Precursor Ion-Scan Mode-Based Screening Strategy for New Amorfrutin Derivatives from Amorpha fruticosa by UPLC–QqQ–MS and UPLC–Q-TOF–MS

Nitrophenols in the environment: An update on pretreatment and analysis techniques since 2017

Nitrophenols, a versatile intermediate, have been widely used in leather, medicine, chemical synthesis, and other fields. Because these components are widely applied, they can enter the environment through various routes, leading to many hazards and toxicities. There has been a recent surge in the development of simple, rapid, environmentally friendly, and effective techniques for determining these environmental pollutants. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the latest research progress on the pretreatment and analysis methods of nitrophenols since 2017, with a focus on environmental samples. Pretreatment methods include liquid-liquid extraction, solid-phase extraction, dispersive extraction, and microextraction methods. Analysis methods mainly include liquid chromatography-based methods, gas chromatography-based methods, supercritical fluid chromatography. In addition, this review also discusses and compares the advantages/disadvantages and development prospects of different pretreatment and analysis methods to provide a reference for further research.

Explore bioactive ingredients and potential mechanism of Houpo Mahuang decoction for chronic bronchitis based on UHPLC-Q exactive orbitrap HRMS, network pharmacology, and experiment verification

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Chronic bronchitis (CB) affects a growing number of people and may be linked to lung function impairment. The traditional Chinese medicine formula Houpo Mahuang Decoction (HPMHD) has been used for clinical treatment of respiratory diseases for thousands of years. Until now, its bioactive ingredients, potential targets and molecular mechanism remain unclear.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To investigate the effect of HPMHD on the treatment of CB and explore the bioactive ingredients and possible mechanisms of HPMHD against CB.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

UHPLC-Q Exactive Orbitrap HRMS was performed to analyze the chemical components of HPMHD. The mechanism of multiple components, targets and pathways of HPMHD in the treatment of chronic bronchitis were explored by network pharmacology. Additionally, CB mice model induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and smoking was used to evaluate the anti-chronic bronchitis activity of HPMHD in vivo. Pulmonary pathology was determined by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) measurement. The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in lung were measured by ELISA. The immunofluorescence experiments were carried out for the expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6 and NF-κB p-P65/P65 in lung. Western blot assays were performed to quantify and visualize the protein expression of NF-κB p-P65/P65 in mice lung.

RESULTS

Data showed that 79 compounds were identified in HPMHD. The network pharmacology results showed 53 compounds were hinted their effectivity for the treatment of chronic bronchitis with HPMHD, such as ephedrine, schisantherin A, and honokiol. The main targets were predicted as 37 genes, including TNF, TP53, IL6 and so on. HPMHD ameliorated lung damages in mice and inhibited the NF-κB signaling pathway, one of the pathways plotted by KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, by reducing IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-6 expression and significantly downregulating the NF-κB p-P65/P65.

CONCLUSION

In summary, the complex chemical components of HPHMD was successfully elucidate by UHPLC-Q Exactive Orbitrap HRMS. The study based on network pharmacology and experiment verification indicated that HPMHD can decreased inflammatory response in lung to treat CB. The underlying mechanism may be related to the reduction of inflammation by down-regulated the NF-κB pathways.

Qualitative and Quantitative NAD+ Metabolomics Lead to Discovery of Multiple Functional Nicotinate N-Glycosyltransferase in Arabidopsis

The Preiss-Handler pathway, which salvages nicotinate (NA) for NAD synthesis, is a conserved biochemical pathway in land plants. We previously demonstrated that various NA conjugations (mainly methylation and glycosylation) shared the NA detoxification function in all tested plants. It remains unclear whether other NA conjugates with low abundance exist in plants. In this study, we discovered at least two additional NA N-glycosides in Arabidopsis, which was tentatively elucidated as nicotinate N-pentoside (NaNP) and NA N-rhamoside (NaNRha), using liquid chromatography triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-QQQ-MS) with precursor ion-scanning (PreIS). We further quantitatively profile the NAD⁺-related metabolites in 24 tissues of Arabidopsis. Biochemical assays of UGT76C family revealed that UGT76C5 (encoded by At5g05890, previously identified as NaNGT) was a multiple functional nicotinate N-glycosyltransferase, with high preference to UDP-xylose and UDP-arabinose. The deficiency of NaNP and NaNRha in ugt76c5 mutant suggested that UGT76C5 is responsible for biosynthesis of NaNP and NaNRha in planta. We also identify one amino acid difference in PSPG (plant secondary product glycosyltransferase) motif is responsible for the divergence of NaNGT (UGT76C4) and UGT76C5. Taken together, our study not only identifies a novel nicotinate N-glycosyltransferase but also paves the way for investigations of the in planta physiological functions of various NA conjugations.