In-depth characterization of non-human sialic acid (Neu5Gc) in human serum using label-free ZIC-HILIC/MRM-MS.

Sialic acid Neu5Gc, a non-human glycan, is recognized as a new harmful substance that can cause vascular disease and cancer. Humans are unable to synthesize Neu5Gc due to a genetic defect that converts Neu5Ac to Neu5Gc, but Neu5Gc is often observed in human biological samples. Therefore, the demand for accurately measuring the amount of Neu5Gc present in human blood or tissues is rapidly increasing, but there is still no method to reliably quantify trace amounts of a non-human sugar. In particular, selective isolation and detection of Neu5Gc from human serum is analytically challenging due to the presence of excess sialic acid Neu5Ac, which has physicochemical properties very similar to Neu5Gc. Herein, we developed the label-free approach based on ZIC-HILIC/MRM-MS that can enrich sialic acids released from human serum and simultaneously monitor Neu5Ac and Neu5Gc. The combination of complete separation of Neu5Gc from abundant Neu5Ac by hydrophilic and electrostatic interactions with selective monitoring of structure-specific cross-ring cleavage ions generated by negative CID-MS/MS was remarkably effective for quantification of Neu5Ac and Neu5Gc at the femtomole level. Indeed, we were able to successfully determine the absolute quantitation of Neu5Gc from 30 healthy donors in the range of 3.336 ± 1.252 pg/µL (mean ± SD), 10,000 times lower than Neu5Ac. In particular, analysis of sialic acids in protein-free serum revealed that both Neu5Ac and Neu5G are mostly bound to proteins and/or lipids, but not in free form. In addition, the correlation between expression level of Neu5Gc and biological factors such as BMI, age, and sex was investigated. This method can be widely used in studies requiring sialic acid-related measurements such as disease diagnosis or prediction of immunogenicity in biopharmaceuticals as it is both fast and highly sensitive.

Glycosylation of serum haptoglobin as a marker of gastric cancer: an overview for clinicians.

Introduction: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide because of difficulties in early diagnosis. Aberrant glycosylation in serum proteins has been associated with many human diseases. Serum haptoglobin, a highly sialylated glycoprotein with four N-glycosylation sites, has gained considerable attention due to its potential as a signature molecule to display aberrant glycosylation in inflammatory disorders and various types of cancer. In particular, the relevance of haptoglobin glycosylation in GC has been investigated in a multifaceted way.Areas covered: The screening of haptoglobin glycosylation could offer an alternative approach toward GC diagnosis and detection. In this report, various assay platforms such as glycan profiling, site-specific glycopeptide profiling, and intact protein profiling are introduced for the detection of abnormal glycosylation of serum haptoglobin.Expert opinion: Although aberrant glycosylation of serum haptoglobin is associated with gastric cancer patients and might be a promising marker of GC screening, the development of a diagnosis platform to increase specificity and sensitivity for clinical use is still an analytical challenge. However, the continuous advancement of analytical technologies and methods will spur the paradigm shift from traditional serum markers, enabling the effective mining of human glycoproteome for GC diagnostic markers.

Screening of Phosphodiesterase-5 Inhibitors and Their Analogs in Dietary Supplements by Liquid Chromatography-Hybrid Ion Trap-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry.

An accurate and reliable method based on ion trap-time of flight mass spectrometry (IT-TOF MS) was developed for screening phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, including sildenafil, vardenafil, and tadalafil, and their analogs in dietary supplements. Various parameters affecting liquid chromatographic separation and IT-TOF detection were investigated, and the optimal conditions were determined. The separation was achieved on a reversed-phase column under gradient elution using acetonitrile and water containing 0.2% acetic acid at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. The chromatographic eluents were directly ionized in the IT-TOF system equipped with an electrospray ion source operating in the positive ion mode. The proposed screening method was validated by assessing its linearity, precision, and accuracy. Sequential tandem MS was conducted to obtain structural information of the references, and the fragmentation mechanism of each reference was proposed for providing spectral insight for newly synthesized analogs. Structural information, including accurate masses of both parent and fragment ions, was incorporated into the MSn spectral library. The developed method was successfully applied for screening adulterated dietary supplement samples.

Classification of the medicinal plants of the genus Atractylodes using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array and tandem mass spectrometry detection combined with multivariate statistical analysis.

