Analysis of interaction property of bioactive components in Danggui Buxue Decoction with protein by microdialysis coupled with HPLC–DAD–MS

Effects of Danggui Buxue decoction on host gut microbiota and metabolism in GK rats with type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by persistent abnormally elevated blood sugar levels. T2DM affects millions of people and exerts a significant global public health burden. Danggui Buxue decoction (DBD), a classical Chinese herbal formula composed of Astragalus membranaceus (Huangqi) and Angelica sinensis (Danggui), has been widely used in the clinical treatment of diabetes and its complications. However, the effect of DBD on the gut microbiota of individuals with diabetes and its metabolism are still poorly understood. In this study, a T2DM model was established in Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats, which were then treated with a clinical dose of DBD (4 g/kg) through tube feeding for 6 weeks. Next, we used 16S rRNA sequencing and untargeted metabolomics by liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to detect changes in the composition of the microbiota and cecal metabolic products. Our data show that DBD mediates the continuous increase in blood glucose in GK rats, improves insulin sensitivity, reduces expression of inflammatory mediators, and improves systemic oxidative stress. Moreover, DBD also improves microbial diversity (e.g., Romboutsia, Firmicutes, and Bacilli) in the intestines of rats with T2DM. Further, DBD intervention also regulates various metabolic pathways in the gut microbiota, including alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism. In addition, arginine biosynthesis and the isoflavone biosynthesis may be a unique mechanism by which DBD exerts its effects. Taken together, we show that DBD is a promising therapeutic agent that can restore the imbalance found in the gut microbiota of T2DM rats. DBD may modify metabolites in the microbiota to realize its antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory effects.

Integrating chemical profiling and network pharmacology analysis based on anti-inflammatory effects for quality control of Scutellaria barbata

INTRODUCTION

With the wide application of Scutellaria barbata D. Don for hepatitis and mastitis, its quality control issues have also received increasing attention. Based on the multi-component and multi-target characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine, there is an urgent need to establish a quality evaluation system.

OBJECTIVES

This study intends to integrate the "quality-activity-quantification" strategy and establish an activity-related quality control method to ensure the safety and effectiveness of S. barbata.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/ion mobility-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/IM-QTOF-MS) was used to characterize the chemical components of S. barbata, and network pharmacological analysis was carried out on the identified components. The index components were determined on the basis of comprehensive activity prediction results and content information. At the same time, the contents of 16 batches of S. barbata from different origins were determined.

RESULTS

A total of 94 compounds were identified according to mass spectrometric data, 12 of which were isolated and structure-confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance technology. Network pharmacological analysis was applied to predict their key targets and the major pathways mediating their anti-inflammatory effects. On the basis of comprehensive activity prediction and content information, five components were chosen as crucial quality indicators of S. barbata, including scutellarin, scutellarein, luteolin, apigenin, and hispidulin.

CONCLUSION

In this study, 16 different S. barbata batches were compared, and five quality indicators were determined on the basis of qualitative and activity results. The present study provides useful information for evaluating the quality of S. barbata in different areas, and also provides a new basis for the development of quality evaluation methods.

Potential and applications of capillary electrophoresis for analyzing traditional Chinese medicine: a critical review

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) presents a promising possibility for analyzing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) due to its low reagent consumption, high analysis speed, and enhanced efficiency. Herein we review the employment of CE for analyzing the effective components in TCM and identifying TCM via a fingerprint. Furthermore, we discuss the application of state-of-the-art capillary electrophoresis modes for screening enzyme inhibitors and investigating the interactions between TCM and plasma proteins. The review concludes with recommendations for future studies and improvements in this field of research. The general development trend identified in this review indicates that the application of CE has significantly improved TCM assay performance.

Screening techniques for the identification of bioactive compounds in natural products

Natural products (NPs) have a long history of clinical use and are rich source of bioactive compounds. The development of tools and techniques for identifying and analyzing NP bioactive compounds to ensure their quality and discover new drugs is thus very important and still in demand. Screening techniques have proven highly useful for screening and analyzing active components in complex mixtures, which rely on cell culture, dialysis, ultrafiltration, chromatographic methods and target molecule immobilization, using biological targets to identify the active compounds. The recent progress in biological screening techniques in the field of natural products is reviewed here. This includes a review on the strategy and application of the screening methods, their detailed description and discussion of their existing limitations of the different models along with prospective in future development of screening techniques.

