An Improved LC-MS/MS Method for Simultaneous Determination of the Eleven Bioactive Constituents for Quality Control of Radix Angelicae Pubescentis and Its Related Preparations

Overview of Recent Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry-Based Methods for Natural Toxins Detection in Food Products

Natural toxins include a wide range of toxic metabolites also occurring in food and products, thus representing a risk for consumer health. In the last few decades, several robust and sensitive analytical methods able to determine their occurrence in food have been developed. Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry is the most powerful tool for the simultaneous detection of these toxins due to its advantages in terms of sensitivity and selectivity. A comprehensive review on the most relevant papers on methods based on liquid chromatography mass spectrometry for the analysis of mycotoxins, alkaloids, marine toxins, glycoalkaloids, cyanogenic glycosides and furocoumarins in food is reported herein. Specifically, a literature search from 2011 to 2021 was carried out, selecting a total of 96 papers. Different approaches to sample preparation, chromatographic separation and detection mode are discussed. Particular attention is given to the analytical performance characteristics obtained in the validation process and the relevant application to real samples.

A Review of the Botany, Traditional Use, Phytochemistry, Analytical Methods, Pharmacological Effects, and Toxicity of Angelicae Pubescentis Radix

Angelicae Pubescentis Radix (AP), as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been used for thousands of years in China. In this paper, the botany, traditional use, phytochemistry, analytical methods, quality control, pharmacological effects, and toxicity of AP were reviewed. It can provide a reference for the further research and lay a foundation for the rational clinical application of AP. The relevant information on AP was collected from scientific databases (such as Baidu Scholar, CNKI, Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, and SciFinder Scholar), Chinese herbal classics, Chinese Pharmacopoeia, PhD and MSc dissertations, and so on. The components which have been isolated and identified in AP include coumarins, volatile oils, organic acids, terpenes, polysaccharides, flavonoids, sterols, and trace elements. Most of them were analyzed by HPLC and GC. A pharmacological study shows that the AP has extensive pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory, antirheumatism, sedative and hypnotic, neuroprotection, antioxidation, antitumor, and allergy, and it is widely used in the treatment of the rheumatoid arthritis, knee osteoarthritis, lumbar disc, ankylosing spondylitis, headaches, stroke hemiplegia, Alzheimer's, and arrhythmia. AP is a valuable natural medicinal plant. So far, significant advances have been made in phytochemistry and pharmacology. Some traditional uses have been demonstrated by modern pharmacology. However, the chemical components and pharmacological effects of AP are complex and varied, and there are different standards for the evaluation of its quality and efficacy. The mechanism of action, the structure-activity relationship among the components, and the potential synergistic and antagonistic effects remain to be studied. At the same time, there are few studies on the specific compounds related to its pharmacodynamics. In order to better develop and utilize AP, we should establish a more reasonable, reliable, and accurate quality control standard and focus on the study of bioactive constituents and the demonstration of their mechanism of action.

A strategy for qualitative and quantitative profiling of Angelicae Pubescentis Radix and detection of its analgesic and anti-inflammatory components by spectrum-effect relationship and multivariate statistical analysis

This study established a spectrum-effect relationship method for screening and quantifying the analgesic and anti-inflammatory active ingredients in Angelicae Pubescentis Radix (AP) by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole mass spectrometry detector analysis (UPLC-QDA). First, the fingerprint of AP was established to determine the common peaks. Next, six batches of AP samples, with significant differences, were selected for evaluation of pharmacological activity. Subsequently, the spectrum-effect relationship was used to screen the active ingredients. Finally, the screened ingredients were quantified using UPLC-QDA. In total, 21 common peaks were identified and four effective compounds (bergapten, columbianetin acetate, osthole and isoimperatorin) were selected using the gray relational analysis and partial least squares regression analysis. Quantitative analysis showed that the content of the four effective compounds was the highest in a randomly selected batch, S7 (Hubei). To our knowledge, this is the first attempt that evaluated the quality and spectrum-effect relationship of AP by quantitative analysis and chemometrics. This study identified the key pharmacologically active components of AP and thereby improved the quality evaluation system of AP. This method has broad application prospects for screening effective components and will be helpful in establishing more reliable, scientific and reasonable quality standards for AP and other traditional Chinese medicines.

Progress in Pretreatment and Analytical Methods of Coumarins: An Update since 2012 - A Review

Coumarins are widely used due to their wide range of biological activities, but the long-term or excessive use of coumarin flavors can pose serious health hazards. Therefore, sensitive and specific methods for the quantification of these compounds in different matrices have been developed. In this review, an updated overview of the latest trends in sample preparation techniques and methods used to detect coumarins from March 2012 to April 2019 is provided. This study reviews different analytical methods (such as liquid chromatography coupled with different detectors, electrochemical sensors, capillary electrophoresis, etc.) and different pretreatment methods (such as liquid-liquid extraction, solid-phase extraction, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction, etc.). Different methods for the pretreatment and determination of coumarins in plant, food, environmental, pharmaceutical and biological samples are summarized, discussed and compared.HighlightsProgress in pretreatment and analytical methods of coumarins are summarized.Fundamentals, instrumentation and applications of purification and quantification are summarized and compared.Optimization of experimental conditions are discussed.Newly emerged eco-friendly methods are introduced.

Simultaneous determination of umbelliferone and scopoletin in Tibetan medicine Saussurea laniceps and traditional Chinese medicine Radix angelicae pubescentis using excitation-emission matrix fluorescence coupled with second-order calibration method

A chemometrics-assisted excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence method is presented for simultaneous determination of umbelliferone and scopoletin in Tibetan medicine Saussurea laniceps (SL) and traditional Chinese medicine Radix angelicae pubescentis (RAP). Using the strategy of combining EEM fluorescence data with second-order calibration method based on the alternating trilinear decomposition (ATLD) algorithm, the simultaneous quantification of umbelliferone and scopoletin in the two different complex systems was achieved successfully, even in the presence of potential interferents. The pretreatment is simple due to the "second-order advantage" and the use of "mathematical separation" instead of awkward "physical or chemical separation". Satisfactory results have been achieved with the limits of detection (LODs) of umbelliferone and scopoletin being 0.06ngmL(-1) and 0.16ngmL(-1), respectively. The average spike recoveries of umbelliferone and scopoletin are 98.8±4.3% and 102.5±3.3%, respectively. Besides, HPLC-DAD method was used to further validate the presented strategy, and t-test indicates that prediction results of the two methods have no significant differences. Satisfactory experimental results imply that our method is fast, low-cost and sensitive when compared with HPLC-DAD method.