Perspectives for Globalized Natural Medicines

Analysis of chemical constituents and six compounds in Qu-feng-sheng-shi Granules via HPLC-ESI-Q/TOF-MSn and HPLC-UV technique

Qu-feng-sheng-shi Granules (QFSSG), a common prescription for the treatment of chronic inflammation and allergic rhinitis, is widely used in the clinic as a traditional Chinese medicine. Chemical analysis and quality control studies of this formulation are relatively limited compared with pharmacological studies. In this study, a high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-Q/TOF-MSⁿ ) was used to identify the components in this prescription. Next, to quantify six major compounds, an HPLC-UV method was developed and validated. The results showed that 53 compounds were identified based on the MSⁿ data, retention time and previous reports, including 17 coumarins, 14 lignans, 10 chromones, nine phenylethanoid glycosides and three other compounds, were identified or tentatively assigned. Contents of six major bioactive compounds (4'-O-β-glucopyranosyl-5-O-methylvisamminol, Prim-O-glucosylcimifugin, forsythin, magnolin, imperatorin, isoimperatorin) could be determined by HPLC simultaneously. In addition, the potential anti-inflammatory activity of six major compounds was determined too, and we found that four compounds (4'-O-β-glucopyranosyl-5-O-methylvisamminol, Prim-O-glucosylcimifugin, forsythin, imperatorin) have a potent nitric oxide inhibitory effect. In conclusion, this work provided comprehensive information on the quality control of QFSSG and evaluated the potential biological activity of the main components in QFSSG, which can contribute to understanding and using it more scientifically.

Liquid Phase and Microwave-Assisted Extractions for Multicomponent Phenolic Pattern Determination of Five Romanian Galium Species Coupled with Bioassays

Background: Galium is a plant rich in iridoid glycosides, flavonoids, anthraquinones, and small amounts of essential oils and vitamin C. Recent works showed the antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, and antioxidant activity of this plant genus. Methods: For the determination of the multicomponent phenolic pattern, liquid phase microextraction procedures were applied, combined with HPLC-PDA instrument configuration in five Galium species aerial parts (G. verum, G. album, G. rivale, G. pseudoaristatum, and G. purpureum). Dispersive Liquid–Liquid MicroExtraction (DLLME) with NaCl and NAtural Deep Eutectic Solvent (NADES) medium and Ultrasound-Assisted (UA)-DLLME with β-cyclodextrin medium were optimized. Results: The optimal DLLME conditions were found to be: 10 mg of the sample, 10% NaCl, 15% NADES or 1% β-cyclodextrin as extraction solvent—400 μL of ethyl acetate as dispersive solvent—300 μL of ethanol, vortex time—30 s, extraction time—1 min, centrifugation at 12000× g for 5 min. Conclusions: These results were compared with microwave-assisted extraction procedures. G. purpureum and G. verum extracts showed the highest total phenolic and flavonoid content, respectively. The most potent extract in terms of antioxidant capacity was obtained from G. purpureum, whereas the extract obtained from G. album exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect against tyrosinase.

Simultaneous Determination of Bergapten, Imperatorin, Notopterol, and Isoimperatorin in Rat Plasma by High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence Detection and Its Application to Pharmacokinetic and Excretion Study after Oral Administration of Notopterygium incisum Extract

A specific, sensitive, and reliable high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) was first optimized and then used in the simultaneous quantification of bergapten, imperatorin, notopterol, and isoimperatorin in rat plasma using osthole as the internal standard. Liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate was employed in treating the rat plasma samples obtained. Separation was carried out with a Hedera™ ODS column (4.6 × 250 mm, 5 μm) by gradient elution at a temperature of 40°C. Excitation and emission of the fluorescence detector were set to 300 and 490 nm, respectively. The lower limits of quantification for bergapten, imperatorin, notopterol, and isoimperatorin in rat plasma were 4, 40, 4, and 2 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The intraday and interday precision and accuracy for the four coumarins were within acceptable criteria. The recovery of the method was satisfactory with a range of 80.3–114%. The validated method was successfully used for the simultaneous determination of the four coumarins in Notopterygium incisum extracts and also for the pharmacokinetic and excretion study of bergapten, imperatorin, notopterol, and isoimperatorin in rats.