New features on the fragmentation patterns of homoisoflavonoids in Ophiopogon japonicus by high-performance liquid chromatography/diode-array detection/electrospray ionization with multi-stage tandem mass spectrometry

An Efficient Workflow for Quality Control Marker Screening and Metabolite Discovery in Dietary Herbs by LC-Orbitrap-MS/MS and Chemometric Methods: A Case Study of Chrysanthemum Flowers

LC-MS is widely utilized in identifying and tracing plant-derived food varieties but quality control markers screening and accurate identification remain challenging. The adulteration and confusion of Chrysanthemum flowers highlight the need for robust quality control markers. This study established an efficient workflow by integrating UHPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS with Compound Discoverer and chemometrics. This workflow enabled the systematic screening of 21 markers from 10,540 molecular features, which effectively discriminated Chrysanthemum flowers of different species and cultivars. The workflow incorporated targeted and untargeted methods by employing diagnostic product ions, fragmentation patterns, mzCloud, mzVault, and in-house databases to identify 206 compounds in the flowers, including 17 screened markers. This approach improved identification accuracy by reducing false positives, eliminating in-source fragmentation interference, and incorporating partial verification utilizing our established compound bank. Practically, this workflow can be instrumental in quality control, geolocation determination, and varietal tracing of Chrysanthemum flowers, offering prospective use in other plant-derived foods.

A comprehensive review of the classical prescription Yiguan Jian: Phytochemistry, quality control, clinical applications, pharmacology, and safety profile

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Yiguan Jian (YGJ) is a classical prescription, which employs 6 kinds of medicinal herbs including Rehmanniae Radix, Lycii Fructus, Angelicae sinensis Radix, Glehniae Radix, Ophiopogonis Radix, and Toosendan Fructus. YGJ decoction is originally prescribed in Qing Dynasty (1636 CE ∼ 1912 CE) in China, and is commonly used to treat liver diseases. There remain abundant literature investigating YGJ decoction from multiple aspects, but few reviews summarized the research and gave a precise definition, which impedes further applications and commercialization of YGJ decoction.

AIM OF THE REVIEW

The aim of this review is to provide comprehensive descriptions of YGJ decoction, tackling with issues in the research and development of YGJ decoction.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The literature and clinical reports were obtained from the databases including Web of Science, Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science Periodical Database, China Science and Technology Journal Database, and SinoMed since 2000. The phytochemical characteristics, quality control, pharmaceutical forms, clinical position, pharmacological effects, and toxic events of YGJ decoction were included for analysis.

RESULT

This review firstly summarized the progress of the chemical existences of YGJ decoction and discussed the advanced methods in monitoring quality of YGJ decoction and its herbal ingredients, particularly in the form of granules. Whilst this review aims to identify the pharmacological actions and clinical impacts of YGJ decoction, the medicinal materials that could provide these benefits were observed in the remaining herbs to exert the anti-fibrotic effects, anti-inflammatory activities, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic effects, and to universally treat liver and gastric diseases. This review provided supplementary descriptions on the safety issues, especially in Glehniae Radix and Toosendan Fructus, to define the alterations between hepatoprotective activities and unclear toxics in YGJ decoction application.

CONCLUSIONS

Our comprehensively organized review discussed the chemical characteristics and the research in altering or identifying these essences. The effects of YGJ decoction on the non-clinical and clinical tests exert the good management of sophisticated diseases. In this review, current issues are discussed to inform and inspire subsequent research of YGJ decoction and other classical prescriptions.

Characterization and Discrimination of Ophiopogonis Radix with Different Levels of Sulfur Fumigation Based on UPLC-QTOF-MS Combined Molecular Networking with Multivariate Statistical Analysis

Ophiopogonis Radix, also known as "Maidong" (MD) in China, is frequently sulfur-fumigated (SF) in the pretreatment process of MD to improve the appearance and facilitate preservation. However, the process leads to changes in chemical composition, so it is essential to develop an approach to identify the chemical characteristics between nonfumigated and sulfur-fumigated products. This paper provided a practical method based on UPLC-QTOF-MS combined Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) with multivariate statistical analysis for the characterization and discrimination of MD with different levels of sulfur fumigation, high concentration sulfur fumigation (HS), low concentration sulfur fumigation (LS) and without sulfur fumigation (WS). First, a number of 98 compounds were identified in those MD samples. Additionally, the results of Principal component analysis (PCA) and Orthogonal partial least-squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) demonstrated that there were significant chemical differences in the chemical composition of MD with different degrees of SF. Finally, fourteen and sixteen chemical markers were identified upon the comparison between HS and WS, LS and WS, respectively. Overall, these results can be able to discriminate MD with different levels of SF as well as establish a solid foundation for further quality control and pharmacological research.

