Capillary electrophoresis fingerprints combined with Linear Quantitative Profiling Method to monitor the quality consistency and predict the antioxidant activity of Alkaloids of Sophora flavescens

Quality Consistency Evaluation of Traditional Chinese Medicines: Current Status and Future Perspectives

Quality consistency evaluation of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) is a crucial factor that determines the safe and effective application in clinical settings. However, TCMs exhibit diverse, heterogeneous, complex, and flexible chemical compositions, as well as variability in preparation processes. These characteristics pose greater challenges in researching the consistency of TCMs compared to chemically synthesized and biological drugs. Therefore, it is paramount to develop effective strategies for evaluating the quality consistency of TCMs. From the starting point of quality properties, this review explores the strategy used to evaluate quality consistency in terms of chemistry-based strategy (chemical consistency) and the biology-based strategy (bioequivalence). Among them, the chemistry-based strategy is the mainstream, and biology-based strategy complements the chemistry-based strategy each other. Furthermore, the emerging chemistry-biology strategies (overall evaluation) is discussed, including individually combining strategy and integration strategy. Finally, this review provides insights into the challenges and future perspectives in this field. By highlighting current status and trends in TCMs quality consistency, this review aims to contribute to establishment of generally applicable chemistry-biology integrated evaluation strategy for TCMs. This will facilitate the advancement toward a higher stage of overall quality evaluation.

Spectrum-Effect Relationships as an Effective Approach for Quality Control of Natural Products: A Review

As natural products with biological activity, the quality of traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) is the key to their clinical application. Fingerprints based on the types and contents of chemical components in TCM are an internationally recognized quality evaluation method but ignore the correlation between chemical components and efficacy. Through chemometric methods, the fingerprints represented by the chemical components of TCM were correlated with its pharmacodynamic activity results to obtain the spectrum-effect relationships of TCM, which can reveal the pharmacodynamic components information related to the pharmacodynamic activity and solve the limitations of segmentation of chemical components and pharmacodynamic research in TCM. In the 20th anniversary of the proposed spectrum-effect relationships, this paper reviews its research progress in the field of TCM, including the establishment of fingerprints, pharmacodynamic evaluation methods, chemometric methods and their practical applications in the field of TCM. Furthermore, the new strategy of spectrum-effect relationships research in recent years was also discussed, and the application prospects of this technology were discussed.

Quality by design-based capillary electrophoresis method development for the quantitative analysis of four iridoid compounds in Gentiana macrophylla Radix

In this study, the capillary electrophoresis-photodiode array detector was employed for the analysis of four iridoid compounds in Gentiana macrophylla Radix (RGM), and the method was optimized based on the concept of analytical quality by design (AQbD). The peak areas relative standard deviation (n = 3) and resolution of the four analytes were selected as critical method attributes. Fractional factorial design test combined with Pareto analysis were employed to screen critical method parameters (buffer concentration, pH, sodium dodecyl sulfate [SDS] micelle concentration, temperature, and voltage). Subsequently, three main factors (buffer concentration, buffer pH, and SDS concentration) were selected by central composite design test for constructing the design space. The optimal separation conditions as follows: capillary column (50.2 cm ×m50 µm, detection length 40 cm). Working background electrolyte consisted of 51 mmol/L borax solution (pH = 9.47) and 40 mmol/L SDS. The samples were injected by pressure (5 s at 0.5 psi) and the detection was performed at 254 nm. Applied voltage was 20 kV and column temperature was 23°C. The developed method is rapid and reliable for the quantitative analysis of four iridoid compounds in RGM, providing a reference for the application of AQbD concept in the analysis of natural products.

Advances in Fingerprint Analysis for Standardization and Quality Control of Herbal Medicines

Herbal drugs or herbal medicines (HMs) have a long-standing history as natural remedies for preventing and curing diseases. HMs have garnered greater interest during the past decades due to their broad, synergistic actions on the physiological systems and relatively lower incidence of adverse events, compared to synthetic drugs. However, assuring reproducible quality, efficacy, and safety from herbal drugs remains a challenging task. HMs typically consist of many constituents whose presence and quantity may vary among different sources of materials. Fingerprint analysis has emerged as a very useful technique to assess the quality of herbal drug materials and formulations for establishing standardized herbal products. Rather than using a single or two marker(s), fingerprinting techniques take great consideration of the complexity of herbal drugs by evaluating the whole chemical profile and extracting a common pattern to be set as a criterion for assessing the individual material or formulation. In this review, we described and assessed various fingerprinting techniques reported to date, which are applicable to the standardization and quality control of HMs. We also evaluated the application of multivariate data analysis or chemometrics in assisting the analysis of the complex datasets from the determination of HMs. To ensure that these methods yield reliable results, we reviewed the validation status of the methods and provided perspectives on those. Finally, we concluded by highlighting major accomplishments and presenting a gap analysis between the existing techniques and what is needed to continue moving forward.

Evaluating the quality consistency of Keteling capsules by three-dimensional quantum fingerprints and HPLC fingerprint

Keteling capsules (KCs), as a kind of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), have been widely used in curing cough and relieving asthma. However, the complicated compositions make it challenging to evaluate their quality consistency by common methods. Herein, we explored comprehensive and efficient strategies by combining the multiple techniques to monitor and assess the characteristics of KCs. We employed the fingerprints and corresponding quantum fingerprints by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ultraviolet (UV), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The antioxidant activity profiles were also studied combined with the result of three-dimensional quantum fingerprints and showed a good correlation with the internal structure and physical-chemical state. Furthermore, the 17 samples were separated and identified simultaneously by HPLC quantitative fingerprint, of which four active ingredients (chlorogenic acid, p-coumaric acid, vitexin and isovitexin) were quantitatively determined. The 17 samples were successfully classified into different grades by the systematically quantified fingerprint method (SQFM) and the quality of the samples was integrated according to the mean algorithm. The mean algorithm fusion of different evaluation techniques was compared to reveal the relationship between them, which indicated the effective improvement in accuracy and integrality. The combination of multiple analytical techniques developed in this study would effectively improve the existing single analytical methods and provide new strategy for drug quality consistency control.

