Advances in the chemical constituents, pharmacological properties and clinical applications of TCM formula Yupingfeng San

Yupingfeng San (YPFS) is a famous and commonly used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, respiratory tract infections, and pneumonia in China. It is composed of three Chinese herbs, including Astragali Radix, Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma and Saposhnikoviae Radix. In this review, the relevant references on YPFS were searched in the Web of Science, PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and other databases. Literatures published from 2000 to 2022 were screened and summarized. The constituents in YPFS could be classified into nine groups according to their structures, including flavonoids, saponins, essential oils, coumarins, lactones, amino acids, organic acids, saccharides, chromones and others. The importance of chemical constituents in YPFS were demonstrated for specific pathological processes including immunoregulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and pulmonary diseases. This article systematically reviewed the up-to-date information on its chemical compositions, pharmacology and safety, that could be used as essential data and reference for clinical applications of YPFS.

Quality Control of Radix Astragali (The Root of Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus) Along Its Value Chains

Radix Astragali (RA), the root of Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus (Bunge) P.K. Hsiao, known as "Huangqi" in Chinese, has been used as a traditional herbal medicine or food in China for more than 2,000 years and is now consumed globally. Unfortunately, the increasing demand for RA has led to the overexploitation of its wild stock, as well as quality problems, including adulteration and contamination. Therefore, the sustainable cultivation of RA is urgently needed. In the present research, semi-structured interviews and key informant interviews were conducted, over a 2-year period, to collect data from stakeholders in the main production areas; moreover, a targeted chemical analysis-based quality assessment strategy was applied to understand the quality of RA. Accordingly, 10 different types of value chains (VCs) were identified in RA production; meanwhile, the contents of the main active ingredients (astragaloside and calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside) were analyzed by HPLC-ELSD-UV and the yield of medicinal material was demined and further analyzed using k-means clustering analysis. The results show that the tight relationship between quality of the RA and stakeholders' revenues among the VCs, which reflects a more general trend in the production system. Over the past few decades, vertical coordination has emerged increasingly in VCs of RA, which leads to a more coherent traceability system and rigorous regulations in the supply chains. Daodi herbs can be considered to be a standard that is distinctive with good quality characteristics that emphasize the origins of the medicinal plants. We find that the suitability of geographical areas and vertical integration can improve the VCs of RA, which further contributes to its quality control, as well as its sustainable production.

Rapid identification model based on decision tree algorithm coupling with 1H NMR and feature analysis by UHPLC-QTOFMS spectrometry for sandalwood

Sandalwood is one of the most valuable woods in the world. However, today's counterfeits are widespread, it is difficult to distinguish authenticity. In this paper, similar genus (Dalbergia and Pterocarpus) and confused species (Gluta sp.) of sandalwood were quickly and efficiently identified. Rapid identification model based on ¹H NMR and decision tree (DT) algorithm was firstly developed for the identification of sandalwood, and the accuracy was improved by introducing the AdaBoost algorithm. The accuracy of the final model was above 95%. And the feature components between different species of sandalwood were further explored using UHPLC-QTOFMS and NMR spectrometry. The results showed that 183 compounds were identified, among which 99 were known components, 84 were unknown components. The ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR signals of 505 samples were assigned, among them, 14 compounds were attributed, characteristic chemical shift intervals with great differences in the model were analysed. Furthermore, the fragmentation pattern of different compounds from sandalwood, in both positive and negative ion ESI modes, was summarized. The results showed a potential and rapid tool based on DT, NMR spectroscopy and UHPLC-QTOFMS, which had performed great potential for rapid identification and feature analysis of sandalwood.

Chromatographic Fingerprint Analysis of Radix Hedysari Using Supercritical Fluid Chromatography Coupled with Diode Array Detector

A newly and rapid supercritical fluid chromatography method for the simultaneous determination of 11 active compounds in Radix Hedysari samples has been developed and validated. Optimum separation was achieved on a HSS SB C18 column with a gradient elution at a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min, back pressure of 11.03 Mpa and diode array detector at 260 nm. The results from the quantitative data showed that contents of these 11 active compounds were different from plant regions. Especially the contents of formononetin in the Minxian county are ~6-fold than in wild Radix Hedysari. The chromatographic fingerprint of Radix Hedysari was recorded under the same chromatographic condition. Data analytic procedure was performed to differentiate the 25 batches of Radix Hedysari samples. Data from chromatographic fingerprint were also analyzed using hierarchical cluster analysis. The results showed that 23 batches of Radix Hedysari samples had a high similarity (> 0.90) and overall 25 batches of sample were divided into two clusters. Moreover, according to the comparison contents of active compounds in each Radix Hedysari samples, the cultivated location of Radix Hedysari was successfully distinguished. This method presented good stability, repeatability and precision and would be a useful and reliable approach for the quality control of Radix Hedysari. Moreover, all target compounds were quantified by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Isorhamnetin inhibited migration and invasion via suppression of Akt/ERK-mediated epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in A549 human non-small-cell lung cancer cells