Study on the interaction between active components from traditional Chinese medicine and plasma proteins

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), as a unique form of natural medicine, has been used in Chinese traditional therapeutic systems over two thousand years. Active components in Chinese herbal medicine are the material basis for the prevention and treatment of diseases. Research on drug-protein binding is one of the important contents in the study of early stage clinical pharmacokinetics of drugs. Plasma protein binding study has far-reaching influence on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs and helps to understand the basic rule of drug effects. It is important to study the binding characteristics of the active components in Chinese herbal medicine with plasma proteins for the medical science and modernization of TCM. This review summarizes the common analytical methods which are used to study the active herbal components-protein binding and gives the examples to illustrate their application. Rules and influence factors of the binding between different types of active herbal components and plasma proteins are summarized in the end. Finally, a suggestion on choosing the suitable technique for different types of active herbal components is provided, and the prospect of the drug-protein binding used in the area of TCM research is also discussed.

Rapid Screening and Identification of BSA Bound Ligands from Radix astragali Using BSA Immobilized Magnetic Nanoparticles Coupled with HPLC-MS

Radix astragali is widely used either as a single herb or as a collection of herbs in a complex prescription in China. In this study, bovine serum albumin functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (BSA-MN) coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) were used to screen and identify bound ligands from the n-butanol part of a Radix astragali extract. The prepared BSA-MN showed sufficient magnetic response for the separation with an ordinary magnet and satisfied reusability. Fundamental parameters affecting the preparation of BSA-MN and the screening efficiency were studied and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, four bound ligands were screened out from the n-butanol part of a Radix astragali extract and identified as genistin (1), calycosin-7-O-β-d-glucoside (2), ononin (3) and formononetin (4). This effective method could be widely applied for rapid screening and identification of active compounds from complex mixtures without the need for preparative isolation.

Characterization of interaction property of multi-components in Gardenia jasminoides with aldose reductase by microdialysis combined with liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

RATIONALE

An application of microdialysis sampling for evaluation of the interaction property of small molecules to macromolecules is presented. Microdialysis combined with liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (LC/QTOF-MS/MS) was established for the purpose of screening of the multiple bioactive compounds in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs).

METHODS

Microdialysis experiments were performed in vitro using a syringe pump and probes. Separation was achieved via liquid chromatography, and MS analysis was conducted by electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry in negative mode. The interaction property of compounds in TCMs with aldose reductase can be deduced from the comparison of the peak areas in chromatograms using a stable internal standard.

RESULTS

In this work, 23 compounds including iridoids, flavonoids, monoterpenoids, carotenoids and phenolic acids were identified by comparison with reference compounds, characteristic high-resolution mass spectrometry and the MS/MS fragmentations simultaneously. Binding degrees of 23 compounds in Gardenia jasminoides Eliis (G. jasminoide) with aldose reductase ranged from 13.91% to 66.25%. Also, microdialysis recoveries of 23 compounds in G. jasminoides were determined.

CONCLUSIONS

The Interaction properties of 23 compounds in G. jasminoides with aldose reductase were investigated and they are potential bioactive ingredients. Microdialysis coupled to LC/QTOF-MS/MS can be used for screening of bioactive multicomponents from TCMs with appropriate targets. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

UPLC-Q-TOF/MS-based screening and identification of the main flavonoids and their metabolites in rat bile, urine and feces after oral administration of Scutellaria baicalensis extract

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) are increasingly used in combination with Western medicine. Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (Lamiaceae) is a widely used TCM in treating various diseases. However, the in vivo metabolism of its main bioactive flavonoids, baicalin, baicalein, wogonoside and wogonin, needs further study.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A systematic method based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) technique combined with Metabolynx(TM) software was developed to speculate the metabolites and excretion profiles of the main flavonoids in S. baicalensis extract in rats bile, urine and feces samples after oral administration of the extract.

RESULTS

Four parent components and a total of 15 metabolites were tentatively detected in vivo. All metabolites were detected including sulfate and glucuronide conjugates, hydroxylated, methylated, acetylated and deoxygenated products. Twelve metabolites were from the rat urine, five from the feces and two from the bile. Among them, several products were reported firstly.

