Identification of the distribution of adenosine phosphates, nucleosides and nucleobases in royal jelly

Royal jelly a promising therapeutic intervention and functional food supplement: A systematic review

Royal jelly (RJ), a secretion produced by honeybees, has garnered significant interest for its potential as a therapeutic intervention and functional food supplement. This systematic review aims to synthesize current research on the health benefits, bioactive components, and mechanisms of action of RJ. Comprehensive literature searches were conducted across multiple databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, focusing on studies published from 2000 to 2024 (April). Findings indicate that RJ exhibits a wide range of pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-aging effects. Beneficial biological properties of RJ might be due to the presence of flavonoids proteins, peptides, fatty acids. Both preclinical and clinical studies have reported that RJ improves the immune function such as wound healing, and also decreases the severity of chronic diseases including diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. The molecular mechanisms underlying these effects involve modulation of signalling pathways such as NF-κB, MAPK, and AMPK. Despite promising results, the review identifies several gaps in the current knowledge, including the need for standardized dosing regimens and long-term safety assessments. Furthermore, variations in RJ composition due to geographic and botanical factors necessitate more rigorous quality control measures. This review underscores the potential of RJ as a multifunctional therapeutic agent and highlights the necessity for further well designed studies to fully elucidate its health benefits and optimize its use as a functional food supplement.

Rapid quantification of royal jelly quality by mid-infrared spectroscopy coupled with backpropagation neural network

Royal jelly is rich in nutrients but its quality is greatly affected by storage conditions. To determine the quality of royal jelly accurately and quickly, a qualitative discrimination model was established based on the fusion of conventional parameters and mid-infrared spectrum, using support vector machine. The prediction models for three representative quality parameters were developed by the backpropagation neural network with various algorithms. The results demonstrated that the recognition rate of the multi-source information fusion model was increased to 100% when compared with that of the spectral data preprocessed by Savitzky-golay smoothing (95.83%). The mean square errors of the constructed model for moisture, water-soluble protein, and total sugar were 0.0032, 0.0058, and 0.0069, respectively. The constructed model had an ensured accuracy for the calibration set, with the correlation coefficient of prediction maintained at 0.9353, 0.9533, and 0.9563, which could meet the requirement of non-destructive rapid detection of royal jelly quality.

Application of a HPLC-Q/TOF method with post-column compensation for separation and identification of polar impurities in Cytidine disodium triphosphate for injection

Background:

Cytidine Disodium Triphosphate (CTP-2Na) for injection is mainly used for treating nervous system diseases. Currently, there are few studies focused on the separation and identification of polar impurities in CTP-2Na for injection, which is important for ensuring drug safety and efficacy.

Objective:

The study aimed to establish an HPLC-Q/TOF method for the separation and identification of polar impurities in CTP-2Na for injection.

Methods:

Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Waters Atlantis T3 column using 5 mM aqueous ammonium acetate solution as the mobile phase in an isocratic elution mode. A postcolumn compensation technology was used to improve the ionization efficiency of impurities in the spray chamber.

Results:

Three polar impurities (disodium cytidine tetraphosphate, disodium cytidine diphosphate, disodium cytidine monophosphate) were detected in CTP-2Na for injection. The former one is probably the overreaction product during the production of CTP-2Na, the latter two were reported as degradation products. The fragmentation patterns of cytidine phosphate compounds in negative ion mode are summarized.

Conclusion:

This study provides a good reference for the separation and identification of polar impurities in nucleotide drugs.

β-Aminoisobutyric acid supplementation attenuated salt-sensitive hypertension in Dahl salt-sensitive rats through prevention of insufficient fumarase

The human Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension-Sodium Trial has shown that β-aminoisobutyric acid (BAIBA) may prevent the development of salt-sensitive hypertension (SSHT). However, the specific antihypertensive mechanism remains unclear in the renal tissues of salt-sensitive (SS) rats. In this study, BAIBA (100 mg/kg/day) significantly attenuated SSHT via increased nitric oxide (NO) content in the renal medulla, and it induced a significant increase in NO synthesis substrates (L-arginine and malic acid) in the renal medulla. BAIBA enhanced the activity levels of total NO synthase (NOS), inducible NOS, and constitutive NOS. BAIBA resulted in increased fumarase activity and decreased fumaric acid content in the renal medulla. The high-salt diet (HSD) decreased fumarase expression in the renal cortex, and BAIBA increased fumarase expression in the renal medulla and renal cortex. Furthermore, in the renal medulla, BAIBA increased the levels of ATP, ADP, AMP, and ADP/ATP ratio, thus further activating AMPK phosphorylation. BAIBA prevented the decrease in renal medullary antioxidative defenses induced by the HSD. In conclusion, BAIBA's antihypertensive effect was underlined by the phosphorylation of AMPK, the prevention of fumarase's activity reduction caused by the HSD, and the enhancement of NO content, which in concert attenuated SSHT in SS rats.

