Bergenin Alleviates Ulcerative Colitis By Decreasing Gut Commensal Bacteroides vulgatus-Mediated Elevated Branched-Chain Amino Acids.

Ulcerative colitis is closely associated with the dysregulation of gut microbiota. There is growing evidence that natural products may improve ulcerative colitis by regulating the gut microbiota. In this research, we demonstrated that bergenin, a naturally occurring isocoumarin, significantly ameliorates colitis symptoms in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced mice. Transcriptomic analysis and Caco-2 cell assays revealed that bergenin could ameliorate ulcerative colitis by inhibiting TLR4 and regulating NF-κB and mTOR phosphorylation. 16S rRNA sequencing and metabolomics analyses revealed that bergenin could improve gut microbiota dysbiosis by decreasing branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) levels. BCAA intervention mediated the mTOR/p70S6K signaling pathway to exacerbate the symptoms of ulcerative colitis in mice. Notably, bergenin greatly decreased the symbiotic bacteria Bacteroides vulgatus (B. vulgatus), and the gavage of B. vulgatus increased BCAA concentrations and aggravated the symptoms of ulcerative colitis in mice. Our findings suggest that gut microbiota-mediated BCAA metabolism plays a vital role in the protective effect of bergenin on ulcerative colitis, providing novel insights for ulcerative colitis prevention through manipulation of the gut microbiota.

Sinomenine ameliorates rheumatoid arthritis by modulating tryptophan metabolism and activating aryl hydrocarbon receptor via gut microbiota regulation.

Gut microbiota dysbiosis is associated with the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Sinomenine (SIN) is an effective immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory drug used for treating RA, but how SIN regulates gut microbiota to alleviate RA remains underexplored. To identify the critical gut microbial species and microbial metabolites associated with the RA-protective effects of SIN, the microbiota-dependent anti-RA effects of SIN were assessed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, antibiotic treatment, and fecal microbiota transplantation. Metabolomics analysis, transcriptional analysis, and targeted bacteria/metabolites gavage were conducted to explore how SIN regulates gut microbiota to reduce the severity of RA. SIN could restore intestinal microbial balance by mainly modulating the abundance of Lactobacillus, and significantly relieve collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) symptoms in a gut microbiota-dependent manner. SIN significantly elevated microbial tryptophan metabolites indole-3-acrylic acid (IA), indole-3-propionic acid (IPA), and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Tryptophan metabolites supplementation could activate aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and regulate Th17/Treg balance in CIA rats. Intriguingly, SIN relieved the arthritis symptoms involving the enrichment of two beneficial anti-CIA Lactobacillus species, L. paracasei and L. casei by mono-colonization. The promising therapeutic function of SIN was mostly attributed to the activation of AhR by explicitly targeting the Lactobacillus and microbial tryptophan metabolites. The intestinal bacterium L. paracasei and L. casei may be used to reduce the severity of CIA.

Engineered bacteria producing aryl-hydrocarbon receptor agonists protect against ethanol-induced liver disease in mice.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Gut bacteria metabolize tryptophan into indoles. Intestinal levels of the tryptophan metabolite indole-3-acetic acid are reduced in patients with alcohol-associated hepatitis. Supplementation of indole-3-acetic acid protects against ethanol-induced liver disease in mice. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of engineered bacteria producing indoles as Aryl-hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr) agonists. METHODS: C57BL/6 mice were subjected to chronic-plus-binge ethanol feeding and orally given PBS, control Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) or engineered EcN-Ahr. The effects of EcN and EcN-Ahr were also examined in mice lacking Ahr in interleukin 22 (Il22)-producing cells. RESULTS: Through the deletion of endogenous genes trpR and tnaA, coupled with overexpression of a feedback-resistant tryptophan biosynthesis operon, EcN-Ahr were engineered to overproduce tryptophan. Additional engineering allowed conversion of this tryptophan to indoles including indole-3-acetic acid and indole-3-lactic acid. EcN-Ahr ameliorated ethanol-induced liver disease in C57BL/6 mice. EcN-Ahr upregulated intestinal gene expression of Cyp1a1, Nrf2, Il22, Reg3b, and Reg3g, and increased Il22-expressing type 3 innate lymphoid cells. In addition, EcN-Ahr reduced translocation of bacteria to the liver. The beneficial effect of EcN-Ahr was abrogated in mice lacking Ahr expression in Il22-producing immune cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that tryptophan metabolites locally produced by engineered gut bacteria mitigate liver disease via Ahr-mediated activation in intestinal immune cells.