Analytical methods using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array and tandem mass spectrometry detection were developed for the discrimination of the rhizomes of four Atractylodes medicinal plants: A. japonica, A. macrocephala, A. chinensis, and A. lancea. A quantitative study was performed, selecting five bioactive components, including atractylenolide I, II, III, eudesma-4(14),7(11)-dien-8-one and atractylodin, on twenty-six Atractylodes samples of various origins. Sample extraction was optimized to sonication with 80% methanol for 40 min at room temperature. High-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection was established using a C18 column with a water/acetonitrile gradient system at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, and the detection wavelength was set at 236 nm. Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry was applied to certify the reliability of the quantitative results. The developed methods were validated by ensuring specificity, linearity, limit of quantification, accuracy, precision, recovery, robustness, and stability. Results showed that cangzhu contained higher amounts of atractylenolide I and atractylodin than baizhu, and especially atractylodin contents showed the greatest variation between baizhu and cangzhu. Multivariate statistical analysis, such as principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis, were also employed for further classification of the Atractylodes plants. The established method was suitable for quality control of the Atractylodes plants.

Simultaneous determination of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene metabolites in human urine using electromembrane extraction combined with liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry.

For the first time, electromembrane extraction combined with liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry was applied for the determination of urinary benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene metabolites. S-Phenylmercapturic acid, hippuric acid, phenylglyoxylic acid, and methylhippuric acid isomers were extracted from human urine through a supported liquid membrane consisting of 1-octanol into an alkaline acceptor solution filling the inside of a hollow fiber by application of an electric field. Various extraction factors were investigated and optimized using response surface methodology, the statistical method. The optimum conditions were established to be 300 V applied voltage, 15 min extraction time, 1500 rpm stirring speed, and 5 mM ammonium acetate (pH 10.2) acceptor solution. The method was validated with respect to selectivity, linearity, accuracy, precision, limit of detection, limit of quantification, recovery, and reproducibility. The results showed good linearity (r(2) > 0.995), precision, and accuracy. The extract recoveries were 52.8-79.0%. Finally, we applied this method to real samples and successfully measured benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene metabolites.

Absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of gemigliptin, a novel dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor, in rats.

1. The absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of a novel dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor, gemigliptin, were examined following single oral administration of (14)C-labeled gemigliptin to rats. 2. The (14)C-labeled gemigliptin was rapidly absorbed after oral administration, and its bioavailability was 95.2% (by total radioactivity). Distribution to specific tissues other than the digestive organs was not observed. Within 7 days after oral administration, 43.6% of the administered dose was excreted via urine and 41.2% was excreted via feces. Biliary excretion of the radioactivity was about 17.7% for the first 24 h. After oral administration of gemigliptin to rats, the in vivo metabolism of gemigliptin was investigated with bile, urine, feces, plasma and liver samples. 3. The major metabolic pathway was hydroxylation, and the major circulating metabolites were a dehydrated metabolite (LC15-0516) and hydroxylated metabolites (LC15-0635 and LC15-0636).

Hepatoprotective Effect of Antrodia camphorata Mycelium Powder on Alcohol-Induced Liver Damage.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Antrodia camphorata, also known as "Niuchangchih" in Taiwan, is a unique medicinal mushroom native to Taiwan. It is used in traditional medicine to treat various health conditions. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of A. camphorata mycelia on alcohol-induced liver damage, both in vitro and in vivo, in a Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) facility. METHODS: The experimental groups consisted of a normal control group (G1), a negative control group (G2), an A. camphorata mycelium powder 50 mg/kg/day administration group (G3), a 100 mg/kg/day administration group (G4), a 200 mg/kg/day administration group (G5), and a positive control silymarin 200 mg/kg/day administration group (G6), with 10 Sprague Dawley rats assigned to each treatment group. RESULTS: We found that treatment with A. camphorata mycelium powder significantly reduced alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, cholesterol, adiponectin, triglyceride, and malondialdehyde concentrations. Histopathological analysis also revealed that the inflammation score significantly decreased in the A. camphorata-treated groups. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, we conclude that repeated oral administration of A. camphorata mycelium powder is effective in improving alcoholic liver disease.

Equivalence assessment of biotherapeutics with N- and O-glycosylation sites by sequential intact glycoform mass spectrometry (IGMS).