Potential Antioxidative and Anti-Hyperuricemic Components Targeting Superoxide Dismutase and Xanthine Oxidase Explored from Polygonatum Sibiricum Red

Polygonatum sibiricum Red. (P. sibiricum) has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine with a wide range of pharmacology effects. However, the responsible bioactive compounds and their mechanisms of action concerning its antioxidative and anti-hyperuricemic activities remain unexplored. In this work, the antioxidant capacity of P. sibiricum was firstly evaluated with the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2’-azinobis-(3ethylbenzthiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, from which the ethyl acetate (EA) fraction exhibited the highest DPPH, ABTS radical scavenging, and ferric-reducing capacities. Meanwhile, the EA fraction displayed the highest total phenolic and flavonoid contents among the four fractions. Next, the potential ligands from the EA fraction were screened out by bio-affinity ultrafiltration liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UF-LC-MS) with superoxide dismutase (SOD) and xanthine oxidase (XOD). As a result, N-trans-p-coumaroyloctopamine, N-trans-feruloyloctopamine, N-trans-feruloyltyramine were identified as potential SOD ligands, while N-cis-p-coumaroyltyramine was determined as potential XOD ligand. Additionally, these four ligands effectively interact with SOD and XOD in the molecular docking analysis, with binding energies (BEs) ranging from –6.83 to –6.51 kcal/mol, and the inhibition constants (Ki) from 9.83 to 16.83 μM, which were better than the positive controls. In conclusion, our results indicated that P. sibiricum has good antioxidative and anti-hyperuricemic activities, and its corresponding active ligands targeting SOD and XOD could be explored by the UF-LC-MS method.

Determination of Alkaloids and Flavonoids in Sophora flavescens by UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS

This study is based on UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS and fragment ions to achieve classification and identification of alkaloids and flavonoids in Sophora flavescens. By reviewing the available and relevant literature, the mass fragmentation rules of alkaloids and flavonoids were summarized. 0.1% formic acid water (A) and acetonitrile (B) were used as mobile phases. 37 chemical constituents were identified, including 13 alkaloids and 24 flavonoids. This research method offers a complete strategy based on the fragmentation information of characteristic fragment ions and neutral loss obtained by MS/MS to characterize the chemical composition of Sophora flavescens.

Structural characterization and discrimination of Ophiopogon japonicas (Liliaceae) from different geographical origins based on metabolite profiling analysis

The root tuber of Ophiopogon japonicus (Thunb.) Ker-Gawl ("Maidong" in Chinese), with steroidal saponins and homoisoflavonoids as its representative chemical compositions, is a representative medicinal herbs with multiple major producing areas. This study aimed to distinguish the O. japonicas samples from Zhejiang and Sichuan by using an ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF MS)-based metabolome analysis. Firstly, a global chemical constituent identification of O. japonicas was carried out by using both automatic and manual methods. An integrated steroidal saponins structural identification strategy in O. japonicas based on exact mass information, fragmentation characteristics and retention time was developed. Overall, 135 steroidal saponins, 47 homoisoflavonoids and 9 other metabolites were quickly identified or tentatively identified from the MS^E continuum data. Furthermore, multivariate statistical analysis revealed that O. japonicas from Zhejiang and Sichuan can clearly be separated and some markers were screened. Moreover, some major active components including total soluble sugar, total soluble polyphenol, total flavonoid, total saponin and 10 specific compounds were analyzed quantitatively. In general, these results showed that there were many differences between the metabolic profile data of O. japonicas from different producing areas, O. japonicas from Sichuan showed higher level steroidal saponins and samples from Zhejiang had higher contents of homoisoflavonoids specifically, and indicated that metabolite profiling by UPLC/Q-TOF MS is an effective approach for the discrimination of medicinal herbs from different geographical origins.