Candida albicans-specific Th17 cell-mediated response contributes to alcohol-associated liver disease.

Alcohol-associated liver disease is accompanied by intestinal mycobiome dysbiosis, yet the impacts on liver disease are unclear. We demonstrate that Candida albicans-specific T helper 17 (Th17) cells are increased in circulation and present in the liver of patients with alcohol-associated liver disease. Chronic ethanol administration in mice causes migration of Candida albicans (C. albicans)-reactive Th17 cells from the intestine to the liver. The antifungal agent nystatin decreased C. albicans-specific Th17 cells in the liver and reduced ethanol-induced liver disease in mice. Transgenic mice expressing T cell receptors (TCRs) reactive to Candida antigens developed more severe ethanol-induced liver disease than transgene-negative littermates. Adoptively transferring Candida-specific TCR transgenic T cells or polyclonal C. albicans-primed T cells exacerbated ethanol-induced liver disease in wild-type mice. Interleukin-17 (IL-17) receptor A signaling in Kupffer cells was required for the effects of polyclonal C. albicans-primed T cells. Our findings indicate that ethanol increases C. albicans-specific Th17 cells, which contribute to alcohol-associated liver disease.

IgY antibodies against cytolysin reduce ethanol-induced liver disease in mice.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Patients with severe alcohol-associated hepatitis have high morbidity and mortality. Novel therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. The aims of our study were to confirm the predictive value of cytolysin-positive Enterococcus faecalis ( E. faecalis ) for mortality in patients with alcohol-associated hepatitis and to assess the protective effect of specific chicken immunoglobulin Y (IgY) antibodies against cytolysin in vitro and in a microbiota-humanized mouse model of ethanol-induced liver disease. APPROACH AND RESULTS: We investigated a multicenter cohort of 26 subjects with alcohol-associated hepatitis and confirmed our previous findings that the presence of fecal cytolysin-positive E. faecalis predicted 180-day mortality in those patients. After combining this smaller cohort with our previously published multicenter cohort, the presence of fecal cytolysin has a better diagnostic area under the curve, better other accuracy measures, and a higher odds ratio to predict death in patients with alcohol-associated hepatitis than other commonly used liver disease models. In a precision medicine approach, we generated IgY antibodies against cytolysin from hyperimmunized chickens. Neutralizing IgY antibodies against cytolysin reduced cytolysin-induced cell death in primary mouse hepatocytes. The oral administration of IgY antibodies against cytolysin decreased ethanol-induced liver disease in gnotobiotic mice colonized with stool from cytolysin-positive patients with alcohol-associated hepatitis. CONCLUSIONS: E. faecalis cytolysin is an important mortality predictor in alcohol-associated hepatitis patients, and its targeted neutralization through specific antibodies improves ethanol-induced liver disease in microbiota-humanized mice.

Malassezia restricta promotes alcohol-induced liver injury.

Chronic alcohol consumption is associated with intestinal fungal dysbiosis, yet we understand little about how alterations of intestinal fungi (mycobiota) contribute to the pathogenesis of alcohol-associated liver disease. By reanalyzing internal transcribed spacer 2 amplicon sequencing of fecal samples from a cohort of 66 patients with alcohol use disorder for presence (as opposed to relative abundance) of fungal species, we observed that the presence of Malassezia restricta was associated with increased markers of liver injury. M. restricta exacerbates ethanol-induced liver injury both in acute binge and chronic ethanol-feeding models in mice. Using bone marrow chimeric mice, we found that the disease exacerbating effect by M. restricta was mediated by C-type lectin domain family 4, member N on bone marrow-derived cells. M. restricta induces inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in Kupffer cells through C-type lectin domain family 4, member N signaling. Targeting fungal pathobionts might be a therapeutic strategy for alcohol-associated liver disease.

