Rapid discovery of potential ADR compounds from injection of total saponins from Panax notoginseng using data-independent acquisition untargeted metabolomics

Comprehensive characterization of Epimedium-Rhizoma drynariae herb pair in rat plasma, urine, and feces metabolic profiles by UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS combined with diagnostic extraction strategy and multicomponent pharmacokinetic study by UHPLC-MS/MS

Epimedium-Rhizoma drynariae (EP-RD) was a well-known herb commonly used to treat bone diseases in traditional Chinese medicine. Nevertheless, there was incomplete pharmacokinetic behavior, metabolic conversion and chemical characterization of EP-RD in vivo. Therefore, this study aimed to establish metabolic profiles combined with multicomponent pharmacokinetics to reveal the in vivo behavior of EP-RD. Firstly, the diagnostic product ions (DPIs) and neutral losses (NLs) filtering strategy combined with UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS for the in vitro chemical composition of EP-RD and metabolic profiles of plasma, urine, and feces after oral administration of EP-RD to rats were proposed to comprehensively characterize the 47 chemical compounds and the 97 exogenous in vivo (35 prototypes and 62 metabolites), and possible biotransformation pathways of EP-RD were proposed, which included phase I reactions such as hydrolysis, hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, hydroxylation, dehydroxylation, isomerization, and demethylation and phase II reactions such as glucuronidation, acetylation, methylation, and sulfation. Moreover, a UHPLC-MS/MS quantitative approach was established for the pharmacokinetic analysis of seven active components: magnoflorine, epimedin A, epimedin B, epimedin C, icariin, baohuoside II, and icariin II. Results indicated that the established method was reliably used for the quantitative study of plasma active ingredients after oral administration of EP-RD in rats. Compared to oral EP alone, the increase in area under curves and maximum plasma drug concentration (P < 0.05). This study increased the understanding of the material basis and biotransformation profiles of EP-RD in vivo, which was of great significance in exploring the pharmacological effects of EP-RD.

Reclamation of ginseng residues using two-stage fermentation and evaluation of their beneficial effects as dietary feed supplements for piglets

Environmental pollution caused by herbal residues, such as ginseng residue (GR), and the huge waste of medicinal ingredients in such residues hinder the development of the pharmaceutical industry. Few studies focused on the biotransformation of GRs and the practical utilization of their bioproducts. In this study, we developed a two-stage fermentation method to optimize GR bioconversion and used the fermented products as dietary supplements for piglets. The tested GR contained abundant lignocelluloses, protein, sugar, and amino acids. Approximately 43.10% of the total lignocelluloses were degraded into sugars by Inonotus obliquus in stage 1 of fermentation. Meanwhile, the sugar content increased by 36.20%, which became the feed for Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in stage 2 of fermentation. These two strains boosted the production of bacterial proteins and other metabolites, including peptides, organic acids, and amino acids. At the end of fermentation, the contents of bioactive compounds significantly increased by 3.18%-21.79%. The dietary supplementation of fermented GR significantly improved the growth performance (6.47%-7.98%), intestinal microbiota, immune function, and healthy status and reduced the diarrhea incidence and noxious gas emission of the piglets. This study provides evidence-based results for the development and deployment of a circular economy between ginseng and livestock industries.

Research progress on metabolomics in the quality evaluation and clinical study of Panax ginseng

Panax ginseng, an essential component of traditional medicine and often referred to as the king of herbs, has played a pivotal role in medicine globally for several millennia. Previously, traditional phytochemical methods were mainly used for quality evaluation and pharmacological mechanism studies of ginseng, resulting in the lack of systematicness and innovation and hindering the development and utilization of ginseng resources. Since the beginning of the new century, systems biology technology represented by metabolomics has shown unique advantages in the modernization and internationalization of herbal medicine, establishing a bridge for communication between traditional medicine and modern medicine. P. ginseng, a special herb used in medicine and food, is one of the main research objects for qualitative and quantitative analysis of metabolomics and has gradually become the focus of researchers globally. Here, we conducted a comprehensive summary and analysis of numerous studies published in ginseng metabolomics. This review aims to provide more novel ideas for the quality evaluation, development, and clinical application of ginseng in the future and offer more useful technical references for the modernization and internationalization of herbal medicine based on metabolomics.

Mitochondrial toxicity evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine injections with a dual in vitro approach

There are technical obstacles in the safety evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) injections due to their complex chemical nature and the lack of rapid and accurate in vitro methods. Here, we established a dual in vitro mitochondrial toxicity approach combing the conventional "glucose/galactose" assay in HepG2 cells with the cytotoxic assay in mitochondrial respiration deficient cells. Using this dual in vitro approach, for the first time, we systematically assessed the mitochondrial toxicity of TCM injections. Four of the 35 TCM injections, including Xiyanping, Dengzhanhuasu, Shuanghuanglian, and Yinzhihuang, significantly reduced cellular ATP production in galactose medium in the first assay, and presented less cytotoxic in the respiration deficient cells in the second assay, indicating that they have mitochondrial toxicity. Furthermore, we identified scutellarin, rutin, phillyrin, and baicalin could be the potential mitochondrial toxic ingredients in the 4 TCM injections by combining molecular docking analysis with experimental validation. Collectively, the dual in vitro approach is worth applying to the safety evaluation of more TCM products, and mitochondrial toxic TCM injections and ingredients found in this study deserve more attention.

Integrative network pharmacology and experimental verification to reveal the anti-inflammatory mechanism of ginsenoside Rh4

Inflammation is an innate immune response to infection, and it is the main factor causing bodily injury and other complications in the pathological process. Ginsenoside Rh4 (G-Rh4), a minor ginsenoside of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer and Panax notoginseng, has excellent pharmacological properties. However, many of its major pharmacological mechanisms, including anti-inflammatory actions, remain unrevealed. In this study, network pharmacology and an experimental approach were employed to elucidate the drug target and pathways of G-Rh4 in treating inflammation. The potential targets of G-Rh4 were selected from the multi-source databases, and 58 overlapping gene symbols related to G-Rh4 and inflammation were obtained for generating a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network. Molecular docking revealed the high affinities between key proteins and G-Rh4. Gene ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment analyses were used to analyze the screened core targets and explore the target–pathway networks. It was found that the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, NF-κB signaling pathway, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway may be the key and main pathways of G-Rh4 to treat inflammation. Additionally, the potential molecular mechanisms of G-Rh4 predicted from network pharmacology analysis were validated in RAW264.7 cells. RT-PCR, Western blot, and ELISA analysis indicated that G-Rh4 significantly inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β, as well as inflammation-related enzymes in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Moreover, in vitro experiments evaluated that Ginsenoside Rh4 exerts anti-inflammatory effects via the NF-κB and STAT3 signaling pathways. It is believed that our study will provide the basic scientific evidence that G-Rh4 has potential anti-inflammatory effects for further clinical studies.