Comprehensive multicomponent characterization and quality assessment of Shuang-Huang-Lian powder injection using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight-mass spectrometry and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-Orbitrap-mass spectrometry

Mass Spectrometric Identification of Metabolites after Magnetic-Pulse Treatment of Infected Pyrus communis L. Microplants

The major goal of this study is to create a venue for further work on the effect of pulsed magnetic fields on plant metabolism. It deals with metabolite synthesis in the aforementioned conditions in microplants of Pyrus communis L. So far, there have been glimpses into the governing factors of plant biochemistry in vivo, and low-frequency pulsed magnestatic fields have been shown to induce additional electric currents in plant tissues, thus perturbing the value of cell membrane potential and causing the biosynthesis of new metabolites. In this study, sixty-seven metabolites synthesized in microplants within 3-72 h after treatment were identified and annotated. In total, thirty-one metabolites were produced. Magnetic-pulse treatment caused an 8.75-fold increase in the concentration of chlorogenic acid (RT = 8.33 ± 0.0197 min) in tissues and the perturbation of phenolic composition. Aucubin, which has antiviral and antistress biological activity, was identified as well. This study sheds light on the effect of magnetic fields on the biochemistry of low-molecular-weight metabolites of pear plants in vitro, thus providing in-depth metabolite analysis under optimized synthetic conditions. This study utilized high-resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, metabolomics methods, stochastic dynamics mass spectrometry, quantum chemistry, and chemometrics, respectively. Stochastic dynamics uses the relationships between measurands and molecular structures of silylated carbohydrates, showing virtually identical mass spectra and comparable chemometrics parameters.

Pulicaria incisa (Lam.) DC. as a Potential Source of Antioxidant, Antibacterial, and Anti-Enzymatic Bioactive Molecules: Phytochemical Constituents, In Vitro and In Silico Pharmacological Analysis

Plants with medicinal benefits are a crucial source of compounds for developing drugs. This study was designed to determine the chemical composition, antibacterial, antibiofilm, antioxidant, and anti-enzymatic activities of Pulicaria incisa (Lam.) DC. We also reported the molecular interaction between identified molecules and several receptors associated with antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities. A total of seventeen and thirteen compounds were identified in aqueous and methanolic extracts of P. incisa, respectively. The methanolic extract yielded a higher total content of polyphenols and flavonoids of about 84.80 ± 2.8 mg GAE/g and 28.30 ± 1.2 mg QE/g, respectively. Significant antibacterial activity was recorded for both extracts, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 30 to 36 µg/mL, and the result was comparable to the reference antibiotic control. Antibiofilm assays revealed that both extracts were able to reduce the attachment of bacterial cells to 96-well plates, but the highest antibiofilm activity was recorded against Staphylococcus aureus. The methanolic extract also showed anti-enzymatic potency and high antioxidant activity, as demonstrated by all assays used, including DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS. These results were further validated by in silico approaches, particularly the molecular interaction of the identified compounds with the targeted receptors. These findings present P. incisa as a significant source of antibacterial, antibiofilm, antioxidant, and anti-enzymatic molecules.

Extensive evaluation of plasma metabolic sample preparation process based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and its application in the in vivo metabolism of Shuang-Huang-Lian powder injection

Shuang-Huang-Lian powder injection (SHLPI) is a natural drug injection made of honeysuckle, scutellaria baicalensis and forsythia suspensa. It has the characteristics of complex chemical composition and difficult metabolism research in vivo. LC-MS platform has been proven to be an important analytical technology in plasma metabolomics. Unfortunately, the lack of an effective sample preparation strategy before analysis often significantly impacts experimental results. In this work, twenty-one extraction protocols including eight protein precipitation (PPT), eight liquid-liquid extractions (LLE), four solid-phase extractions (SPE), and one ultrafiltration (U) were simultaneously evaluated using plasma metabolism of SHLPI in vivo. In addition, a strategy of "feature ion extraction of the multi-component metabolic platform of traditional Chinese medicine" (FMM strategy) was proposed for the in-depth characterization of metabolites after intravenous injection of SHLPI in rats. The results showed that the LLE-3 protocol (Pentanol:Tetrahydrofuran:H2O, 1:4:35, v:v:v) was the most effective strategy in the in vivo metabolic detection of SHLPI. Furthermore, we used the FMM strategy to elaborate the in vivo metabolic pathways of six representative substances in SHLPI components. This research was completed by ion migration quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometer combined with ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC/Vion™-IMS-QTof-MS) and UNIFI™ metabolic platform. The results showed that 114 metabolites were identified or preliminarily identified in rat plasma. This work provides relevant data and information for further research on the pharmacodynamic substances and in vivo mechanisms of SHLPI. Meanwhile, it also proves that LLE-3 and FMM strategies could achieve the in-depth characterization of complex natural drug metabolites related to Shuang-Huang-Lian in vivo.