HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY COUPLED WITH TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY APPLIED FOR METABOLIC STUDY OF SPINOSIN BY RAT INTESTINAL FLORA

Research progress of quality control for the seed of Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa (Bunge) Hu ex H.F. Chow (Suan-Zao-Ren) and its proprietary Chinese medicines

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Semen Ziziphi Spinosae (SZS), the seed of Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa (Bunge) Hu ex H.F. Chow (Chinese name Suan-Zao-Ren), is widely distributed in China, Laos, Myanmar, and Iran. It is a classic traditional Chinese medicine with sedative and sleeping effects. In clinical practice, there are more than 155 proprietary Chinese medicines containing SZS. However, many commercial SZS products are difficult to qualify using current methods. Moreover, there is a scarcity of quality standards for SZS in proprietary Chinese medicines.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study was to clearly reveal the quality indicators during the entire production process of SZS and its products.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study reviewed more than 230 articles and related books on the quality control of SZS and its proprietary Chinese medicines published over the last 40 years (from January 1979 to October 2022). Moreover, where available, information on the quality of SZS and its proprietary Chinese medicines was also collected from websites for comparison, including online publications (e.g. PubMed, CNKI, Google Scholar, and Web of Science), the information at Yaozhi website and China Medical Information Platform, along with some classic books on Chinese herbal medicine. The literature and information search were conducted using keywords such as "Suan-Zao-Ren", " Ziziphus jujuba" and "quality control", and the latest results from various databases were combined to obtain valid information. The active components, which in vivo exposure, and Q-markers were also summarized.

RESULTS

The jujuboside A, jujuboside B, and spinosin were revealed as the key Q-markers for SZS. Moreover, the advancements and prospects of the quality control for SZS and its extract, proprietary Chinese medicines, health foods, and adulterants were comprehensively summarized. The high-performance liquid chromatography-UV/evaporative light scattering detection and fingerprint analysis were found to be the mainstream methods for the SZS quality control. In particular, the novel quality evaluation method based on the unit content was applied for SZS and its proprietary Chinese medicines. Significant fluctuations were found in the contents of Q-markers. Moreover, the mass transfer rule of Q-markers was comprehensively clarified based on the entire production process, including production origins, ripening time, primary process, processing, compatibility decoction/extract, and storage. Ultimately, the crushing and compatibility of SZS were found to be the key steps affecting the active components.

CONCLUSIONS

In short, this study provides solid evidences to reveal quality indicators for the entire production process of developing rational quality standards for SZS and its products. Moreover, this study also provides a template quality control overview, which could be extended to other traditional Chinese medicines.

A strategy to explore the quality markers of Ziziphi Spinosae semen by combining metabolic in vivo study with network pharmacology

Ziziphi Spinosae semen (ZSS), the dried and ripe seed of Ziziphus jujube Mill. var. spinosa (Bunge) Hu ex H. F. Chou, has been used as a sedative in China and other Asian countries for over a millennium. However, its quality markers (Q-markers) are not completely clear. In this study, Q-markers selected by a metabolic in vivo study combined with network pharmacology are proposed for ZSS quality control. An UHPLC (ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography)-Q-Orbitrap-MS method was developed to identify or tentatively assign 48 components including 21 flavonoid C-glycosides, 2 flavonoid O-glycosides, 11 dammarane triterpenoid saponins, 13 alkaloids, and 1 other, using a diagnostic product ion filtering strategy in ZSS. Subsequently, 147 metabolites detected from serum, urine, bile, and feces samples of para-chlorophenylalanine-induced insomnia rats treated with ZSS aqueous extracts could be linked to their respective parent compounds, including 27 prototypes. Meanwhile, three metabolic networks of flavonoids, saponins, and alkaloids are preliminarily established and potential metabolic pathways are investigated under the insomnia condition. Finally, 12 key bioactive components against insomnia including magnoflorine, caaverine, coclaurine, norisocorydine, genkwanin, juzinrine, apigenin, jujubogenin, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, jujuboside A, jujuboside B, and spinosin with the highest degree values in component-target-pathways network were selected as Q-markers for the quality control of ZSS.

The pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and toxicity of spinosin: A mini review

Spinosin, a natural flavone-C-glycoside that is mainly isolated from the seeds of Ziziphus jujuba Mill. var. spinosa. It exerts the effects to ameliorate the neurological disorders, such as hypnosis effects, improvement of cognitive function, sedation effects, and anxiolytic effects, as well as anti-melanogenic effect, cardioprotective effects, and anti-cancer activity. However, the insufficient basic research, unclear mechanisms, and poor bioavailability may limit the prospects of spinosin in clinical utilization. In this review, we comprehensively summarized the latest information on the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicity, and NMR characteristic of spinosin, to evaluate its potential therapeutic for clinical application, hoping to provide some rational perspective for the innovative agent development and usage of spinosin in future.

