Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry of Desoxo-Narchinol a and Its Pharmacokinetics and Oral Bioavailability in Rats and Mice

A review on traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and the analytical methods of the genus Nardostachys

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The plants of the genus Nardostachys (Caprifoliaceae) have been used for a long history in different cultural systems of medicine, including Chinese, Ayurvedic, Korean folk medicine and Islamic, for treatments of disorders in nervous, digestive, cardiovascular and integumentary systems.

AIM OF THE REVIEW

This review aims to provide comprehensive information on Nardostachys plants including botany update, traditional uses, data mining of uses in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and current Chinese medicinal patents, chemical constituents, pharmacological effects, toxicity and analytical method studies.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Studies of the genus Nardostachys were collected via Google Scholar and Baidu Scholar, ScienceDirect, SciFinder, Wiley Online Library, ACS Publications, NLM/NCBI, Web of Science, CNKI, WANFANG DATA, EMBASE, Huabeing database and Traditional Chinese Medicine Resource Network and libraries. Some local books, PhD or MS's dissertations were also included. The literatures cited in this review covered the period from 1962 to March 2021. The Plant List and Kew Herbarium Catalogue databases were used to authenticate the scientific name.

RESULTS

Botany description of Nardostachys genus is updated. Analysis of the literatures indicates that Nardostachys species are valuable herbs with therapeutic potentials for various disorders. Data mining on ancient TCM prescriptions and current Chinese medicinal patents containing Nardostachys revealed its common compatibility with other herbs in China. Phytochemical studies identified terpenoids and phenolic compounds as the main constituents in the genus Nardostachys and sesquiterpenoids as the major bioactive components. Experimental studies demonstrated that crude extracts, major fractions and the main constituents from Nardostachys species mainly exhibited pharmacological activities on nervous, digestive, cardiovascular and skin systems. Further, in vivo and in vitro toxicological studies demonstrated that Nardostachys plants showed either no or low toxicities, except at high doses. Finally, methods of qualitative and quantitative analyses on chemical constituents of genus Nardostachys were summarized, including TLC/HPTLC, GC and HPLC/UPLC methods, combined with common detectors including PDA, DAD and MS.

CONCLUSIONS

This review summarizes the progress on phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and analytical methods of the genus Nardostachys. Studies demonstrate traditional uses of the genus Nardostachys, and reveal novel bioactive effects for clinical uses. These achievements expand our knowledge on the genus Nardostachys and its clinical value.

Assessment of a developed HPLC-MS/MS approach for determining plasma eupatorin in rats and its application in pharmacokinetics analysis

Eupatorin, a bioactive compound extracted from Java tea (Orthosiphon stamineus), possesses potent anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and vasodilation activities. To date, no pharmacokinetics studies on eupatorin have yet been performed. Here, we established and validated a sensitive and selective LC-MS/MS (liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry) approach for determining plasma eupatorin in rats. Chromatographic fractionation was conducted on a Wonda Cract ODS-2 C18 Column (4.6 mm × 150 mm, 5 μm) with a mobile phase containing aqueous 0.1% formic acid and acetonitrile using a flow rate of 0.8 ml min⁻¹. In multiple reaction monitoring mode, precursor-to-product ion transitions for quantification of eupatorin and the internal standard were set at 343.1 → 328.1 and 252.0 → 155.9, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy were found to be below 6.72% and within ±8.26% in rat plasma, respectively. Meanwhile, all values of the matrix effect, recovery and stability were within the accepted ranges. Furthermore, we carried out the pharmacokinetic analysis using the developed method. The pharmacokinetic study revealed that while the C_max (maximum plasma concentration) of eupatorin and time for reaching the C_max (T_max) were 974.886 ± 293.898 μg L⁻¹ and 0.25 h, respectively, the half-life was 0.353 ± 0.026 h. This study will be of great significance to the research on the pharmacology, clinical pharmacy and drug action mechanism of eupatorin.

Eupatorin, a bioactive compound extracted from Java tea (Orthosiphon stamineus), possesses potent anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and vasodilation activities.

The development and validation of an HPLC-MS/MS method for the determination of eriocitrin in rat plasma and its application to a pharmacokinetic study

Eriocitrin is one of the major active constituents of lemon fruit, and it possesses strong antioxidant, lipid-lowering, anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities and has long been used in food, beverages and wine.