Standardization of Leonurus sibiricus L. aerial part and capillary electrophoresis quantitative analysis of its leonurine content

The quality parameters of Leonurus sibiricus L. aerial part crude drugs were evaluated. Fifteen crude drugs were collected from various locations throughout Thailand. The transverse section of the stem of L. sibiricus showed quadrangular character highlighted the ribs with angular collenchyma. The epidermis was uniseriate with abundant glandular trichomes distribution. Prismatic calcium oxalate prisms were found in the stem medullary parenchyma.The histological character of crude drug powder showed bordered pitted vessel, fragment of fiber, glandular trichome, prism crystal, spiral vessel, starch granule, and stomata. The loss on drying, total ash, acid-insoluble ash, and moisture contents should be not more than 8.18, 15.28, 4.04, and 8.91 g/100 g dry weight, whereas ethanol and water-soluble extractive values should be not less than 7.67, and 17.21 g/100 g of dry weight, respectively. Leonurine in the crude drugs were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis (CE) with photodiode array detector. The ethanolic extraction performed by Soxhlet apparatus yielded 18.86 ± 4.09 g/100 g dry weight. The electropherogram detected at 277 nm showed the migration time of leonurine at 6.2 min. The developed CE was found to be valid for leonurine quantification in L. sibiricus ethanolic extract. The contents of leonurine in 15 crude drugs ranged from 0.79 to 4.23 mg/g with the average of 2.38 ± 1.10 mg/g dry weight. This study established the pharmacognostic specification of L. sibiricus crude drug in Thailand with special reference to a bioactive compound, leonurine. CE was beneficial technique for the analysis of leonurine in L. sibiricus aerial parts.

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.

Recent Applications of Capillary Electrophoresis in the Determination of Active Compounds in Medicinal Plants and Pharmaceutical Formulations

The present review summarizes scientific reports from between 2010 and 2019 on the use of capillary electrophoresis to quantify active constituents (i.e., phenolic compounds, coumarins, protoberberines, curcuminoids, iridoid glycosides, alkaloids, triterpene acids) in medicinal plants and herbal formulations. The present literature review is founded on PRISMA guidelines and selection criteria were formulated on the basis of PICOS (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Study type). The scrutiny reveals capillary electrophoresis with ultraviolet detection as the most frequently used capillary electromigration technique for the selective separation and quantification of bioactive compounds. For the purpose of improvement of resolution and sensitivity, other detection methods are used (including mass spectrometry), modifiers to the background electrolyte are introduced and different extraction as well as pre-concentration techniques are employed. In conclusion, capillary electrophoresis is a powerful tool and for given applications it is comparable to high performance liquid chromatography. Short time of execution, high efficiency, versatility in separation modes and low consumption of solvents and sample make capillary electrophoresis an attractive and eco-friendly alternative to more expensive methods for the quality control of drugs or raw plant material without any relevant decrease in sensitivity.

Holistic quality evaluation of compound liquorice tablets using capillary electrophoresis fingerprinting combined with chemometric methods

Integrated quality control of herbal medicine using eco-friendly capillary zone electrophoresis and equal weight ratio quantitative fingerprint method.

Development of Electrochemical Oscillation Method for Identification of Prunus persica, Prunus davidiana, and Prunus armeniaca Nuts

In this work, an electrochemical oscillation system has been developed using the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. The effect of the combination of each reagent, reaction temperature, and stirring speed on the induction period, oscillating period, and oscillating life were optimized. The nuts of Prunus persica, Prunus davidiana, and Prunus armeniaca have been widely used for medical purposes. The proposed electrochemical oscillation system was then used for the identification of P. persica, P. davidiana, and P. armeniaca. Three nuts exhibited very different electrochemical oscillation profiles. The dendrogram was divided into three main principal infrageneric clades. Each cluster only contains one species, suggesting that no outlier was observed in this study. Based on the discussed results, we proposed a simple method for herbal medicine identification.

Recent advances of novel technologies for quality consistency assessment of natural herbal medicines and preparations

Quality consistency is one of the basic attributes of medicines, but it is also a difficult problem that natural medicines and their preparations must face. The complex chemical composition and comprehensive pharmacological action of natural medicines make it difficult to simply apply the commonly used evaluation methods in chemical drugs. It is thus urgent to explore the novel evaluation methods suitable for the characteristics of natural medicines. With the rapid development of analytical techniques and the deepening understanding of the quality of natural herbs, increasing numbers of researchers have proposed many new ideas and technologies. This review mainly focuses on the basic principles, technical characteristics and application examples of the chemical evaluation, biological evaluation methods and their combination in quality consistency evaluation of natural herbs. On the bases of chemical evaluation and clinical efficacy, new methods reflecting their pharmacodynamic mechanism and safety characteristics will be developed, and gradually towards accurate quality control, to achieve the goal of quality consistency. We hope that this manuscript can provide new ideas and technical references for the quality consistency of natural drugs and their preparations, thus better guarantee their clinical efficacy and safety, and better promote industrial development.