Homoisoflavonoids profiling of Ophiopogon japonicus by off-line coupling high-speed countercurrent chromatography with high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry

Roots of Ophiopogon japonicus have been used as a functional food ingredient and traditional Chinese medicine for a long time in China. Homoisoflavonoids are one of the major kinds of bioactive compounds in O. japonicus; however, literature data about its homoisoflavonoids profile are scarce because of the complex ingredients with low abundance. Here, homoisoflavonoid fraction was prepared by petroleum ether extraction. Then, a high-speed countercurrent chromatography off-line coupling with high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry was developed for systematic identification of homoisoflavonoids. After that, 39 homoisoflavonoids, including 29 homoisoflavanone and 10 homoisoflavone, were unambiguously or tentatively identified, while 12 of them were reported in O. japonicus for the first time. Finally, eight available homoisoflavonoids were sensitively, precisely, and accurately determined by standard calibration curves, with limit of detection and limit of quantification in the range of 0.05-0.30 μg/mL and 0.12-0.66 μg/mL, relative standard deviation less than 7.3% for intra- and interday variations, and recovery at 94.5-105.2%. Collectively, our developed method is efficient, reliable, and valuable to profile chemical components of complex natural products.

Recent (2000-2015) developments in the analysis of minor unknown natural products based on characteristic fragment information using LC-MS

Liquid chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) has been widely used in natural product analysis. Global detection and identification of nontargeted components are desirable in natural product research, for example, in quality control of Chinese herbal medicine. Nontargeted components analysis continues to expand to exciting life science application domains such as metabonomics. With this background, the present review summarizes recent developments in the analysis of minor unknown natural products using LC-MS and mainly focuses on the determination of the molecular formulae, selection of precursor ions, and characteristic fragmentation patterns of the known compounds. This review consists of three parts. Firstly, the methods used to determine unique molecular formula of unknown compounds such as accurate mass measurements, MSⁿ spectra, or relative isotopic abundance information, are introduced. Secondly, the methods improving signal-to-noise ratio of MS/MS spectra by manual-MS/MS or workflow targeting-only signals were elucidated; pure precursor ions can be selected by changing the precursor ion isolated window. Lastly, characteristic fragmentation patterns such as Retro-Diels-Alder (RDA), McLafferty rearrangements, "internal residue loss," and so on, occurring in the molecular ions of natural products are summarized. Classical application of characteristic fragmentation patterns in identifying unknown compounds in extracts and relevant fragmentation mechanisms are presented (RDA reactions occurring readily in the molecular ions of flavanones or isoflavanones, McLafferty-type fragmentation reactions of some natural products such as epipolythiodioxopiperazines; fragmentation by "internal residue loss" possibly involving ion-neutral complex intermediates). © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev 37:202-216, 2018.

Influence of ultrafiltration membrane on ophiopogonins and homoisoflavonoids in Ophiopogon japonicus as measured by ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Ultrafiltration is one of the most fascinating technologies, which makes it possible to improve the quality of traditional medicines for application in the pharmaceutical industry. However, researchers have paid little attention to the effect of ultrafiltration membrane on traditional medicines chemical constituents. In this work, Ophiopogon japonicus (L.f) Ker-Gawl. was used as an example to illuminate the influence of ultrafiltration with different material and molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) membrane on natural chemical constituents as measured by ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UFLC-IT-TOF/MS). Our results indicated that ultrafiltration membrane significantly impacted homoisoflavonoids, especially homoisoflavonoids that were almost completely retained on the polyethersulfone (PES) membrane. We also found that the larger number of aglycone hydroxy and sugar moiety in steroid saponins, the higher the transmittance. Furthermore, the passage rate (%) of ophiogenin type saponins was higher than that of others. The possible adsorptive mechanisms were hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and benzene ring interaction by π-π stacking. In conclusion, it is crucial to choose appropriate ultrafiltration membrane based on the characteristics of produce products for application of ultrafiltration technique.

Ophiopogon japonicus--A phytochemical, ethnomedicinal and pharmacological review

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Ophiopogonis Radix (Maidong in Chinese), the root of Ophiopogon japonicus, is widely used in local medicines of China, Japan and some south-eastern Asian countries. According to the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) principle, Ophiopogonis Radix nourishes the yin, promotes body fluid production, moistens the lung, eases the mind and clears away heart fire. This review summarizes the achievements of the investigations in botany, phytochemistry, quality control, traditional uses, pharmacological activities and clinical studies on O. japonicus; this review also describes the shortcomings of studies on this herbal drug and thus serves as the basis of further scientific research and development of this traditional herbal drug.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

O. japonicus-related information was collected from various resources, including books on Chinese herbs and the Internet databases, such as Google Scholar, SciFinder, Web of Science, Elsevier, ACS, PubMed and China Knowledge Resource Integrated (CNKI).