Lipidomics for the Prediction of Progressive Liver Disease in Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder.

Alcohol-related liver disease is a public health care burden globally. Only 10-20% of patients with alcohol use disorder have progressive liver disease. This study aimed to identify lipid biomarkers for the early identification of progressive alcohol-related liver disease, which is a key step for early intervention. We performed untargeted lipidomics analysis in serum and fecal samples for a cohort of 49 subjects, including 17 non-alcoholic controls, 16 patients with non-progressive alcohol-related liver disease, and 16 patients with progressive alcohol-related liver disease. The serum and fecal lipidome profiles in the two patient groups were different from that in the controls. Nine lipid biomarkers were identified that were significantly different between patients with progressive liver disease and patients with non-progressive liver disease in both serum and fecal samples. We further built a random forest model to predict progressive alcohol-related liver disease using nine lipid biomarkers. Fecal lipids performed better (Area Under the Curve, AUC = 0.90) than serum lipids (AUC = 0.79). The lipid biomarkers identified are promising candidates for the early identification of progressive alcohol-related liver disease.

RORγt phosphorylation protects against T cell-mediated inflammation.

RAR-related orphan receptor-γ (RORγt) is an essential transcription factor for thymic T cell development, secondary lymphoid tissue organogenesis, and peripheral immune cell differentiation. Serine 182 phosphorylation is a major post-translational modification (PTM) on RORγt. However, the in vivo contribution of this PTM in health and disease settings is unclear. We report that this PTM is not involved in thymic T cell development and effector T cell differentiation. Instead, it is a critical regulator of inflammation downstream of IL-1ß signaling and extracellular signal regulated kinases (ERKs) activation. ERKs phosphorylation of serine 182 on RORγt serves to simultaneously restrict Th17 hyperactivation and promote anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 production in RORγt+ Treg cells. Phospho-null RORγtS182A knockin mice experience exacerbated inflammation in models of colitis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In summary, the IL-1ß-ERK-RORγtS182 circuit protects against T cell-mediated inflammation and provides potential therapeutic targets to combat autoimmune diseases.

Anti-obesity natural products and gut microbiota.

The link between gut microbiota and obesity or other metabolic syndromes is growing increasingly clear. Natural products are appreciated for their beneficial health effects in humans. Increasing investigations demonstrated that the anti-obesity bioactivities of many natural products are gut microbiota dependent. In this review, we summarized the current knowledge on anti-obesity natural products acting through gut microbiota according to their chemical structures and signaling metabolites. Manipulation of the gut microbiota by natural products may serve as a potential therapeutic strategy to prevent obesity.

Roles for the mycobiome in liver disease.

Liver disease, a major cause of global mortality, has been associated with dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota (bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microbes). Studies have associated changes in gut bacteria with pathogenesis and severity of liver disease, but the contributions of the mycobiome (the fungal populations of the gut) to health and disease have not been well studied. We review recent findings of alterations in the composition of the mycobiota in patients with liver disease and discuss the mechanisms by which these might affect pathogenesis and disease progression. Strategies to manipulate the gut mycobiota might be developed to treat or prevent liver disease.

CRIg on liver macrophages clears pathobionts and protects against alcoholic liver disease.

Complement receptor of immunoglobulin superfamily (CRIg) is expressed on liver macrophages and directly binds complement component C3b or Gram-positive bacteria to mediate phagocytosis. CRIg plays important roles in several immune-mediated diseases, but it is not clear how its pathogen recognition and phagocytic functions maintain homeostasis and prevent disease. We previously associated cytolysin-positive Enterococcus faecalis with severity of alcohol-related liver disease. Here, we demonstrate that CRIg is reduced in liver tissues from patients with alcohol-related liver disease. CRIg-deficient mice developed more severe ethanol-induced liver disease than wild-type mice; disease severity was reduced with loss of toll-like receptor 2. CRIg-deficient mice were less efficient than wild-type mice at clearing Gram-positive bacteria such as Enterococcus faecalis that had translocated from gut to liver. Administration of the soluble extracellular domain CRIg-Ig protein protected mice from ethanol-induced steatohepatitis. Our findings indicate that ethanol impairs hepatic clearance of translocated pathobionts, via decreased hepatic CRIg, which facilitates progression of liver disease.