Discovery of Quality Markers of Nucleobases, Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Amino Acids for Chrysanthemi Flos From Different Geographical Origins Using UPLC-MS/MS Combined With Multivariate Statistical Analysis

Nucleobases, nucleosides, nucleotides and amino acids, as crucial nutrient compositions, play essential roles in determining the flavor, function and quality of Chrysanthemi Flos. The quality of Chrysanthemi Flos from different geographical origins is uneven, but there have been no reports about the screening of their quality markers based on nutritional ingredients. Here, we developed a comprehensive strategy integrating ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadrupole linear ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) and multivariate statistical analysis to explore quality markers of Chrysanthemi Flos from different geographical origins and conduct quality evaluation and discrimination of them. Firstly, a fast, sensitive, and reliable UPLC-MS/MS method was established for simultaneous quantification 28 nucleobases, nucleosides, nucleotides and amino acids of Chrysanthemi Flos from nine different regions in China. The results demonstrated that Chrysanthemi Flos from nine different cultivation regions were rich in the above 28 nutritional contents and their contents were obvious different; however, correlation analysis showed that altitude was not the main factor for these differences, which required further investigation. Subsequently, eight crucial quality markers for nine different geographical origins of Chrysanthemi Flos, namely, 2'-deoxyadenosine, guanosine, adenosine 3',5'-cyclic phosphate (cAMP), guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP), arginine, proline, glutamate and tryptophan, were screened for the first time using partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and the plot of variable importance for projection (VIP). Moreover, a hierarchical clustering analysis heat map was employed to intuitively clarify the distribution of eight quality markers in the nine different regions of Chrysanthemi Flos. Finally, based on the contents of selected eight quality markers, support vector machines (SVM) model was established to predict the geographical origins of Chrysanthemi Flos, which yielded excellent prediction performance with an average prediction accuracy of 100%. Taken together, the proposed strategy was suitable to discover the quality markers of Chrysanthemi Flos and could be used to discriminate its geographical origin.

Traditional Uses, Chemical Constituents, Biological Properties, Clinical Settings, and Toxicities of Abelmoschus manihot L.: A Comprehensive Review

Abelmoschus manihot, an annual herbal flowering plant, is widely distributed throughout eastern Europe and in temperate and subtropical regions of Asia. Its flowers have been traditionally used for the treatment of chronic kidney disease in China. Currently, more than 128 phytochemical ingredients have been obtained and identified from the flowers, seeds, stems, and leaves of A. manihot. The primary components are flavonoids, amino acids, nucleosides, polysaccharides, organic acids, steroids, and volatile oils. A. manihot and its bioactive constituents possess a plethora of biological properties, including antidiabetic nephropathy, antioxidant, antiadipogenic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, antiviral, antitumor, cardioprotective, antiplatelet, neuroprotective, immunomodulatory, and hepatoprotective activities, and have effects on cerebral infarction, bone loss, etc. However, insufficient utilization and excessive waste have already led to a rapid reduction of resources, meaning that a study on the sustainable use of A. manihot is urgent and necessary. Moreover, the major biologically active constituents and the mechanisms of action of the flowers have yet to be elucidated. The present paper provides an early and comprehensive review of the traditional uses, chemical constituents, pharmacological activities, and pharmaceutical, quality control, toxicological, and clinical settings to emphasize the benefits of this plant and lays a solid foundation for further development of A. manihot.

Postmortem nucleotide degradation in turbot mince during chill and partial freezing storage

Nucleotide degradation in fish is an important biochemical change after death, which is closely related to freshness and sensory quality. However, except ATP-relative nucleotides, it remains unclear about changes in other nucleotide metabolites during postmortem stage. In this study, a strategy for the simultaneous quantification of 28 nucleobases, nucleosides, and nucleotides using hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC-MS/MS) with positive/negative ion switching was developed. This method showed good linearity, precision, repeatability, and recovery. Furthermore, it was successfully applied to monitor the postmortem nucleotide degradation of turbot mince during chill (4 °C) and partial freezing (-3 °C) storage for 168 h. It was noted that the patterns of the changes in nucleotide metabolites differed considerably depending on the storage temperature. Meanwhile, the different pathway and speed of nucleotide catabolism in turbot mince was summarized based on the quantification data.