Glycosylation is a crucial attribute for biotherapeutics with significant impacts on quality, stability, safety, immunogenicity, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy. Therefore, to ensure consistent glycosylation, a systematic review of biotherapeutics is absolutely required including the variable glycan structure (micro-heterogeneity) and different occupancy at individual site (macro-heterogeneity) from drug design to upstream and downstream bioprocesses. Various methods have been used for glyco-characterization of biotherapeutics at the glycan, glycopeptide, and intact protein levels. In particular, intact protein analysis is considered a facile and rapid glycoform monitoring approach used throughout the product development lifecycle to determine suitable glycosylation lead candidates and reproducible product quality. However, intact glycoform characterization of diverse and complex biotherapeutics with multiple N- and O-glycosylation sites can be very challenging. To address this, a robust analytical platform that enables rapid and accurate characterization of a biotherapeutics with highly complex multiple glycosylation using two-step intact glycoform mass spectrometry has been developed. We used darbepoetin alfa, a second-generation EPO bearing multiple N- and O-glycosylation sites, as a model biotherapeutics to obtain integrated information on glycan heterogeneity and site occupancy through step-by-step MS of intact protein and enzyme-treated protein. In addition, we performed a comparative assessment of the heterogeneity from different products, confirming that our new method can efficiently evaluate glycosylation equivalence. This new strategy provides rapid and accurate information on the degree of glycosylation of a therapeutic glycoprotein with multiple glycosylation, which can be used to assess glycosylation similarity between batches and between biosimilar and reference during development and production.

High-performance liquid chromatography-based multivariate analysis to predict the estrogenic activity of an Epimedium koreanum extract.

This study characterizes the correlation between the chemical fingerprint and estrogenic activity of an Epimedium koreanum extract. The estrogenic activity of 31 E. koreanum extract samples was evaluated by a luciferase reporter gene assay, and the samples were classified into 3 groups based on their bioactivity. A chemical fingerprint analysis was performed on each sample by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and 44 common peaks were selected from the chromatogram and used as a dataset for a pattern recognition analysis. A canonical discriminant analysis performed on this dataset determined a distinct distribution of the samples according to their estrogenic activity on the scoring plot. The classification results showed that 90.3% of the original grouped cases had been correctly classified. The total content of the 4 major extract compounds, epimedin A, epimedin B, epimedin C, and icariin, exhibited good correlation (r=0.784) with the estrogenic activities of the respective extracts. This chromatographic fingerprint-chemometric analysis system could be useful for predicting the E. koreanum pharmacological activity and consequent biological activity-relevant quality control assessment.

In-Depth Glycan Characterization of Therapeutic Glycoproteins by Stepwise PGC SPE and LC-MS/MS.

Glycosylation of biologics, an important factor in pharmacological functions such as efficacy, safety, and biological activity, is easily affected by subtle changes in the cellular environment. Therefore, comprehensive and in-depth glycan characterization of therapeutic glycoproteins should be performed to ensure product quality and process consistency, but it is analytically challenging due to glycan microheterogeneity occurring in the glycan biosynthesis pathway. LC-based chromatographic separation combined with mass spectrometry (MS) has been widely used as a prominent tool for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of glycosylation of therapeutic glycoproteins. However, prior to LC/MS analysis, glycans are selectively captured and fractionated by solid-phase extraction (SPE) utilizing physicochemical characteristics for comprehensive characterization of a wide range of glycan heterogeneity on glycoengineered therapeutic proteins. In particular, porous graphitized carbon (PGC) SPE has been employed as a useful technique for the fractionation of native glycans having different sizes and polarities. Here, we describe a systematic method for comprehensive glycan characterization of therapeutic proteins using stepwise PGC SPE and LC/MS.

Detection of Aberrant Glycosylation of Serum Haptoglobin for Gastric Cancer Diagnosis Using a Middle-Up-Down Glycoproteome Platform.

Gastric cancer is a frequently occurring cancer and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Recent studies have shown that aberrant glycosylation of serum haptoglobin is closely related to gastric cancer and has enormous potential for use in diagnosis. However, there is no platform with high reliability and high reproducibility to comprehensively analyze haptoglobin glycosylation covering microheterogeneity to macroheterogeneity for clinical applications. In this study, we developed a middle-up-down glycoproteome platform for fast and accurate monitoring of haptoglobin glycosylation. This platform utilizes an online purification of LC for sample desalting, and an in silico haptoglobin glycopeptide library constructed by combining peptides and N-glycans to readily identify glycopeptides. In addition, site-specific glycosylation with glycan heterogeneity can be obtained through only a single MS analysis. Haptoglobin glycosylation in clinical samples consisting of healthy controls (n = 47) and gastric cancer patients (n = 43) was extensively investigated using three groups of tryptic glycopeptides: GP1 (including Asn184), GP2 (including Asn207 and Asn211), and GP3 (including Asn241). A total of 23 individual glycopeptides were determined as potential biomarkers (p < 0.00001). In addition, to improve diagnostic efficacy, we derived representative group biomarkers with high AUC values (0.929 to 0.977) through logistic regression analysis for each GP group. It has been found that glycosylation of haptoglobin is highly associated with gastric cancer, especially the glycosite Asn241. Our assay not only allows to quickly and easily obtain information on glycosylation heterogeneity of a target glycoprotein but also makes it an efficient tool for biomarker discovery and clinical diagnosis.