In the present study, we investigated the potential effects of Isorhamnetin on the growth and metastasis of A549 human lung cancer cells, as well as the underlying mechanism. Treatment with Isorhamnetin exhibited a dose- and time-dependent inhibition on A549 cell proliferation. Furthermore, the cell adhesion and Transwell assay showed that treatment with Isorhamnetin (2.5, 5, and 10 μM) for 48 h resulted in a significant inhibition effect on cell adhesion, invasion and migration of A549 cells, depending on concentration, which was associated with the suppression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 activity and protein expression. Moreover, Isorhamnetin effectively suppressed the expressions of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, as evidenced by the down-regulation of N-cadherin, vimentin and snail, as well as up-regulation of E-cadherin protein expression. Additionally, these inhibitions were mediated by interrupting AKT/ERK1/2 signaling pathways. Taken together, the results of the current study demonstrated that Isorhamnetin may become a good anti-metastastic agent against lung cancer A549 cell line by the suppression of EMT via interrupting Akt/ERK1/2 signaling pathway.

Recent development in liquid chromatography stationary phases for separation of Traditional Chinese Medicine components

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an ancient medical practice which has been used to prevent and cure diseases for thousands of years. TCMs are frequently multi-component systems with mainly unidentified constituents. The study of the chemical compositions of TCMs remains a hotspot of research. Different strategies have been developed to manage the significant complexity of TCMs, in an attempt to determine their constituents. Reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) is still the method of choice for the separation of TCMs, but has many problems related to limited selectivity. Recently, enormous efforts have been concentrated on the development of efficient liquid chromatography (LC) methods for TCMs, based on selective stationary phases. This can improve the resolution and peak capacity considerably. In addition, high-efficiency stationary phases have been applied in the analysis of TCMs since the invention of ultra high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC). This review describes the advances in LC methods in TCM research from 2010 to date, and focuses on novel stationary phases. Their potential in the separation of TCMs using relevant applications is also demonstrated.

Integrated LC-MS/MS Analytical Systems and Physical Inspection for the Analysis of a Botanical Herbal Preparation

The herbal decoction process is generally inconvenient and unpleasant. To avoid using herbal medicine decoctions, various high-quality industrial and pharmaceutical herbal decoction products have been used in clinical applications for more than ten years in Taiwan. However, the consistency and standardization of the quality of these herbal medicines are goals that remain to be achieved. The aim of study was to develop a validated liquid chromatography-tandem electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method to determine the biomarkers astragaloside I, astragaloside IV, formononetin, cinnamic acid, paeoniflorin and gingerol in the herbal preparation known as Huangqi-Guizhi-Wuwu (HGW). To investigate the physical quality of HGW, methods such as scanning electron microscopy, light microscopy with Congo red and potassium iodine staining, solubility measurements, swelling power tests, and crude fiber analysis were used to identify additives in commercial pharmaceutical products. The optimal LC-MS/MS multiple reaction-monitoring system included a gradient program using 5 mM ammonium acetate buffer with 0.05% formic acid/methanol. The results demonstrate deviations in biomarker content across different brands. In addition to the herbal extract, starch and excipients in the pharmaceutical granule, and crushed crude herb powder was added to the pharmaceutical products to increase their herbal ingredient content. In conclusion, a rigorous examination should be performed to certify the quality of the herbal products.

High-throughput analysis and characterization of Astragalus membranaceus transcriptome using 454 GS FLX

Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge (AR), one of the most important medicinal plants in Asia, was found to exhibit various bioactivities. Due to limited genomic and transcriptomic data, the biosynthetic pathway of the major bioactive compound in AR, is currently unclear. In this study, 454 GS FLX technology was employed to produce a substantial expressed sequence tag (EST) dataset from the AR. In all, 742721 high-quality reads from the AR were produced using Roche GS FLX Titanium. A total of 9893 unique sequences were obtained and annotated by a similarity search against the public databases, and involved in the secondary metabolic pathway, which would facilitate deciphering the molecular mechanism of secondary metabolism in AR. The assembled sequences were annotated with gene names and Gene Ontology (GO) terms. GO revealed the unique sequences that could be assigned to 34 vocabularies. In the KEGG mapping, unique sequences were established as associated with 46 biochemical pathways. These results provided the largest EST collections in AR and will contribute to biosynthetic and biochemical studies that lead to drug improvement. With respect to the genes related to metabolism and biosynthesis pathway were also found. Our work demonstrated the utility of 454 GS FLX as a method for the rapid and cost-effective identification of AR transcriptome, and this EST dataset will be a powerful resource for further studies such as taxonomy, molecular breeding, and secondary metabolism in AR.