Royal Jelly and Its Components Promote Healthy Aging and Longevity: From Animal Models to Humans

Aging is a natural phenomenon that occurs in all living organisms. In humans, aging is associated with lowered overall functioning and increased mortality out of the risk for various age-related diseases. Hence, researchers are pushed to find effective natural interventions that can promote healthy aging and extend lifespan. Royal jelly (RJ) is a natural product that is fed to bee queens throughout their entire life. Thanks to RJ, bee queens enjoy an excellent reproductive function and lengthened lifespan compared with bee workers, despite the fact that they have the same genome. This review aimed to investigate the effect of RJ and/or its components on lifespan/healthspan in various species by evaluating the most relevant studies. Moreover, we briefly discussed the positive effects of RJ on health maintenance and age-related disorders in humans. Whenever possible, we explored the metabolic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms through which RJ can modulate age-related mechanisms to extend lifespan. RJ and its ingredients—proteins and their derivatives e.g., royalactin; lipids e.g., 10-hydroxydecenoic acid; and vitamins e.g., pantothenic acid—improved healthspan and extended lifespan in worker honeybees Apis mellifera, Drosophila Melanogaster flies, Gryllus bimaculatus crickets, silkworms, Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes, and mice. The longevity effect was attained via various mechanisms: downregulation of insulin-like growth factors and targeting of rapamycin, upregulation of the epidermal growth factor signaling, dietary restriction, and enhancement of antioxidative capacity. RJ and its protein and lipid ingredients have the potential to extend lifespan in various creatures and prevent senescence of human tissues in cell cultures. These findings pave the way to inventing specific RJ anti-aging drugs. However, much work is needed to understand the effect of RJ interactions with microbiome, diet, activity level, gender, and other genetic variation factors that affect healthspan and longevity.

Targeted profiling of hydrophilic constituents of royal jelly by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

In the present work a Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry (HILIC-MS/MS) method was developed for the efficient separation and quantification of a large number of small polar bioactive molecules in Royal Jelly. The method was validated and provided satisfactory detection sensitivity for 88 components. Quantification was proven to be precise for 64 components exhibiting good linearity, recoveries R% >90% for the majority of analytes and intra- and inter-day precision from 0.14 to 20% RSD. Analysis of 125 fresh royal jelly samples of Greek origin provided useful information on royal jelly's hydrophilic bioactive components revealing lysine, ribose, proline, melezitose and glutamic acid to be in high abundance. In addition the occurrence of 18 hydrophilic nutrients which have not been reported previously as royal jelly constituents is shown.

Capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry employing hexafluoro-2-propanol for the determination of nucleosides and nucleotide mono-, di- and tri-phosphates in baby foods

The present work describes a method for the simultaneous determination of unmodified nucleosides and nucleotide mono-, di- and tri-phosphates by capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry (CE-MS). The use of hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) in the separation medium, and as an additive to the sheath liquid of the electrospray interface (ESI), generated a highly efficient and sensitive method. Instrumental limits of detection in the range of 14-53ngmL^-1 for nucleosides and 7-23, 20-49 and 64-124ngmL^-1 for nucleotide mono-, di-, and tri-phosphates, respectively, were found. Sample treatment involved diluting an aliquot of baby food with ultra-high quality water and applying centrifugation-assisted ultrafiltration (CUF). The proposed method was validated and used to analyse a variety of baby food samples (16 in total) such as fish, meat, fruits, and baby dairy desserts that may endogenously contain these analytes.

Determination of nucleosides and nucleotides in baby foods by hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry in the presence of hydrophilic ion-pairing reagents

In this work we propose a rapid and efficient method for the joint determination of nucleosides and nucleotides in dairy and non-dairy baby foods based on hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry in the presence of diethylammonium (DEA) as a hydrophilic ion-pairing reagent (IP-HILIC-MS/MS). Sample treatment of the baby food included dilution with water and centrifugal ultrafiltration (CUF) with an additional washing step that notably improved the global performance of the process. Later dilution of the extract with acetonitrile allowed adequate separation in the HILIC system. With the proposed treatment, we obtained extraction recoveries higher than 80% and, additionally, no matrix effects were observed. The CUF-IP-HILIC-MS/MS method was validated according to the 2002/657/EC decision and was used for the quantification of nucleotides and nucleosides in sixteen samples of commercial baby foods.

