Matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction and quantification of alpinetin in amomum seed using validated HPLC and HPTLC methods

UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS-Based Metabolomics Reveals Chemical Variations of Two Types of Rhizomes of Polygonatum sibiricum

The rhizomes of Polygonatum sibiricum are commonly consumed as food and also used as medicine. However, the metabolic profile of P. sibiricum has not been fully revealed yet. Recently, we developed a novel evergreen species of P. sibiricum. The objectives of this study were to compare the metabolic profiles of two types of P. sibiricum, i.e., the newly developed evergreen type (Gtype) and a wide-type (Wtype), by using UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS-based untargeted metabolomics approach. A total of 263 and 258 compounds in the positive and negative modes of the mass spectra were tentatively identified. Distinctively different metabolomic profiles of these two types of P. sibiricum were also revealed by principal component analysis (PCA) and principal coordinates analysis (PCoA). Furthermore, by using partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) modeling, it was found that, as compared with Wtype, Gtype samples had significantly higher content of oxyberberine, proliferin, alpinetin, and grandisin. On the other hand, 15 compounds, including herniarin, kaempferol 7-neohesperidoside, benzyl beta-primeveroside, vanillic acid, biochanin A, neoschaftoside, benzyl gentiobioside, cornuside, hydroxytyrosol-glucuronide, apigenin-pentosyl-glucoside, obacunone, 13-alpha-(21)-epoxyeurycomanone, vulgarin, digitonin, and 3-formylindole, were discovered to have higher abundance in Wtype samples. These distinguishing metabolites suggest the different beneficial health potentials and flavor attributes of the two types of P. sibiricum rhizomes.

Alpinetin: a Dietary Flavonoid with Diverse Anticancer Effects

Cancer is  a global burden and mechanistically complex disease with a plethora of genetic, physiological, metabolic, and environmental alterations. The development of dietary nutraceuticals into cancer chemotherapeutics has emerged as a new paradigm in cancer treatment. Alpinetin (ALPI) is a novel flavonoid component of multiple edible and medicinal plants and possesses a wide range of biological and pharmacological activities including antibacterial, anti-hemostatic, anti-oxidative, anti-hepatotoxic, stomachic, immunosuppressive, and anti-inflammatory. Recently, ALPI has been reported as a bioactive dietary nutraceutical with promising anticancer activity in various human cancers through multiple mechanisms. The purpose of this review is to compile the data on natural sources of ALPI, and its anticancer activity including cellular targets and anticancer mechanism in various human cancers. Moreover, this review will set the stage for further design and conduct pre-clinical and clinical trials to develop ALPI into a lead structure for oncological therapy.

Alpinetin: A Review of Its Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics

Flavonoids isolated from medicinal herbs have been utilized as valuable health-care agents due to their virous biological applications. Alpinetin is a natural flavonoid that emerges in many widely used medicinal plants, and has been frequently applied in Chinese patent drugs. Accumulated evidence has demonstrated that alpinetin possesses a broad range of pharmacological activities such as antitumor, antiinflammation, hepatoprotective, cardiovascular protective, lung protective, antibacterial, antiviral, neuroprotective, and other properties through regulating multiple signaling pathways with low systemic toxicity. However, pharmacokinetic studies have documented that alpinetin may have poor oral bioavailability correlated to its extensive glucuronidation. Currently, the reported pharmacological properties and pharmacokinetics profiles of alpinetin are rare to be scientifically reviewed. In this article, we aimed to highlight the mechanisms of action of alpinetin in various diseases to strongly support its curative potentials for prospective clinical applications. We also summarized the pharmacokinetics properties and proposed some viable strategies to convey an appreciable reference for future advances of alpinetin in drug development.

Quantification and pharmacokinetics of alpinetin in rat plasma by UHPLC-MS/MS using protein precipitation coupled with dilution approach to eliminate matrix effects

Alpinetin, a bioactive flavonoid, has attracted great attention due to its diverse therapeutic effects, namely anti-oxidant, anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory effects with low systemic toxicity. Various determination methods have been developed in quality control and plant chemistry areas. However, quantification and pharmacokinetics of alpinetin in biological matrix have not been studied. In the present research, a sensitive, efficient and reliable ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method for the determination of alpinetin in rat plasma was developed and validated. Plasma samples were processed with protein precipitation (PP) followed by a 5-fold acetonitrile/water (50:50, v/v) dilution to significantly decrease matrix effect which exited in one step PP method. Determination of alpinetin was conducted using positive electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in multiple reaction monitoring mode. Results demonstrated that the method was precise (3.3%-12.3%), accurate (-5.8% to 10.8%) and linear in the range of 1-1000 ng/mL. The new developed method was subsequently applied to a pharmacokinetic research of alpinetin following oral and intravenous dosing to healthy Sprague-Dawley rats. Alpinetin was demonstrated rapid absorption after oral administration with an absolute bioavailability of ∼15.1% and extensive distribution after dosing.