RESULTS

O. japonicus is widely distributed in East Asia, especially in China. Numerous compounds were identified from this plant. The main components of O. japonicus include steroidal saponins, homoisoflavonoids and polysaccharides, which exhibited various pharmacological activities, such as cardiovascular protection, anti-inflammation, anticancer, anti-oxidation, immunomodulation, cough relief, antimicrobial, and anti-diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS

O. japonicus is a common traditional Chinese herbal drug used as the main ingredient in many prescriptions. Modern researches verified that O. japonicus can be used either as a healthy food or a therapeutic agent for disease prevention and treatment. The molecular mechanisms and chemical principles of this herbal medicine should be further explored.

Determination of Ruscogenin in Ophiopogonis Radix by High-performance Liquid Chromatography-evaporative Light Scattering Detector Coupled with Hierarchical Clustering Analysis

Background:

Ophiopogonis Radix is a famous traditional Chinese medicine. It is necessary to establish a suitable quality control methods of Ophiopogonis Radix.

Objective:

To investigate the quality control methods of Ophiopogonis Radix by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD).

Materials and Methods:

A rapid and simple method, HPLC coupled with ELSD, was applied to determinate ruscogenin in 35 batches of Ophiopogenis Radix samples. Orthogonal tests and single factor explorations were used to optimize the extraction condition of ruscogenin. The content of ruscogenin in different origin was further analyzed by hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA).

Results:

The ruscogenin was successfully determined by HPLC-ELSD with a two-phase solvent system composed of methanol-water (88:12) at a flow rate 1.0 ml/min, column temperature maintained at 25°C, detector draft tube temperature at 42.2°C, nebulizer gas flow rate at 1.4 L/min, and the gain at 8. The result showed the good linearity of ruscogenin in the range of 40.20–804.00 μg/ml (R² = 0.9996). Average of recovery was 101.3% (relative standard deviation = 1.59%). A significant difference of ruscogenin content was shown among 35 batches of Ophiopogenis Radix from different origin, varied from 0.0035% to 0.0240%. HCA based on the content of ruscogenin indicated that Ophiopogonis Radix in different origin was mainly divided into two clusters.

Conclusion:

This simple, rapid, low-cost, and reliable HPLC-ELSD method could be suitable for measurement of ruscogenin content rations and quality control of Ophiopogonis Radix.

SUMMARY

Ophiopogonis Radix is an important Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to treat and prevent cardiovascular diseases and acute or chronic inflammation for thousands of years. Steroidal saponins were known as the dominant active components for their significant cardiovascular activity, and the most steroid sapogenin of them is ruscogenin. Therefore, ruscogenin was chosen as the marker component for evaluating the quality of Ophiopongonis Radix. This study focused on establishing a stable, low-cost, simple and practical method of HPLC-ELSD to determine the ruscogenin content, and 35 batches of samples of Ophiopogonis Radix were determined. Meanwhile, these results were analyzed by hierarchical clustering analysis and the methodology validation was based on USP34-NF-29 <1225>. Results showed that this analysis method was simple and stable, which would provide an important reference to establish the quality control methodology for other herb preparations and formulas containing Ophiopogonis Radix.

Synthesis and cytotoxic evaluation of some new[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-g]chromen-8-one derivatives

Background

Homoisoflavonoids are naturally occurring compounds belong to flavonoid classes possessing various biological properties such as cytotoxicity. In this work, an efficient strategy for the synthesis of novel homoisoflavonoids, [1,3]dioxolo[4,5-g]chromen-8-ones, was developed and all compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities on three breast cancer cell lines.

Methods

Our synthetic route started from benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-ol which was reacted with 3-bromopropanoic acid followed by the reaction of oxalyl chloride to afford 6,7-dihydro-8H-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-g]chromen-8-one. The aldol condensation of the later compound with aromatic aldehydes led to the formation of the title compounds. Five novel derivatives 4a-e were tested for their cytotoxic activity against three human breast cancer cell lines including MCF-7, T47D, and MDA-MB-231 using the MTT assay.

Results

Among the synthesized compounds, 7-benzylidene-6,7-dihydro-8H-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-g]chromen-8-one (4a) exhibited the highest activity against three cell lines. Also the analysis of acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining results revealed that 7-benzylidene-6,7-dihydro-8H-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-g]chromen-8-one (4a) and 7-(2-methoxybenzylidene)-6,7-dihydro-8H-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-g]chromen-8-one (4b) induced apoptosis in T47D cell line.

Conclusion

Finally, the effect of methoxy group on the cytotoxicity of compounds 4b-4d was investigated in and it was revealed that it did not improve the activity of [1,3]dioxolo[4,5-g]chromen-8-ones against MCF-7, T47D, and MDA-MB-231.