Dynamic Changes of the Fungal Microbiome in Alcohol Use Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The intestinal microbiota is involved in the development and progression of ALD; however, little is known about commensal fungi therein. METHODS: We studied the dynamic changes of the intestinal fungal microbiome, or mycobiome, in 66 patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and after 2 weeks of alcohol abstinence using internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) amplicon sequencing of fecal samples. RESULTS: Patients with AUD had significantly increased abundance of the genera Candida, Debaryomyces, Pichia, Kluyveromyces, and Issatchenkia, and of the species Candida albicans and Candida zeylanoides compared with control subjects. Significantly improved liver health markers caspase-cleaved and intact cytokeratin 18 (CK18-M65) levels and controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) in AUD patients after 2 weeks of alcohol abstinence were associated with significantly lower abundance of the genera Candida, Malassezia, Pichia, Kluyveromyces, Issatchenkia, and the species C. albicans and C. zeylanoides. This was mirrored by significantly higher specific anti-C. albicans immunoglobulin G (IgG) and M (IgM) serum levels in AUD patients in relation to control participants, and significantly decreased anti-C. albicans IgG levels in AUD subjects after 2 weeks of abstinence. The intestinal abundance of the genus Malassezia was significantly higher in AUD subjects with progressive liver disease compared with non-progressive liver disease. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, improved liver health in AUD patients after alcohol abstinence was associated with lower intestinal abundances of Candida and Malassezia, and lower serum anti-C. albicans IgG levels. Intestinal fungi might serve as a therapeutic target to improve the outcome of patients in ALD.

Intestinal α1-2-Fucosylation Contributes to Obesity and Steatohepatitis in Mice.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Fucosyltransferase 2 (Fut2)-mediated intestinal α1- 2-fucosylation is important for host-microbe interactions and has been associated with several diseases, but its role in obesity and hepatic steatohepatitis is not known. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Fut2 in a Western-style diet-induced mouse model of obesity and steatohepatitis. METHODS: Wild-type (WT) and Fut2-deficient littermate mice were used and features of the metabolic syndrome and steatohepatitis were assessed after 20 weeks of Western diet feeding. RESULTS: Intestinal α1-2-fucosylation was suppressed in WT mice after Western diet feeding, and supplementation of α1-2-fucosylated glycans exacerbated obesity and steatohepatitis in these mice. Fut2-deficient mice were protected from Western diet-induced features of obesity and steatohepatitis despite an increased caloric intake. These mice have increased energy expenditure and thermogenesis, as evidenced by a higher core body temperature. Protection from obesity and steatohepatitis associated with Fut2 deficiency is transmissible to WT mice via microbiota exchange; phenotypic differences between Western diet-fed WT and Fut2-deficient mice were reduced with antibiotic treatment. Fut2 deficiency attenuated diet-induced bile acid accumulation by altered relative abundance of bacterial enzyme 7-α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases metabolizing bile acids and by increased fecal excretion of secondary bile acids. This also was associated with increased intestinal farnesoid X receptor/fibroblast growth factor 15 signaling, which inhibits hepatic synthesis of bile acids. Dietary supplementation of α1-2-fucosylated glycans abrogates the protective effects of Fut2 deficiency. CONCLUSIONS: α1-2-fucosylation is an important host-derived regulator of intestinal microbiota and plays an important role for the pathogenesis of obesity and steatohepatitis in mice.