Effects of gut microflora on pharmacokinetics of hesperidin: a study on non-antibiotic and pseudo-germ-free rats.

Hesperidin is a biologically active flavanone glycoside occurring abundantly in citrus fruits. In the present study, effects of intestinal microflora on pharmacokinetics of hesperidin were investigated using a pseudo-germ-free rat model treated with antibiotics. After administration of hesperidin to rats, hesperetin, hesperetin glucuronides, and metabolites postulated to be eriodictyol, hemoeriodictyol, and their glucuronides were detected in urine while hesperetin glucuronide was predominantly found in plasma. The plasma concentration-time profile of hesperetin was compared between non-antibiotic-exposed and pseudo-germ-free rats administered this compound. The maximal concentration (C(max)) values of hesperetin in non-antibiotic-exposed and pseudo-germ-free rats were 0.58 and 0.20 µg/ml, respectively, and area under the curve (AUC) values were 6.3 and 2.8 µg-h/ml, respectively. Thus, systemic exposure as evidenced by AUC and C(max) was significantly higher in normal compared to pseudo-germ-free rats. Fecal ß-glucosidase activities of non-antibiotic-exposed and pseudo-germ-free rats were 0.21 and 0.11 nmol/min/mg, while fecal α-rhamnosidase activities were 0.37 and 0.12 nmol/min/mg, respectively. The rate of hesperidin transformation to hesperetin was 6.9 and 2.9 nmol/min/g in fecal samples in non-antibiotic-exposed and pseudo-germ-free rats, respectively. Taken together, these results showed that pharmacokinetic differences between non-antibiotic-exposed and pseudo-germ-free rats may be attributed to differing hesperidin uptake, as well as alterations in metabolic activities of intestinal flora.

Sensitive and comprehensive analysis of O-glycosylation in biotherapeutics: a case study of novel erythropoiesis stimulating protein.

AIM: Glycosylation of recombinant human erythropoietins (rhEPOs) is significantly associated with drug's quality and potency. Thus, comprehensive characterization of glycosylation is vital to assess the biotherapeutic quality and establish the equivalency of biosimilar rhEPOs. However, current glycan analysis mainly focuses on the N-glycans due to the absence of analytical tools to liberate O-glycans with high sensitivity. We developed selective and sensitive method to profile native O-glycans on rhEPOs. RESULTS: O-glycosylation on rhEPO including O-acetylation on a sialic acid was comprehensively characterized. Details such as O-glycan structure and O-acetyl-modification site were obtained from tandem MS. CONCLUSION: This method may be applied to QC and batch analysis of not only rhEPOs but also other biotherapeutics bearing multiple O-glycosylations.

Direct analysis of aberrant glycosylation on haptoglobin in patients with gastric cancer.

Based on our previous studies, differential analysis of N-glycan expression bound on serum haptoglobin reveals the quantitative variation on gastric cancer patients. In this prospective case-control study, we explore the clinically relevant glycan markers for gastric cancer diagnosis. Serum samples were collected from patients with gastric cancer (n = 44) and healthy control (n = 44). N-glycans alteration was monitored by intact analysis of Hp using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry followed by immunoaffinity purification with the serum samples. Intensity and frequency markers were defined depending on the mass spectrometry data analysis. Multiple markers were found with high diagnostic efficacy. As intensity markers (I-marker), six markers were discovered with the AUC > 0.8. The high efficiency markers exhibited AUC of 0.93 with a specificity of 86% when the sensitivity was set to 95%. We additionally established frequency marker (f-marker) panels based on the tendency of high N-glycan expression. The AUC to conclude patients and control group were 0.82 and 0.79, respectively. This study suggested that N-glycan variation of serum haptoglobin were associated with patients with gastric cancer and might be a promising marker for the cancer screening.

Analytical detection and characterization of biopharmaceutical glycosylation by MS.