CONCLUSION

The research provided useful information for further study of the pharmacology and mechanism of action of S. baicalensis extract in vivo and a proposed method which could develop an integrated template approach to analyze screening and identification of biological samples after oral administration of TCMs.

Quality control of traditional Chinese medicines: a review

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) are in great demand all over the world, especially in the developing world, for primary health care due to their superior merits such as low cost, minimal side effects, better cultural acceptability, and compatibility with humans. However, Chinese medicines consist of several herbs which may contain tens, hundreds, or even thousands of constituents. How these constituents interact with each other, and what the special active ones are, may be the biggest bottleneck for the modernization and globalization of TCMs. Valid methods to evaluate the quality of TCMs are therefore essential and should be promoted and be developed further through advanced separation and chromatography techniques. This paper reviews the strategies used to control the quality of TCMs in a progressive perspective, from selecting single or several ingredients as the evaluation marker, to using different kinds of chromatography fingerprint methods. In summary, the analysis and quality control of TCMs are developing in a more effective and comprehensive manner to better address the inherent holistic nature of TCMs.

Assay of multiplex proteins from cell metabolism based on tunable aptamer and microchip electrophoresis

A simple and rapid method for multiplex protein assay based on tunable aptamer by microchip electrophoresis has been developed. Different lengths of aptamers can modulate the electrophoretic mobility of proteins, allowing the protein molecules to be effectively separated in hydroxyethyl cellulose buffer with 1.00 mM magnesium ion. A non-specific DNA was exploited as an internal standard to achieve the quantitative assay and to reduce the interference. A fluorescence dye SYBR gold was exploited to improve the sensitivity and to suppress the interference from sample matrix. Under optimum conditions, quantitative assay of PDGF-BB (R(2)=0.9986), VEGF165 (R(2)=0.9909), and thrombin (R(2)=0.9947) were achieved with a dynamic range in the 5.00-150.0 nM and RSDs in the 5.87-16.3% range. The recoveries were varied from 83.6% to 113.1%. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to analyze cell secretions, and then the concentration of PDGF-BB and VEGF165 were detected from 5.15 nM to 2.03 nM, and 3.14 to 2.53 nM, respectively, indicating the established method can be used to analyze cell secretions.

Pharmacokinetic comparison of seven major bio-active components in normal and blood deficiency rats after oral administration of Danggui Buxue decoction by UPLC-TQ/MS

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Blood deficiency is commonly encountered among women, and is the root of many gynecological disorders. Danggui Buxue Decoction (DBD), a classical traditional Chinese formula which is composed of Astragali Radix (AR) and Angelicae Sinensis Radix (ASR) at the ratio of 5:1 (w/w), is widely used in TCM clinics for treatment of blood deficiency syndrome. This study is to compare the in vivo pharmacokinetic properties of seven major bio-active components in normal and blood deficiency rats after oral administration of DBD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Blood deficiency rats were induced by bleeding from orbit at the dosages of 5.0mL/kg each day for 12 days. Normal and blood deficiency rats were administrated of DBD on the 12th day at the dosage of 20g/kg, and blood was collected at different time points after then. Concentrations of ferulic acid, caffeic acid, butylphthalide, ligustilide, calycosin-7-O-β-glucoside, ononin, and astragaloside IV in plasma were quantified by UPLC-TQ/MS, and the main pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by DAS 2.0.

RESULTS

It was found that Cmax, Tmax and MRT0~T of astragaloside IV, Cmax, T1/2Z, AUC0~T and MRT0~T of calycosin-7-O-β-glucoside, T1/2Z and AUC0~T of ferulic acid, T1/2Z, AUC0~T and MRT0~T of ononin, and MRT0~T of ligustilide, butylphthalide, and caffeic acid in blood deficiency rats was significantly different (P<0.05) from normal rats.

CONCLUSIONS

This study was the first report about pharmacokinetic investigation in blood deficiency animals which was conducted by bleeding. And the results demonstrated that the seven DBD constituents in normal and blood deficiency rats had obvious differences in some pharmacokinetic characteristics, suggesting that the rate and extent of drug metabolism were altered in blood deficiency animals.

