) requirement, the chromatographic fingerprints of Fols Lonicerae, Radix Scutellariae and Fructus Forsythiae, the raw materials of SHL preparations, were also established. The data of fingerprints of SHL and its raw herbs established by HPLC were all processed with two kinds of mathematic methods including correlation coefficient and cosine value of vectorial angle to validate their similarities. In conclusion, fingerprints of Radix Scutellariae, Fols Lonicerae and Fructus Forsythiae are suitable for identification, differentiation of their geographic origins and quality control. The similarity of 10 batches of SHL oral liquid was more than 0.988, which showed the preparations from different pharmaceutical factories were consistent.

Ganoderma extract prevents albumin-induced oxidative damage and chemokines synthesis in cultured human proximal tubular epithelial cells

BACKGROUND

Ganoderma lucidum (Ganoderma or lingzhi) is widely used as an alternative medicine remedy to promote health and longevity. Recent studies have indicated that components extracted from Ganoderma have a wide range of pharmacological actions including suppressing inflammation and scavenging free radicals. We recently reported that tubular secretion of interleukin-8 (IL-8) induced by albumin is important in the pathogenesis of tubulointerstitial injury in the proteinuric state. In this study, we explored the protective effect of Ganoderma extract (LZ) on albumin-induced kidney epithelial injury.

METHODS

Growth arrested human proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTECs) were incubated with 0.625 to 10 mg/ml human serum albumin (HSA) for up to 72 h. HSA induced DNA damage and apoptosis in PTEC in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Co-incubation of PTEC with 4-64 microg/ml LZ significantly reduced the oxidative damage and cytotoxic effect of HSA in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.001). Increased release of IL-8 and soluble intercellular adhesion molecules-1 (sICAM-1) in PTEC induced by HSA was ameliorated by co-incubation with Ganoderma (16 microg/ml). To explore the components of LZ that exhibited most protective effect in HSA-induced PTEC damages, LZ was further separated into two sub-fractions, LZF1 (MW <30 kDa) and LZF2 (MW <3 kDa), by molecular sieving using millipore membrane. PTEC were incubated with 5 mg/ml HSA in the presence of different doses of LZF1, LZF2 or unfractionated LZ.

RESULTS

There was no difference in the degree of protection from HSA-induced cytotoxicity or oxidative DNA damage between different fractions of LZ. However, low molecular weight LZ (<3 kDa) was most effective in reducing sICAM-1 released from HSA-activated PTEC whereas the high molecular weight LZ (unfractionated LZ) was more effective in diminishing IL-8 production.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that Ganoderma significantly reduces oxidative damages and apoptosis in PTEC induced by HSA. The differential reduction of IL-8 or sICAM-1 released from HSA-activated PTEC by different components of the LZ implicates that components of Ganoderma with different molecular weights could play different roles and operate different mechanisms in preventing HSA-induced PTEC damage.

Optimization of submerged culture condition for the production of mycelial biomass and exopolysaccharides by Agrocybe cylindracea

The optimization of submerged culture conditions and nutritional requirements was studied for the production of exopolysaccharide (EPS) from Agrocybe cylindracea ASI-9002 using the statistically based experimental design in a shake flask culture. Both maximum mycelial biomass and EPS were observed at 25 degrees C. The optimal initial pH for the production of mycelial biomass and EPS were found to be pH 4.0 and pH 6.0, respectively. Subsequently, optimum concentration of each medium component was determined using the orthogonal matrix method. The optimal combination of the media constituents for mycelial growth was as follows: maltose 80 g/l, Martone A-1 6 g/l, MgSO4 x 7H2O 1.4 g/l, and CaCl2 1.1 g/l; for EPS production: maltose 60 g/l, Martone A-1 6 g/l, MgSO4 x 7H2O 0.9 g/l, and CaCl2 1.1 g/l. Under the optimal culture condition, the maximum EPS concentration achieved in a 5-l stirred-tank bioreactor indicated 3.0 g/l, which is about three times higher than that at the basal medium.

High-performance thin layer chromatography method for quantitative determination of four major anthraquinone derivatives in Rheum emodi

A high-performance thin layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method for the rapid and simple quantification of the four major anthraquinone derivatives i.e. physcion, chrysophanol, emodin and chrysophanol glycoside in Rheum emodi is described. HPTLC of anthraquinone derivatives was performed on pre-coated RP-18 F254S HPTLC plates. For achieving good separation, the mobile phase of methanol-water-formic acid (80:19:1, v/v/v) was used. The densitometric determination of anthraquinone derivatives was carried out at 445 nm in reflection/absorption mode. The calibration curves were linear in the range of 20-100 ng for physcion, 80-400 ng for chrysophanol and emodin, and 200-1000 ng for chrysophanol glycoside. The method was found to be reproducible and convenient for quantitative analysis of anthraquinone derivatives in the methanolic extract of rhizomes of R. emodi collected from three different locations of Western Himalaya, India.

Fingerprint quality control of Tianjihuang by high-performance liquid chromatography–photodiode array detection

A novel, simple and accurate fingerprint method was developed using high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection (HPLC-DAD) for the quality control of Hypericum japonicum thunb (Tianjihuang), a Chinese herbal medicine used for the treatment of several bacterial diseases, infectious hepatitis, gastrointestinal disorder, internal hemorrhage and tumors. For the first time, the feasibility and advantages of employing chromatographic fingerprint were investigated and demonstrated for the evaluation of Tianjihuang by systematically comparing chromatograms with a professional analytical software recommended by State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA). Our results revealed that the chromatographic fingerprint combining similarity evaluation could efficiently identify and distinguish raw herbs of Tianjihuang from different sources. The effects resulted from collecting locations, harvesting time and storage time on herbal chromatographic fingerprints were also examined.

Emerging issues in traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has many beneficial effects and has been practiced for several thousand years. It is known to treat the cause of a disease rather than to alleviate its symptoms. Based on a belief that TCM is natural, safe, and of lower cost, consumers worldwide are spending more out-of-pocket money on this form of therapy. This increased spending, and reports of adverse reactions, has drawn the attention of many regulatory agencies. Scientists have called for more evidence-based and scientific research on the risks and benefits of TCM. In Canada, the Natural Health Product Regulations came into effect January 2004. TCM herbal product manufacturers will need to provide products of reputable quality to the market. Many will apply modern technology and good science to support their products. The issues facing producers, scientists, and consumers alike are quality control and assessment, standardization of bioactive components, mechanisms of actions, and integration of the evolved modern Chinese medicine into the healthcare system. Solid science, better regulation of the final product, and better education of consumers are necessary to extract the best of TCM to complement existing conventional medicine to deliver the best healthcare.Key words: bioactive components, chromatographic fingerprinting, integration, mechanisms, Natural Health Product (NHP) Regulations, standardization, traditional Chinese medicine.