Wild Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa): A Review of Its Phytonutrients, Health Benefits, Metabolism, and Applications

Wild jujube, Ziziphus jujuba Mill. var. spinosa (Bunge) Hu ex H. F. Chou, as a food and health supplement worldwide, has rich nutritional value. It contains nutrients such as nucleosides, amino acids, polysaccharides, and fatty oils. The fruits, seeds, and leaves of wild jujube can all be used for food, medicine, or health care purposes. Among these, the fruits play many roles, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory functions, and can be used as a natural nutritional supplement to prevent aging. Simultaneously, the mature seed of wild jujube exhibits beneficial effects on central nervous system diseases and is often used for the treatment of insomnia and as a functional food for improving sleep quality and enhancing learning and memory. This review presents an overview of research progress relevant to the phytonutrients, biological functions, metabolism of bioactive compounds, and applications of wild jujube and aims to provide a scientific reference for the development and utilization of this plant.

Zizyphi Spinosae Semen: a natural herb resource for treating neurological disorders

Neurological disorders generally have the characteristics of occult onset and progressive development, which can do some serious damage to human body in the aging process. It is worth noting that traditional medicine can potentially prevent and treat such diseases. Zizyphi Spinosae Semen (ZSS), the seeds of Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa it has a long clinical history for sleep regulation. In recent years, ZSS has been proved to exhibit various types of neuroprotective activity, such as sleep improvement, antidepressant, anti-anxiety, memory improvement and etc. It has become a popular natural product due to its many inherently available compounds that demonstrate medicinal and pharmacological importance. This paper reviews the main components and their metabolic transformation processes, highlights the various neurofunctional regulation activities and their mechanisms of ZSS, providing a theoretical basis for further research and clinical application of this natural medicine.

Systematically characterization of in vivo substances of Ziziphi Spinosae Semen in rats by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry analysis

Ziziphi Spinosae Semen (ZSS), the seeds of Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa, is widely used in China or other Asian countries for the treatment of insomnia and palpitation. In our previous work, chemical constituents in ZSS were profiled by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC/Q-TOF MS). Notably, characterization of substances in vivo was of great importance to reveal the therapy basis or mechanism in further work. Till now, there were few reports about in vivo substances' investigation of ZSS. In the present study, an integrated strategy contained represented compounds and diagnostic ions extraction was applied to characterize metabolism feature of ZSS in rats based on UHPLC/Q-TOF MS method. First, the metabolic information of four compounds (spinosin, isovitexin, jujuboside B, betulinic acid) featuring three representative chemical structures (flavonoids, saponins, terpenes) in ZSS was conducted, and their metabolism features were summarized, especially for flavonoid C-glycosides. Second, the absorbed compounds and representative compounds-related metabolites were quickly screened out; during this time, the diagnostic ions were sorted out. Last, with the help of diagnostic ions and summarized metabolic reactions, other metabolites were characterized. As a result, a total of 151 xenobiotics (58 prototypes and 93 metabolites) were identified or tentatively characterized in rats after ingestion of ZSS. Among them, 16 substances were presented in plasma, 114 in urine, 51 in bile, and 120 in feces, respectively. Hydrogenation, hydrolysis, and glucuronidation were the major metabolic reactions of ZSS in rats. The present study provided meaningful data for further pharmacological mechanism research or pharmacokinetics evaluation of ZSS.

The preparation and investigation of spinosin–phospholipid complex self-microemulsifying drug delivery system based on the absorption characteristics of spinosin

Objectives

The aim of this research was to investigate the intestinal absorption characteristics and mechanisms of spinosin (SPI), and a new dosage form was prepared to increase the intestinal absorption of SPI.

Methods

In this study, the intestinal absorption characteristics and mechanisms of SPI were first investigated using in situ absorption model and Caco-2 monolayer model. Subsequently, the phospholipid complex (PLC) loaded with SPI was prepared followed by a self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) technique for developing a more efficient formulation.

Key findings

The results showed that the absorption rate constant (0.02 h−1) and absorption percentage (10%) of SPI were small. Paracellular and active transport pathways mainly mediated the intestinal absorption of SPI. Moreover, SPI-PLC-SMEDDS showed a nanoscale particle size and excellent dispersibility in vitro. The cellular uptake and transportation properties of SPI-PLC-SMEDDS in the Caco-2 cell model were improved significantly. Besides, a statistically dramatically higher oral bioavailability (almost fivefold) was observed following the oral administration of SPI-PLC-SMEDDS than free SPI on the basis of pharmacokinetic experiment results. Furthermore, the SPI-PLC-SMEDDS exhibited certain immunization.

Conclusions

SPI-PLC-SMEDDS could be a promising oral drug delivery system to improve the absorption of SPI.