Citrus polymethoxyflavones attenuate metabolic syndrome by regulating gut microbiome and amino acid metabolism.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is intricately linked to dysregulation of gut microbiota and host metabolomes. Here, we first find that a purified citrus polymethoxyflavone-rich extract (PMFE) potently ameliorates high-fat diet (HFD)-induced MetS, alleviates gut dysbiosis, and regulates branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) metabolism using 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing and metabolomic profiling. The metabolic protective effects of PMFE are gut microbiota dependent, as demonstrated by antibiotic treatment and fecal microbiome transplantation (FMT). The modulation of gut microbiota altered BCAA levels in the host serum and feces, which were significantly associated with metabolic features and actively responsive to therapeutic interventions with PMFE. Notably, PMFE greatly enriched the commensal bacterium Bacteroides ovatus, and gavage with B. ovatus reduced BCAA concentrations and alleviated MetS in HFD mice. PMFE may be used as a prebiotic agent to attenuate MetS, and target-specific microbial species may have unique therapeutic promise for metabolic diseases.

Cultivar differentiation of Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium by a combination of hierarchical three-step filtering metabolomics analysis, DNA barcoding and electronic nose.

The traditional Chinese medicine Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium (CRP) was mainly originated from the dried pericarp of Citrus reticulata 'Chachi' (Crc), Citrus reticulata 'Dahongpao' (Crd), Citrus reticulata 'Unshiu' (Cru) and Citrus reticulata 'Tangerina' (Crt) in China. Since these four cultivars have great similarities in morphology, reliable methods to differentiate CRP cultivars have rarely been reported. To discriminate the differences of these CRP cultivars, herein an efficient and reliable method by combining metabolomics, DNA barcoding and electronic nose was first established. The hierarchical three-step filtering metabolomics analysis based on liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) indicated that 9 species-specific chemical markers including 6 flavanone glycosides and 3 polymethoxyflavones could be considered as marker metabolites for discrimination of the geoherb Crc from other cultivars. A total of 19 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites were found in nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of CRP, and three stable SNP sites (33, 128 and 174) in the ITS2 region can distinguish the four CRP cultivars. The electronic nose coupled with chemometrics could also be used to effectively distinguish Crc from other CRP cultivars. Therefore, our results indicated that the integrated method will be an effective strategy for discrimination of similar herbal medicines.

Simultaneous Quantification of Five Flavanone Glycosides in Rat Plasma by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry: Application to a Comparative Pharmacokinetic Study of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus and Aurantii Fructus Extracts.

Background: Aurantii Fructus Immaturus (AFI) and Aurantii Fructus (AF) are two traditional citrus herbs with health-promoting and nutritive properties. Objective: This paper presents the first attempt to simultaneously investigate the absorption of five major flavanone glycosides, namely narirutin, naringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, and poncirin, in rat plasma following a single oral administration of AFI and AF extracts to rats. Methods: The plasma concentrations were determined by liquid-liquid extraction followed by a rapid and sensitive ultra-performance LC-tandem mass spectrometry method. Pharmacokinetic parameters were analyzed by noncompartmental modeling using DAS software. Results: The developed method was validated and successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of these five flavanone glycosides. Conclusions: The comparison of the pharmacokinetic parameters of flavanone glycosides showed that the absorption of AF extract was lower, while the elimination was relatively rapid, compared with those of AFI extract. Highlights: This study may be useful for further utilization of these two citrus herbs.

Evaluation of anti-lipase activity and bioactive flavonoids in the Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium from different harvest time.

BACKGROUND: Inhibition of pancreatic lipase is an attractive approach to the treatment of obesity and other metabolic disorders. Naturally occurring phytochemicals are promising sources of lipase inhibitors. PURPOSE: In the present study, the anti-lipase activity of Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium (CRP) extracts was firstly evaluated in vitro. Moreover, the dynamic alteration of bioactive flavonoids in CRP collected at different time and its correlation with anti-lipase activities was investigated. STUDY DESIGN/METHODS: Quantitative analysis of multi-components by a single-marker (QAMS) method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of six flavonoids including narirutin, hesperidin, didymin, nobiletin, 3,5,6,7,8,3',4'-heptamethoxyflavone and tangeretin. Anti-lipase activity evaluation and docking studies of the flavonoids was also carried out to screen out the candidate lipase inhibitors. RESULTS: The QAMS method validation results exhibited that the developed method had desirable specificity, linearity, precision and accuracy. CRP collected in early months contained higher concentrations of bioactive flavonoids, and exhibited more potent anti-lipase activity. CONCLUSION: Harvest timing had a significant impact on the amounts of bioactive flavonoids and the anti-lipase activities of CRP extracts. The contents of total flavonoids were positively correlated with the anti-lipase activities of CRP, and polymethoxyflavones played a significant role in the hypolipidemic effect of CRP. Nobiletin might be the most potential lipase inhibitor in CRP.

