Xin-Yue Xiao

Serum metabonomics study of adenine-induced chronic renal failure in rats by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

An ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC Q-TOF MS) metabonomics approach was employed to study the serum metabolic profiling of adenine-induced chronic renal failure (CRF) rats. Acquired data were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) for differentiating the CRF and the normal control groups. Potential biomarkers were screened by using S-plot and were identified by the accurate mass, isotopic pattern and MS/MS fragments information obtained from UPLC Q-TOF MS analysis. Significant differences in the serum level of creatinine, amino acids and LysoPCs were observed, indicating the perturbations of amino acid metabolism and phospholipid metabolism in adenine-induced CRF rats. This research proved that metabonomics is a promising tool for disease research.

Identification of five gelatins by ultra performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS) using principal component analysis

An ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS) method coupled with a principal component analysis (PCA) was developed and applied toward identifying donkey-hide gelatin, bovine-hide gelatin, pig-hide gelatin, tortoise shell glue, and deerhorn glue. The UPLC-MS data of the trypsin digested samples were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) in order to classify these five gelatins. Additionally, marker peptides given by the loadings plot of PCA were identified based on a comparison of recorded LC-MS data with a previously reported database of the corresponding gelatin variants. The results from this study indicate that the proposed method is reliable, and it has been successfully applied to the identification of variants of gelatins commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

Urinary metabolomics and biomarkers of aristolochic acid nephrotoxicity by UPLC-QTOF/HDMS

BACKGROUND Drug-induced nephrotoxicity was one of the most important health problems, with increasing morbidity and mortality. Urinary metabolomics based on ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight high-definition mass spectrometry was applied to aristolochic acid (AA) nephrotoxicity rats to characterize the excretion pathways of endogenous metabolites. RESULTS Compared with the control rats, serum creatinine, serum blood urea nitrogen and urine protein levels were significantly increased in AA nephrotoxicity rats. Metabolomics showed that metabolites including citrate, aconitate, fumarate, glucose, creatinine, p-cresyl sulfate, indoxyl sulfate, hippuric acid, phenylacetylglycine, kynurenic acid, indole-3-carboxylic acid, spermine, uric acid, allantoin, cholic acid and taurine were identified in AA nephrotoxicity rats. CONCLUSION The identified metabolites suggested that AA nephrotoxicity rats occurred perturbations in Krebs cycle, gut microflora metabolism, amino acid metabolism, purine metabolism and bile acid biosynthesis.

Euphorbia kansui roots induced-diarrhea in mice correlates with inflammatory response

AIM Euphorbia kansui (E. KS) is a traditional medicine used in China for thousands of years with the effect of propulsion in the gastrointestines. However, there is no reported study of E. KS on gastrointestinal motility until now. The aim of this work is to study the effect of E. KS on the propulsion of gastrointestines, and to elucidate the possible mechanism of action. METHODS E.KS was prepared as a 30% ethanol extract and used for the experiment of small and large intestines of mice by oral administration with three different dosages (1.2, 0.6 and 0.3 g·kg(-1)). The feces were observed in vivo. The morphology was carried out to detect if there are any changes in the intestines after the extract of E. KS administration. The assays of mRNA and protein expression were employed to observe IL-1β, TNFα and caspase 3. RESULTS It was shown that the extract of E.KS promoted diarrhea in mouse feces after administration, inhibited the contraction of smooth muscle of mouse small intestine and caused the inflammatory exudation on the mucosa of the intestines, enhanced the expression of both mRNA and the protein levels of IL-1β and TNFα in the small or large intestines. CONCLUSION The results showed that the extract of E. KS acted on the intestinal smooth muscle with propulsion of feces involving the irritation of the intestines with acute inflammatory reactions.

PHARMACOKINETICS, BIOAVAILABILITY, AND METABOLISM OF 2,3,5,4′-TETRAHYDROXYSTILBENE-2-O-β-D-GLUCOSIDE IN RATS BY ULTRA-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY–QUADRUPOLE TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS SPECTROMETRY AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY-ULTRAVIOLET DETECTION

2,3,5,4′-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-D-glucoside (THSG), a natural product purified from the Chinese medical herb Polygoni multiflori Radix, has been demonstrated to possess many pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and antitumor properties. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) methods were developed for the pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, absorption, and metabolism studies of THSG in rats following a single intravenous or oral administration. The metabolites (M1 and M2) were identified in plasma by UPLC-Q-TOF/MS. The concentrations of the THSG in rat plasma, and bile, urine, or feces samples were determined by HPLC-UV. The results show THSG was rapidly absorbed within 30 min in plasma. Absolute bioavailability of THSG was 40%. Total recovery of unchanged THSG within 24 hr were low (0.041% in bile, 0.06% in feces), whereas the amount of unchanged THSG excreted in the urine within 24 hr was lower than LLOQ.

Using the Doubly Charged Selected Ion Coupled with MS/MS Fragments Monitoring (DCSI-MS/MS) Mode for the Identification of Gelatin Species.

In electrospray ionization (ESI) mode, peptides and proteins can be multiply charged ions; in this situation a doubly charged selected ion (DCSI) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS/MS) fragments monitoring (DCSI-MS/MS) method is the most suitable scanning mode to detect known peptides in complex samples when an ion-trap mass spectrometer is the instrument used for the analysis. In this mode, the MS detector is programmed to only select a doubly charged ion as a precursor and to perform continuous MS/MS on one or more of the selected precursors, either during a specific time interval or along the whole chromatographic run. Gelatin is a mixture of high molecular weight polypeptides from the hydrolysis of collagen. In this study, the DCSI-MS/MS monitoring mode was applied to the detection of previously characterized species-specific peptides from different gelatins. The proposed methodology makes use of tryptic digestion for sample preparation and peptide separation and identification by rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled to an ion trap working in the DCSI-MS/MS mode for the analysis. This methodology was applied to the differential classification of five commercial, homological species of gelatins and proved to be an excellent tool for gelatin product authentication.

Quantitative analysis of trace level asbestos in pharmaceutical talc by powder X-ray diffraction

As a traditional Chinese medicine and excipient, talc is widely used in medical and pharmaceutical fields. It may be contaminated with asbestos (including tremolite and chrysotile). Asbestos is known to be a carcinogen and it can cause lung cancer. Therefore, it is important to determine the concentration of asbestos in talc. This paper reports the use of powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) technology to establish a trace level concentration detection of asbestos in traditional medicinal talc at 0.3 to 0.8%. The results show that the method is reliable, sensitive and suitable for its intended use of detecting trace levels of asbestos in the talc. Among the fifty-four talc samples, nine of them were found to contain asbestos and were disqualified. The passing rate of the test is 83.3%, which means it is necessary to establish an effective method to determine trace level asbestos in talc.