Fast determination of paeonol in plasma by headspace solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Cynanchum paniculatum (Bunge) Kitag. ex H. Hara: A review of its ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry and pharmacology

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Cynanchum paniculatum (Bunge) Kitag. ex H. Hara (C. paniculatum), is a broadly used traditional medicinal plant by East Asians. The roots and rhizomes of this herb were named 'Xu-Chang-Qing' since the Qin or Han Dynasty (B.C.221-220) in China. It is pungent and warm in nature and associated with the liver and stomach meridians. Moreover, the efficacy of this herb are dispelling wind, resolving dampness, relieving pain and itching. It is used for treating the onset of rheumatic arthralgia, stomachache, toothache, lumbago, soft tissue injury, rubella and eczema.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review about the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of C. paniculatum on the strength of the studies in the past two decades.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A comprehensive search on previous literature was conducted on databases such as Web of Science, Pubmed, Sciencedirect, American Chemical Society (ACS), Google scholar and China national knowledge internet (CNKI). The search was based on the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of C. paniculatum. The key search words were 'Cynanchum paniculatum' and 'Radix Cynanchi Paniculati'. In addition, some published books were searched for more information on the herb.

RESULTS

Over 150 compounds have been isolated and identified from C. paniculatum, including C₂₁ steroids, volatile oils, carbohydrates and phenanthroindolizidine alkaloids. Extensive pharmacological activities of the extracts or compounds of C. paniculatum in vivo and in vitro were confirmed including anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive, sedative antiviral, antitumor, neuroprotective, treating snake bites, immunomodulatory, anti-radiation, vasodilatory, acaricidal potentials and anti-adipogenic activities.

CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of C. paniculatum were reviewed. This herb has long been used as traditional medicine. It was reported with numerous chemical ingredients and various pharmacological activities with anti-inflammatory, antitumor, neuroprotection, etc. In the future, C. paniculatum still needs further study, such as identifying the active compounds, clarifying the pharmacological mechanisms, discussing quality and safety.

Solid phase microextraction and related techniques for drugs in biological samples

In drug discovery and development, the quantification of drugs in biological samples is an important task for the determination of the physiological performance of the investigated drugs. After sampling, the next step in the analytical process is sample preparation. Because of the low concentration levels of drug in plasma and the variety of the metabolites, the selected extraction technique should be virtually exhaustive. Recent developments of sample handling techniques are directed, from one side, toward automatization and online coupling of sample preparation units. The primary objective of this review is to present the recent developments in microextraction sample preparation methods for analysis of drugs in biological fluids. Microextraction techniques allow for less consumption of solvent, reagents, and packing materials, and small sample volumes can be used. In this review the use of solid phase microextraction (SPME), microextraction in packed sorbent (MEPS), and stir-bar sorbtive extraction (SBSE) in drug analysis will be discussed. In addition, the use of new sorbents such as monoliths and molecularly imprinted polymers will be presented.

Metabonomic strategy to the evaluation of chinese medicine compound danshen dripping pills interfering myocardial ischemia in rats

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the highest mortality diseases in the world. Traditional Chinese medicine compound Danshen dripping pills (CDDPs) have currently made a great achievement in treating CHD. However, the therapeutic mechanism of CDDP is often poorly interpreted. In this study, a GC-MS-based metabonomic study was conducted to assess the holistic efficacy of CDDP for myocardial infarction in male Sprague-Dawley rats, which were divided into the control group, the sham group, the model group, the control + CDDP group, and the model + CDDP, with CDDP at a dose of 107 mg/kg·d (equal to 1.8 mL/kg·d). The metabonomic findings demonstrated great differences of metabolic pattern among sham, model, and the model + CDDP in the orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) models, which coordinated well with the assessment of plasma biochemistry and histopathological assay. Differentially expressed metabolites suggested that energy metabolism, glycolysis, and lipid metabolism might be disrupted by myocardial infarction. Both the potential metabolic biomarkers and the biochemical histopathological indices were regulated effectively by CDDP.