Chemicalome and metabolome profiling of polymethoxylated flavonoids in Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium based on an integrated strategy combining background subtraction and modified mass defect filter in a Microsoft Excel Platform.

Detection of metabolites in complex biological matrixes is a great challenge because of the background noise and endogenous components. Herein, we proposed an integrated strategy that combined background subtraction program and modified mass defect filter (MMDF) data mining in a Microsoft Excel platform for chemicalome and metabolome profiling of the polymethoxylated flavonoids (PMFs) in Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium (CRP). The exogenously-sourced ions were firstly filtered out by the developed Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) program incorporated in the Microsoft Office. The novel MMDF strategy was proposed for detecting both target and untarget constituents and metabolites based on narrow, well-defined mass defect ranges. The approach was validated to be powerful, and potentially useful for the metabolite identification of both single compound and homologous compound mixture. We successfully identified 30 and 31 metabolites from rat biosamples after oral administration of nobiletin and tangeretin, respectively. A total of 56 PMFs compounds were chemically characterized and 125 metabolites were captured. This work demonstrated the feasibility of the integrated approach for reliable characterization of the constituents and metabolites in herbal medicines.

Comparison of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus and Aurantii Fructus based on multiple chromatographic analysis and chemometrics methods.

To get a better understanding of the bioactive constituents in Aurantii Fructus Immaturus (AFI) and Aurantii Fructus (AF), in the present study, a comprehensive strategy integrating multiple chromatographic analysis and chemometrics methods was firstly proposed. Based on segmental monitoring, a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-variable wavelength detection method was established for simultaneous quantification of ten major flavonoids, and the quantitative data were further analyzed by hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). A strong cation exchange-high performance liquid chromatography (SCX-HPLC) method combined with t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was developed to determine synephrine, the major alkaloid in AFI and AF. The essential oils were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and further processed by partial least squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA). The results indicated that the contents of ten flavonoids and synephrine in AFI were significantly higher than those in AF, and significant difference existed in samples from different geographical origins. Also, 9 differential volatile constituents detected could be used as chemical markers for discrimination of AFI and AF. Collectively, the proposed comprehensive analysis might be a well-acceptable strategy to evaluate the quality of traditional citrus herbs.

Comparative analysis of steroidal saponins in four Dioscoreae herbs by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry.

Steroidal saponins, which exhibit multiple pharmacological effects, are the major bioactive constituents in herbal medicines from Dioscoreae species. In this study, a sensitive method based on high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) was established and validated for qualitative and quantitative analysis of steroidal saponins in four Dioscoreae herbs including Dioscoreae Nipponica Rhizome (DNR) and Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae Rhizome (DHR), Dioscoreae Spongiosae Rhizome (DSR) and Dioscoreae Rhizome (DR). A total of eleven steroidal saponins were identified by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-QTOF/MS). Furthermore, seven major steroidal saponins was simultaneous quantified using a high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (HPLC-QQQ/MS). The qualitative and quantitative analysis results indicated that the chemical composition of DNR, DHR and DSR samples exhibited a high level of global similarity, while the ingredients in DR varied greatly from the other three herbs. Moreover, principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) were performed to compare and discriminate the Dioscoreae herbs based on the quantitative data. The results demonstrated the qualitative and quantitative analysis of steroidal saponins based on HPLC-MS is a feasible method for quality control of Dioscoreae herbs.