Simultaneous Quantitation of Free Amino Acids, Nucleosides and Nucleobases in Sipunculus nudus by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry

To evaluate the nutritional and functional value of Sipunculus nudus, a rapid, simple and sensitive analytical method was developed using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with a triple quadrupole mass detection in multiple-reaction monitoring mode for the simultaneous quantitative determination of 25 free amino acids and 16 nucleosides and nucleobases in S. nudus within 20 min, which was confirmed to be reproducible and accurate. The limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) were between 0.003–0.229 μg/mL and 0.008–0.763 μg/mL for the 41 analytes, respectively. The established method was applied to analyze 19 batches of S. nudus samples from four habitats with two different processing methods. The results showed that S. nudus contained a variety of free amino acids, nucleosides and nucleobases in sufficient quantity and reasonable proportion. They also demonstrated that the contents of these compounds in different parts of S. nudus were significantly discriminating, which were in the order: (highest) coelomic fluid > body wall > intestine (lowest). The method is simple and accurate, and could serve as a technical support for establishing quality control of S. nudus and other functional seafoods. Moreover, the research results also laid foundation for further exploitation and development of S. nudus.

Comparative characterization of nucleotides, nucleosides and nucleobases in Abelmoschus manihot roots, stems, leaves and flowers during different growth periods by UPLC-TQ-MS/MS

Nucleotides, nucleosides and nucleobases have been proven as important bioactive compounds related to many physiological processes. Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medicus from the family of Malvaceae is an annual herbal plant of folk medicine widely distributed in Oceania and Asia. However, up to now, no detailed information could be available for the types and contents of nucleotides, nucleosides and nucleobases contained in A. manihot roots, stems, leaves as well as the flowers. In the present study, an UPLC-TQ-MS/MS method was established for detection of the twelve nucleotides, nucleosides and nucleobases. The validated method was successfully applied to identify the 12 analytes in different parts of A. manihot harvested at ten growth periods. 2'-deoxyinosine was not detected in all of the A. manihot samples. The data demonstrated that the distribution and concentration of the 12 compounds in A. manihot four parts were arranged in a decreasing order as leaf>flower>stem>root. Based on the results, the leaves and flowers of A. manihot could be developed as health products possessed nutraceutical and bioactive properties in the future. This method might also be utilized for the quality control of the A. manihot leaves and other herbal medicines being rich in nucleotides, nucleosides and nulecobases.

Chemometrics for comprehensive analysis of nucleobases, nucleosides, and nucleotides in Siraitiae Fructus by hydrophilic interaction ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadrupole linear ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid and sensitive hydrophilic interaction ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadrupole linear ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry method was validated for the simultaneous determination of 20 nucleobases, nucleosides, and nucleotides (within 3.5 min), and then was employed to test the functional food of Luo-Han-Guo samples. The analysis showed that the Luo-Han-Guo was rich in guanosine and uridine, but contained trace levels of the other target compounds. Chemometrics methods were employed to identify 40 batches of Luo-Han-Guo samples from different cultivated forms, regions and varieties. Unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis were used to classify Luo-Han-Guo samples based on the level of the 20 target compounds, and the supervised learning method of counter propagation artificial neural network was utilized to further separate clusters and validate the established model. As a result, the samples could be clustered into three primary groups, in which correlation with cultivated varieties was observed. The present strategy could be applied to the investigation of other edible plants containing nucleobases, nucleosides, or nucleotides.

Hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry in the presence of hydrophilic ion-pairing reagents for the separation of nucleosides and nucleotide mono-, di- and triphosphates

A fast and efficient method for the simultaneous separation of highly polar compounds, in this case nucleosides and nucleotide mono-, di- and triphosphates, using hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC-MS/MS) is proposed. This new separation method revealed the possibilities of the formation of hydrophilic ion-pairing compounds. Three stationary phases (HILIC XBridge-Amide, HILIC-CoreShell and ZIC-HILIC) were assayed for the separation of 20 target analytes, and a detailed study of the composition of the mobile phase was made using different salts at different concentrations in a organic-rich mobile phase. We report that in order to prevent the adsorption of nucleotides on the LC-MS setup and to enhance their retention on the HILIC stationary phase, a mobile phase containing hexafluoro-2-propanol and different cations should be used. Four cations were evaluated: ammonium, diethylammonium, triethylammonium and tetrabutylammonium. The results revealed the formation of an ionic-association compound between the phosphorylated analytes and the cationic ion-pairing reagents, whose retention increased with the polarity of the cationic ion-pairing reagent. HILIC XBridge-Amide was found to be the most suitable column for the separation of these analytes, and the optimized mobile phase consisted of an ACN/UHQ water mixture (3min of isocratic elution using 82:18%, v/v and then a fast gradient from 18% to 22% of water) with 100mM hexafluoro-2-propanol and 50mM diethylamine (w(w)pH 9-w(s)pH 10). In a total analysis time of 8min, good results were achieved in terms of resolution. Under these optimum conditions, a further comprehensive study of the retention mechanism was carried out.