Comparative tissue distribution profiles of five major bio-active components in normal and blood deficiency rats after oral administration of Danggui Buxue Decoction by UPLC-TQ/MS

Astragali Radix (AR) and Angelicae Sinensis Radix (ASR) were frequently combined and used in China as herbal pair called as Danggui Buxue Decoction (DBD) for treatment of blood deficiency syndrome, such as women's ailments. This study is to investigate the tissue distribution profiles of five major bio-active constituents (ferulic acid, caffeic acid, calycosin-7-O-β-glucoside, ononin and astragaloside IV) in DBD after oral administration of DBD in blood deficiency rats, and to compare the difference between normal and blood deficiency rats. The blood deficiency rats were induced by bleeding from orbit at the dosages of 5.0mLkg(-1) every day, and the experimental period was 12 days. At the finally day of experimental period, both normal and blood deficiency rats were orally administrated with DBD, and then the tissues samples were collected at different time points. Ferulic acid, caffeic acid, calycosin-7-O-β-glucoside, ononin and astragaloside IV in different tissues were detected simultaneously by UPLC-TQ/MS, and the histograms were drawn. The results showed that the overall trend was CLiver>CKidney>CHeart>CSpleen>CLung, CC-30min>CM-30min>CM-60min>CC-5min>CM-5min>CC-60min>CM-240min>CC-240min. The contents of the detected compounds in liver were more than that in other tissues no matter in normal or blood deficiency rats. Compared to normal rats, partial contents of the compounds in blood deficiency rats' tissues at different time points had significant difference (P<0.05). This study was the first report about tissue distribution investigation in blood deficiency animals which is conducted by bleeding. And the results demonstrated that the five DBD components in normal and blood deficiency rats had obvious differences in some organs and time points, suggesting that the blood flow and perfusion rate of the organ were altered in blood deficiency animals.

Phytochemical and pharmacological review of da chuanxiong formula: a famous herb pair composed of chuanxiong rhizoma and gastrodiae rhizoma for headache

Chronic headache such as migraine and nervous headache has become one of the most common locations of pain and one of the most difficult diseases to recover due to its numerous causes and inconvenience to keep acesodyne administration for a long time. However, there are a series of treatment theories and herbal formulas for this disease in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), in which Da Chuanxiong formula (DCXF), a herb pair composed of Chuanxiong Rhizoma (CR), Chuanxiong in Chinese, and Gastrodiae Rhizoma (GR) called as Tianma in China, is a greatly classic representative. This formula has been used for headaches via dispelling wind pathogen and dissipating blood stasis for many years in TCM. In recent years, the efficiency and representativeness of DCXF have garnered many researchers' attention. To reveal the compatibility mechanism and develop innovative Chinese herb, herein ethnopharmacological relevance, chemical characters, and pharmacological actions of DCXF are detailed. It is expected to give a comprehensive interpretation of DCXF, namely, Chuanxiong Tianma herb pair (CTHP), to inherit the essence of herb pair and innovate drug delivery system of this prescription.

Simultaneous determination of geniposide, chlorogenic acid, crocin1, and rutin in crude and processed Fructus Gardeniae extracts by high performance liquid chromatography

Background:

Fructus Gardeniae, commonly used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) called Zhizi in chinese, is derived from the dried fruit of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis of the Madder Family. To our knowledge, previously reported analytical methods were not developing for simultaneous determination of geniposide, chlorogenic acid, crocin1, and rutin in Fructus Gardeniae and its processed products of chaozheng pin (CZP) extracts.

Materials and Methods:

In this study, a HPLC method was developed for simultaneous determination four major active components in Fructus Gardeniae and its processed products.

Results:

The contents of geniposide, chlorogenic acid, crocin1, and rutin in Fructus Gardeniae samples analyzed were 2.492 - 4.242%, 0.162 - 0.407%, 0.417 -0.837%, and 0.116 - 0.251%, respectively.

Conclusion:

The developed method can be applied to the intrinsic quality control of Fructus Gardeniae.

Determination of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde of crude and processed Fructus Corni in freely moving rats using in vivo microdialysis sampling and liquid chromatography

BACKGROUND

Fructus Corni is derived from the dry ripe sarcocarp of Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc. 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (5-HMF) is an important active composition of the Fructus Corni. However, there have been no reports on the concentration of 5-HMF in freely moving rats using microdialysis coupled with HPLC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The concentration of 5-HMF in free-moving rats after intra-gastric (i.g.) administration of the water extract of Fructus Corni and JZP was analyzed by microdialysis coupled with high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC).

