Separation and purification of ginsenoside Re from ginseng bud by selective adsorption of active carbon and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography

Metal-organic framework assisted matrix solid-phase dispersion microextraction of saponins using response surface methodology

An efficient and simple metal-organic framework (MOF) assisted matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) microextraction was developed for the extraction of the five saponins in P. ginseng leaves. The target analyses were detected by ultra high performance chromatography coupled with time-of-flight MS. Experimental conditions for MSPD microextraction were optimized by the Box-Behnken design of the response surface methodology. The optimal conditions were as follows: 20 mg adsorbent, 80% methanol-water solution for elution, 60 s grinding time, and the MOF-808 as the adsorbent. With the final optimized method, the calibration curves for five saponins showed good linearity (R² > 0.998) within range of 0.01-100 μg/mL. In addition, analytical recoveries ranged from 87.04 to 103.78%, with the RSD below 5%. The limit of detection and LOQ range from 0.087 to 0.114 μg/mL and 0.292 to 0.379 μg/mL, respectively. Compared with the traditional extraction method and published methods, the newly MOF-assisted MSPD extract exhibited higher extraction efficiency, simpler operation, and provided a cleaner extract with low consumption of organic reagents that was applied for rapid evaluation and quality control of active compounds from plants.

Synthesis of ginsenoside Re-based carbon dots applied for bioimaging and effective inhibition of cancer cells

BACKGROUND

Fluorescent carbon-based nanomaterials have promising properties such as biosensing, cell imaging, tracing and drug delivery. However, carbon dots (CDs) with specific inherent biological functions have not been investigated. Ginsenosides are the components with multiple bioactivities found in plants of the genus Panax, which have attracted a lot of attention for their anticancer effect.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this study, we prepared a kind of novel photoluminescent CDs from ginsenoside Re by one-step hydrothermal synthesis method. The conventional methods including transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, HPLC and fluorescence spectrum were used for characterization of CDs. In vitro anticancer effect was investigated by cytotoxicity assay, flow cytometry and Western blot analysis.

RESULTS

The as-prepared Re-CDs had an average diameter of 4.6±0.6 nm and excellent luminescent properties. Cellular uptake of Re-CDs was facilitated by their tiny nanosize, with evidence of their bright excitation-dependent fluorescent images. Compared with ginsenoside Re, the Re-CDs showed greater inhibition efficiency of cancer cell proliferation, with lower toxicity to the normal cells. The anticancer activity of Re-CDs was suggested to be associated with the generation of large amount of ROS and the caspase-3 related cell apoptosis.

CONCLUSION

Hopefully, the dual functional Re-CDs, which could both exhibit bioimaging and anticancer effect, are expected to have great potential in future clinical applications.

Effects of ginsenoside‑Rg1 on the proliferation and glial‑like directed differentiation of embryonic rat cortical neural stem cells in vitro

Ginsenoside-Rg1, the main active component of Panax notoginseng, exhibits a number of pharmacological functions, including promoting protein synthesis in the brain, increasing the number of synapses, improving memory and promoting recovery of brain function following injury. The effect of ginsenoside-Rg1 on proliferation and glial-like-directed differentiation in the cortical neural stem cells (NSCs) of embryonic rat brain was investigated. The present study used MTS assays to identify the optimum dose and window time of ginsenoside-Rg1 administration to stimulate the proliferation of cortical NSCs in the rat embryonic tissue. The oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) set-up was used as a cell injury model. Immunofluorescent staining was used for identification of NSCs and subsequent observation of their proliferation and glial-like directed differentiation. Nestin expression was the marker for the presence of NSCs among the cortical cells of embryonic rat brain. The optimum dose of ginsenoside-Rg1 for proliferation of NSCs was 0.32 µg/ml. The optimum window time of 0.32 µg/ml ginsenoside-Rg1 administration on proliferation of NSCs was 6 h. Ginsenoside-Rg1 at 0.32 µg/ml concentration promoted incorporation of bromo-2-deoxyuridine, and expression of nestin and vimentin in primary and passaged NSCs, and NSCs following OGD. Ginsenoside-Rg1 had a role in promoting proliferation and glial-like-directed differentiation of cortical NSCs. The plausible explanation for these responses is that ginsenoside-Rg1 acts similarly to the growth factors to promote the proliferation and differentiation of NSCs.

Isolation, Purification and Quantification of Ginsenoside F₅ and F₃ Isomeric Compounds from Crude Extracts of Flower Buds of Panax ginseng

In this paper, the isolation, purification and quantification of ginsenoside F₅ and F₃ isomeric compounds from crude extracts of flower buds of Panax ginseng (CEFBPG) was investigated by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) for the first time. The satisfied separation at analytical scale was achieved using a Zorbax Eclipse XDB C-18 column with a ternary mobile phase of acetonitrile–water–phosphoric acid (28:71:1) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min within 40 min. UV detection was set at 203 nm. Ginsenoside F₅ and F₃ was 4.21 mg and 5.13 mg in 1 g flower buds of P. ginseng (FBPG), respectively. The preparation of ginsenoside F₅ and F₃ at semi-preparative scale was performed by using a Daisogel C-18 column and gradient elution system of acetonitrile–water (32:68 → 28:72) at a flow rate of 10 mL/min with a sample load of 20–30 mg, and yielded ginsenosides in purity of more than 96%. Their structures were characterized by NMR and high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HRESIMS). All the method validations showed acceptable limits. The results indicate a new source to obtain ginsenoside F₅ and F₃, and show that the method developed here appears to be reliable for simultaneously preparing them from CEFBPG.

Recent methodology in ginseng analysis

As much as the popularity of ginseng in herbal prescriptions or remedies, ginseng has become the focus of research in many scientific fields. Analytical methodologies for ginseng, referred to as ginseng analysis hereafter, have been developed for bioactive component discovery, phytochemical profiling, quality control, and pharmacokinetic studies. This review summarizes the most recent advances in ginseng analysis in the past half-decade including emerging techniques and analytical trends. Ginseng analysis includes all of the leading analytical tools and serves as a representative model for the analytical research of herbal medicines.