UPLC-MS/MS Determination of Chlorogenic Acid, Hyperoside and Astragalin in Plasma and its Pharmacokinetic Application in Liver Injury Rats

A study for quality evaluation of Lysimachiae herba from different origins based on fingerprint-activity relationship modeling and multi-component content determination

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Lysimachiae Herba (LH), called Jinqiancao in Chinese, is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine in clinical practice. Doctors in the Qing Dynasty recorded that it tastes bitter, sour, and slightly cold, and it belongs to the liver, gallbladder, kidney, and bladder meridians. It has the effects of removing dampness and jaundice, eliminating gallstones, and reducing blood stasis. Because of its potent pharmacological effects, it is extensively utilized in the treatment of hepatobiliary and urinary system stones, jaundice, hepatitis, and cholecystitis. Although LH is included in "Sichuan authentic Chinese herbal medicine records", the quality of it from different origins still lacks reliable evaluation methods, which is difficult to reflect the high quality of LH from Sichuan.

AIMS OF THE STUDY

This study aimed to establish a fingerprint-activity relationship model between the fingerprint of LH and its protective effect on cholestatic liver injury, and to evaluate the quality of LH from Sichuan and Guizhou by multivariate statistical analysis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

20 batches of LH samples were collected from Sichuan and Guizhou. Characteristic fingerprints of samples were established by UHPLC-Triple TOF-MS/MS and the chemical pattern recognition analysis was carried out by HCA. Then, a rat model of cholestatic liver injury was established by intragastric administration of ANIT. Combined with the common peak information of fingerprint and pharmacodynamic index results, GCA and BCA were used to screen the efficacy markers. Finally, based on UHPLC-QTRAP-MS/MS, the content of efficacy markers was simultaneously determined, and the overall quality of LH from two origins was evaluated by PCA and TOPSIS.

RESULTS

In the fingerprint of 20 batches of LH, 15 common peaks were identified in the negative ion mode, and the similarity was between 0.887 and 0.981. Pharmacological results showed that, compared with the control group, the content of AST, ALT, ALP, TBA, TBIL, and MDA in serum increased, and the content of GSH and SOD activity decreased after 48 h of ANIT administration. In addition, compared to the model group, different doses of LH from the two origins could decrease the serum levels of AST, ALT, ALP, TBA, TBIL, and MDA, raise the levels of GSH and SOD activity, reduce the infiltration range of inflammatory cells, and improve the cholestatic liver injury in rats. Among them, the pharmacodynamic indices of the SCHD group were significantly better. GCA and BCA showed that a total of 7 constituents related to the efficacy were screened, which were proanthocyanidin B1, ferulic acid, hyperoside, astragalin, nicotiflorin, afzelin, and kaempferol. Besides, the content of 7 active constituents in samples from Sichuan was higher than that from Guizhou, indicating that the quality of samples from Sichuan may be better, consistent with the result of the pharmacological experiment.

CONCLUSION

The quality and efficacy of LH from different origins were stable, and all of them had protective effects on cholestatic liver injury in rats. The method established in this study is accurate and reliable, and it can be used to comprehensively evaluate the internal quality of LH.

Component Characterization, In Vitro Activities and Molecular Mechanism of Cydonia oblonga Mill. against Diabetic

Cydonia Oblonga Mill. is widely distributed in Turkey, Uzbekistan and China and commonly used by the food industry to produce jam, jelly and candies. The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro antidiabetic activity and anti-diabetic mechanism of Cydonia Oblonga Mill. fruit (COMF). The chemical compositions were further characterized in COMF by UPLC-Q-Orbitrap/MS and 65 components including 22 flavonoids, 16 organic acids, 11 polyphenols, 5 amino acids, 3 pentacyclic triterpenoids and 8 other compounds were identified. The antioxidant activity by DPPH scavenging method and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity were tested. Furthermore, we detected the effects of COMF extract on the proliferation activity of HUVECs, cell viability of HUVECs under H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress, and NO production. Then, molecular docking activity and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of seven key flavonoid components selected by bioinformatics analysis and literature in the COMF were studied. Among them, quercetin showed potent inhibitory activity, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, luteolin and apigenin demonstrated moderate inhibitory activity, while rutin and epicatechin exhibited poor inhibitory activity. Subsequently, the effects of quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, leteolin and apigenin on the gene expression levels of AKT1, IL-6 and VEGFA were verified by real-time fluorescence quantification (RT-qPCR). Molecular biology result showed that different active ingredients can significantly recover the levels of AKT1, IL-6 and VEGFA in HUVECs injured by high glucose.

Hyperoside: A Review of Its Structure, Synthesis, Pharmacology, Pharmacokinetics and Toxicity

Hyperoside is an active ingredient in plants, such as Hypericum monogynum in Hypericaceae, Crataegus pinnatifida in Rosaceae and Polygonum aviculare in Polygonaceae. Its pharmacologic effects include preventing cancer and protecting the brain, neurons, heart, kidneys, lung, blood vessels, bones, joints and liver, among others. Pharmacokinetic analysis of hyperoside has revealed that it mainly accumulates in the kidney. However, long-term application of high-dose hyperoside should be avoided in clinical practice because of its renal toxicity. This review summarises the structure, synthesis, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and toxicity of hyperoside.