RESULTS

Results demonstrated that the concentration of 5-HMF in microdialysate was 1.4951 μg/l, but higher in rat microdialysate after i.g. administration of the aqueous extract of JZP (5.2662 μg/l).

CONCLUSION

This method is proved to be rapid, accurate and simple. Real-time in vivo monitoring the concentration of 5-HMF provides the theoretical basis for further explaining the processing mechanism of Fructus Corni.

Screening, identification, and potential interaction of active compounds from Eucommia ulmodies leaves binding with bovine serum albumin

The aqueous extract of Eucommia ulmoides leaves has been commonly known as Du-zhong tea as a functional health food for the treatment of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and fatty liver. This study developed a centrifugal ultrafiltration-high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for screening and identification of bioactive compounds in E. ulmoides leaves binding with bovine serum albumin (BSA). Six active compounds were screened, isolated, and elucidated by their ultraviolet (UV), electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data as geniposidic acid (1), caffeic acid (2), chlorogenic acid (3), quercetin-3-O-sambubioside (4), rutin (5), and isoquercitrin (6). The interaction between active compounds and BSA was investigated in the absence and presence of other compounds by quenching the intrinsic BSA fluorescence. The results indicated that the structures significantly affected the binding process. The values of binding constants for compounds 2-6 were in the range of 10(5)-10(6) mol L(-1), while geniposidic acid (1) hardly quenching the BSA intrinsic fluorescence. However, the quenching process of geniposidic acid was easily affected in the presence of other active compounds. The formation of the geniposidic acid-phenylpropanoid (flavonoid) complex could increase the binding affinity of geniposidic acid with BSA; however, the increased steric hindrance of the complex may make phenylpropanoid or flavonoid dissociate from BSA and then decrease their affinities.

Applications of HPLC/MS in the analysis of traditional Chinese medicines

In China, traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have been used in clinical applications for thousands of years. The successful hyphenation of high-Performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS) has been applied widely in TCMs and biological samples analysis. Undoubtedly, HPLC/MS technique has facilitated the understanding of the treatment mechanism of TCMs. We reviewed more than 350 published papers within the last 5 years on HPLC/MS in the analysis of TCMs. The present review focused on the applications of HPLC/MS in the component analysis, metabolites analysis, and pharmacokinetics of TCMs etc. 50% of the literature is related to the component analysis of TCMs, which show that this field is the most populär type of research. In the metabolites analysis, HPLC coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry has been demonstrated to be the powerful tool for the characterization of structural features and fragmentation behavior patterns. This paper presented a brief overview of the applications of HPLC/MS in the analysis of TCMs. HPLC/MS in the fingerprint analysis is reviewed elsewhere.

Pharmacokinetic parameters of morroniside in iridoid glycosides of Fructus corni processing based on back-propagation neural network

CONTEXT

Fructus Corni is derived from the dry ripe sarcocarp of Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc. (Cornaceae). Morroniside is an active constituent of Fructus Corni used in many traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). This article describes a sensitive and specific assay for the quantitation of morroniside in rat plasma after oral administration of iridoid glycosides from Fructus Corni.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this article, back-propagation (BP) neural network method was fist developed for the prediction of pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters of morroniside in Fructus Corni.

RESULTS

The results show that mean square error (MSE) of neural network model with 11 hidden neurons and 90% training data is 0.092.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

This article provides a new method to calculate PK data, one do not need to figure out all the compartment parameters to acquire PK data of morroniside. Therefore, the BP neural network method would be useful for guiding the holistic PK study in consistence with the intrinsic theory and characteristics of TCM.

Global detection and identification of components from crude and processed traditional Chinese medicine by liquid chromatography connected with hybrid ion trap and time-of-flight-mass spectrometry

We herein present a chemical profiling method to efficiently process the information acquired by ultra fast liquid chromatography (UFLC)-electrospray ionization source in combination with hybrid ion trap and high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UFLC-(ESI)-IT-TOF/MS), facilitating the structural determination of serial components contained in crude or processed traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Under the optimized UFLC and IT-TOF-MS(n) conditions, over 39 compounds were separated and detected in crude or processed Fructus corni within 25 min. The components were identified by comparing the mass spectra and retention time with reference compounds, or tentatively assigned by elucidating low-energy collision-induced dissociation (CID) fragment ions and matching empirical molecular formula with that of the published compounds. Several factors in the processing procedure were examined. The experimental results demonstrate that the chemical reactions that occurred in the processing procedure can be used to elucidate the processed mechanism of F. corni, which is regularly affected by the processing conditions. This study provides a novel approach and methodology to identify the complicated components from various complex mixtures such as crude TCM, processed TCM, and biological samples. It can be used as a valid analytical method for further understanding the processing mechanism of TCM, along with the intrinsic quality control of TCM and its processed product.

