Aidi Qi

A UPLC–MS/MS method for in vivo and in vitro pharmacokinetic studies of psoralenoside, isopsoralenoside, psoralen and isopsoralen from Psoralea corylifolia extract

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE The dried fruit of Psoralea corylifolia L. has been used to prevent and treat vitiligo, osteoporosis, arthralgia and asthma in Traditional Chinese Medicine for some 1600 years. Psoralen (P), isopsoralen (IP), psoralenoside (PO) and isopsoralenoside (IPO) are the major coumarins and coumarin-related benzofuran glycosides in Psoraleae Fructus, which have been reported to show estrogen-like activity, osteoblastic proliferation accelerating activity, antitumor effects and antibacterial activity. The first aim of this study is to develop a rapid, sensitive and selective ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) approach for simultaneous determination of PO, IPO, P and IP in rat plasma and samples collected from in vitro incubation experiments. The second aim is to investigate the pharmacokinetic properties of PO, IPO, P and IP after oral administration of Psoralea corylifolia extract (PCE) to rats. The third aim is to confirm the biotransformation of PO to P or IPO to IP under gastrointestinal conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS A UPLC-MS/MS method with a C18 column and a mobile phase of methanol-0.1% aqueous formic acid was validated according to the criteria in FDA guidelines about bioanalytical method, which was developed to investigate the pharmacokinetic behavior of PO, IPO, P and IP from PCE and the metabolic pathways of PO to P or IPO to IP. RESULTS The criteria for establishment of a new UPLC-MS/MS method including selectivity, linearity, accuracy, precision, extraction recovery, matrix effect and stability were validated. This method was successfully applied to the quantitative determination of PO, IPO, P and IP in biological samples collected from both in vitro incubations and in vivo rat experiments. After oral administration of PCE to rat, pharmacokinetic parameters of these four compounds indicated that in vivo biotransformation may occur between PO and P or IPO and IP. Purified benzofuran glycosides fraction (PBGF), containing only PO and IPO, was orally administered to rats to further confirm the biotransformation of PO to P or IPO to IP under gastrointestinal conditions. An in vitro incubation study elucidated that PO and IPO were metabolized to P and IP by intestinal microflora through de-glucosylation. CONCLUSIONS This paper developed a rapid, sensitive and selective UPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of PO, IPO, P and IP from PCE in biological samples, and investigated on their comprehensive in vivo and in vitro pharmacokinetic studies. These obtained results showed that the metabolism by intestinal bacteria plays an important role in pharmacological effects of orally administered PCE.

Characterization and quantification of major constituents of Xue Fu Zhu Yu by UPLC-DAD-MS/MS.

Xue Fu Zhu Yu (XFZY), a classic recipe in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been demonstrated to show protective effects on cardiovascular system. For quality control of XFZY products, qualitative analysis using ultra high performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detector-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-DAD-MS) was undertaken. Twenty-eight compounds from XFZY were simultaneously detected; among them, seventeen compounds were unequivocally identified, and another eight compounds were tentatively characterized. According to qualitative results, a new method for quantitative analysis of XFZY has been established by ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detector (UPLC-DAD). Twelve representative compounds unequivocally identified were used as chemical markers in quantitative analysis, including 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (5-HMF), hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA), amygdalin, albiflorin, paeoniflorin, liquiritin, ferulic acid (FA), naringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin (NH), isoliquiritigenin (IL) and glycyrrhizic acid (GA), which were derived from nine of eleven herbs of XFZY except Platycodon grandiflorum (Jacq.) A. DC. (Jiegeng) and Bupleurum chinense DC. (Chaihu). This UPLC method was validated in terms of linearity, LOD and LOQ, precision, repeatability, stability, and recovery tests. Quality control of XFZY products in total fourteen samples by four dosage forms was examined by this method, and results confirmed its feasibility and reliability in practice.

Paraquat detoxification with p-sulfonatocalix-[4]arene by a pharmacokinetic study.

The p-sulfonatocalix[n]arenes are supposed to show potential application in the clinical treatment of viologen poisoning. In the present study, p-sulfonatocalix[4]arene (C4AS), the most common derivative of p-sulfonatocalix[n]arenes, is used to study the antidotic mechanism for paraquat (PQ) by pharmacokinetics in vivo. A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was established to determine the concentration of PQ in rat plasma. The results showed that the peak plasma concentration (C(max)) and area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC(0-t)) were significantly lower after C4AS intervention than in the PQ intoxication group. It was considered that C4AS has great effective detoxication to PQ poisoning, and the results of in vitro intestinal absorption studies showed that C4AS can inhibit the absorption of PQ via oral administration by forming a stable inclusion constant.

Combination of counterpropagation artificial neural networks and antioxidant activities for comprehensive evaluation of associated-extraction efficiency of various cyclodextrins in the traditional Chinese formula Xue-Zhi-Ning

Xue-Zhi-Ning (XZN) is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine formula to treat hyperlipidemia. Recently, cyclodextrins (CDs) have been extensively used to minimize problems relative to medicine bioavailability, such as low solubility and poor stability. The objective of this study was to determine the associated-extraction efficiency of various CDs in XZN. Three various type CDs were evaluated, including native CDs (α-CD, β-CD), hydrophilic CD derivatives (HP-β-CD and Me-β-CD), and ionic CD derivatives (SBE-β-CD and CM-β-CD). An ultra high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) fingerprint was applied to determine the components in CD extracts and original aqueous extract (OAE). A counterpropagation artificial neural network (CP-ANN) was used to analyze the components in different extracts and compare the selective extraction of various CDs. Extraction efficiencies of the various CDs in terms of extracted components follow the ranking, ionic CD derivatives>hydrophilic CD derivatives>native CDs>OAE. Besides, different types of CDs have their own selective extraction and ionic CD derivatives present the strongest associated-extraction efficiency. Antioxidant potentials of various extracts were evaluated by determining the inhibition of spontaneous, H2O2-induced, CCl4-induced and Fe(2+)/ascorbic acid-induced lipid peroxidation (LPO) and analyzing the scavenging capacity for DPPH and hydroxyl radicals. The order of extraction efficiencies of the various CDs relative to antioxidant activities is as follows: SBE-β-CD>CM-β-CD>HP-β-CD>Me-β-CD>β-CD>α-CD. It can be demonstrated that all of the CDs studied increase the extraction efficiency and that ionic CD derivatives (SBE-β-CD and CM-β-CD) present the highest extraction capability in terms of amount extracted and antioxidant activities of extracts.