Electrochemical oxidation and detection of paeonol on modified electrode with acetylene black nanoparticles

With an aim to construct a sensing platform for the electrochemical detection of paeonol, we modified the glassy carbon electrode with acetylene black nanoparticle (AB). A sensitive oxidation peak of paeonol was observed with remarkably increased peak current on the modified electrode because the electrode has a big surface area due to three dimensional structure of AB nanoparticles. The optimization of detection conditions was performed, including pH value of the buffer, the amount of AB nanoparticles on the electrode surface, the accumulation potential and time of paeonol. Under the optimized conditions, the oxidation peak current of paeonol increased linearly with its concentration over the range from 5×10(-7) to 1×10(-4) M. The detection limit was calculated to be 1×10(-7) M. The modified electrode was successfully applied to detect the content of paeonol in cortex moutan, a common traditional Chinese medicine. The method is new, sensitive, rapid and convenient for the detection of paeonol.

Supercritical CO2 Extraction of Essential Oils from Chamaecyparis obtusa

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction and hydrodistillation (HD) were used to determine the essential oil composition of the trunks and leaves of Chamaecyparis obtusa. The optimal extraction conditions for the oil yield within the experimental range of variables examined were temperature 50oC, pressure 12 MPa, carbon dioxide flow rate 40 mL/min and extraction time 90 min. The maximum measured extraction yield was 2.9%. Entrainer solvents, such as methanol in water, had no additional effect on the extraction of essential oils. The chemical composition of the essential oils was analyzed by GC-MS. The major components were α-terpinyl acetate (>10.9%), 1-muurolol (>13.2%) and elemol (>8.1%). Sesquiterpenoids formed the major class of compounds present.

Analytical methods used in conjunction with solid-phase microextraction: a review of recent bioanalytical applications

Integration of sampling and sample preparation with various analytical instruments is a highly desirable feature for any analytical method. This is most conveniently achieved by using microextraction techniques or various microdevices. Among these techniques, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is particularly remarkable due to its simplicity and effectiveness. This review discusses the most recent applications of SPME in bioanalysis, grouped according to the analytical instrument that SPME is coupled to. It is shown that one of the most important aspects of such analytical methods is the ability of SPME to perform direct and selective extraction of analytes from complex biological samples. By far, the most popular method continues to be SPME coupled to GC. Nevertheless, the last 2 years have witnessed significant advances in other areas, such as successful automation of SPME coupled to liquid chromatography and the development of new coatings suitable for direct extraction from biological samples. Furthermore, a few bioanalytical applications based on direct coupling of SPME to MS, ion mobility spectrometry, CE and analytical chemiluminescence have been reported.

Application of metabonomic analytical techniques in the modernization and toxicology research of traditional Chinese medicine

In the recent years, a wide range of metabonomic analytical techniques are widely used in the modern research of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). At the same time, the international community has attached increasing importance to TCM toxicity problems. Thus, many studies have been implemented to investigate the toxicity mechanisms of TCM. Among these studies, many metabonomic-based methods have been implemented to facilitate TCM toxicity investigation. At present, the most prevailing methods for TCM toxicity research are mainly single analysis techniques using only one analytical means. These techniques include nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), etc.; with these techniques, some favourable outcomes have been gained in the toxic reaction studies of TCM, such as the action target organs assay, the establishment of action pattern, the elucidation of action mechanism and the exploration of action material foundation. However, every analytical technique has its advantages and drawbacks, no existing analytical technique can be versatile. Multi-analysed techniques can partially overcome the shortcomings of single-analysed techniques. Combination of GC-MS and LC-MS metabolic profiling approaches has unravelled the pathological outcomes of aristolochic acid-induced nephrotoxicity, which can not be achieved by single-analysed techniques. It is believed that with the further development of metabonomic analytical techniques, especially multi-analysed techniques, metabonomics will greatly promote TCM toxicity research and be beneficial to the modernization of TCM in terms of extending the application of modern means in the TCM safety assessment, assisting the formulation of TCM safety norms and establishing the international standards indicators.