Correlative analysis of metabolite profiling of Danggui Buxue Tang in rat biological fluids by rapid resolution LC-TOF/MS

In this work, the metabolite profiles of Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT) in rat bile and plasma were qualitatively described, and the possible metabolic pathways of DBT were subsequently proposed. Emphasis was put on correlative analysis of metabolite profiling in different biological fluids. After oral administration of DBT, bile and plasma samples were collected and pretreated by solid phase extraction. Rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (RRLC-TOFMS) was used for characterization of DBT-related compounds (parent compounds and metabolites) in biological matrices. A total of 142 metabolites were detected and tentatively identified from the drug-containing bile and plasma samples. Metabolite profiling shows that rat bile contained relatively more glutathione-derived conjugates, more saponins compounds and more diverse forms of metabolites than urine. The metabolite profile in plasma revealed that glucuronide conjugates of isoflavonoids, dimmers, acetylcysteine conjugates and parent form of phthalides, as well as saponin aglycones were the major circulating forms of DBT. Collectively, the metabolite profile analysis of DBT in different biological matrices provided a comprehensive understanding of the in vivo metabolic fates of constituents in DBT.

Recent analytical approaches in quality control of traditional Chinese medicines--a review

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) are gaining more and more attention all over the world, due to their specific theory and long historical clinical practice. But the uncontrollable quality is a bottleneck for its modernization and globalization. This paper reviewed the recent analytical methods in the quality control of TCMs, including screening strategies of bioactive markers from TCMs through biochromatographic methods, the traditional chromatographic methods, DNA methods, as well as the spectroscopic methods, including FT-IR, NIR and NMR. The comprehensive methods, such as fingerprint and multi-component quantification are emphasized; hyphenated techniques, like HPLC-MS, GC-MS, CE-MS, LC-NMR, chemometric methods, and combination of chemical and biological methods, such as biofingerprint, metabolic fingerprint are now more and more widely used in TCMs. In a few word, the analysis and quality control of TCMs are moving towards an integrative and comprehensive direction, in order to better address the inherent holistic nature of TCMs.

Multiple target cell extraction and LC-MS analysis for predicting bioactive components in Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae

A method for predicting bioactive candidates in herbal medicines (HMs) was developed using four types of target cell extraction followed by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection-mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-MS) analysis. Through the proposed method, some potential bioactive components in Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae, a widely used HM for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, were screened in view of interacting with endothelial cells, myocardial cells, blood platelets and red cells. Specifically, eleven compounds were detected in the desorption eluate of endothelial cells, nine in myocardial cells, fifteen in blood platelets and five in red cells. Totally, sixteen compounds were detected and fourteen of them were identified qualitatively in terms of their MS spectra and in comparison with some of the reference compounds. The results indicate that the proposed method may be applied to prediction of the bioactive multi-compounds in HMs.

Screening and identification of potential bioactive components in a combined prescription of Danggui Buxue decoction using cell extraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography

A cell extraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis has been developed to screen the potential bioactive components in combined prescription of Danggui Buxue decoction. The method was validated by using HL-7702 cells, RAW 264.7 cells and Caco-2 cell extraction. According to the hypothesis that, when cells are incubated together with the extract of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), the potential bioactive compounds in the extract should selectively combine with the cells, cell-combining compounds were analyzed by HPLC-diode array-evaporative light scattering detectors. Their structures were elucidated in comparison with available reference compounds, and further confirmed by HPLC-electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry with accurate mass measurement. The results demonstrated that nine compounds were combined with the HL-7702 cells, seven with RAW 264.7 cells, and thirteen with the Caco-2 cell line. In view of the two key steps of drugs action, absorption by intestinal epithelium cells and interaction with target cells, this rapid and reliable method could be utilized to predict the bioactive constituents in TCMs, and it was in agreement with the characteristics of combined prescriptions of TCMs as multi-components, multi-target sites and multi-channel actions.