Glycosylation plays an important role in ensuring the proper structure and function of most biotherapeutic proteins. Even small changes in glycan composition, structure, or location can have a drastic impact on drug safety and efficacy. Recently, glycosylation has become the subject of increased focus as biopharmaceutical companies rush to create not only biosimilars, but also biobetters based on existing biotherapeutic proteins. Against this backdrop of ongoing biopharmaceutical innovation, updated methods for accurate and detailed analysis of protein glycosylation are critical for biopharmaceutical companies and government regulatory agencies alike. This review summarizes current methods of characterizing biopharmaceutical glycosylation, including compositional mass profiling, isomer-specific profiling and structural elucidation by MS and hyphenated techniques.

Rapid chiral separation of racemic cetirizine in human plasma using subcritical fluid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

A method for fast chiral separation of cetirizine and quantitation of levocetirizine in human plasma using subcritical fluid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry was developed and validated. The chromatographic separation was performed using a Chiralpak IE column (2.1 mm×150 mm, 5 µm) with an isocratic elution of CO2/organic modifier (55/45, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.85 mL/min. The organic modifier was composed of water/methanol (5/95, v/v). The makeup flow was optimized at water/methanol (10/90, v/v) and 0.2 mL/min. The most influential parameters on the separation of cetirizine affecting resolution, retention time and sensitivity were selected by fractional factorial design. The 3 selected factors were optimized by response surface methodology. Tandem mass spectrometry was used at electrospray ionization, positive ion mode, and multiple-reaction monitoring mode. Isotope-labeled cetirizine-d4 was used as the internal standard. The sample preparation of human plasma was conducted by solid phase extraction of hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) type. The developed method was validated for selectivity, linearity, precision, accuracy, recovery, limit of quantitation (LOQ), and limit of detection (LOD). The real human plasma samples were analyzed and the pharmacokinetic results were compared with results of previous research. The developed method was found to be reliable based on the similarity between the results of the current and previous methods. The chiral separation for cetirizine and economic feasibility were compared with those of previous studies using normal phase-HPLC or reversed phase-HPLC. The established analytical method could be successfully applied to pharmacokinetic study with reduction in the analysis time and costs.

Glycomic profiling of targeted serum haptoglobin for gastric cancer using nano LC/MS and LC/MS/MS.

Gastric cancer has one of the highest cancer mortality rates worldwide, largely because of difficulties in early-stage detection. Aberrant glycosylation in serum proteins is associated with many human diseases including inflammation and various types of cancer. Serum-based global glycan profiling using mass spectrometry has been explored and has already led to several potential glycan markers for several disease states. However, localization of the aberrant glycosylation is desirable in order to improve the specificity and sensitivity for clinical use. Here, we combined protein-specific immunoaffinity purification, glycan release, and MS analysis to examine haptoglobin glycosylation of gastric cancer patients for glyco-markers. Age- and sex-matched 60 serum samples (30 cancer patients and 30 healthy controls) were used to profile and quantify haptoglobin N-glycans. A T-test based statistical analysis was performed to identify potential glyco-markers for gastric cancer. Interestingly, abundances of several tri- and tetra-antennary fucosylated N-glycans were increased in gastric cancer patients. Additionally, structural analysis via LC/MS/MS indicated that the fucosylated complex type N-glycans were primarily decorated with antenna fucose, which can be categorized as sialyl-Lea or sialyl-Lex type structures. This platform demonstrates quantitative, structure-specific profiling of haptoglobin glycosylation for the purposes of biomarker discovery for gastric cancer.

Highly sensitive electromembrane extraction for the determination of volatile organic compound metabolites in dried urine spot.

Electromembrane extraction coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed for determination of ten volatile organic compound metabolites in dried urine spot samples. The dried urine spot approach is a convenient and economical sampling method, wherein urine is spotted onto a filter paper and dried. This method requires only a small amount of sample, but the analysis sometimes suffers from low sensitivity, which can lead to analytical problems in the detection of minor components in samples. The newly developed dried urine spot analysis using electromembrane extraction exhibited improved sensitivity and extraction, and enrichment of the sample was rapidly achieved in one step by applying an electric field. Aliquots of urine were spotted onto Bond Elut DMS cards and dried at room temperature. After drying, the punched out dried urine spot was eluted with water. Volatile organic compound metabolites were extracted from the sample through a supported liquid membrane into an alkaline acceptor solution inside the lumen of a hollow fiber with the help of an electric potential. The optimum extraction conditions were determined by using design of experiments (fractional factorial design and response surface methodology). Satisfactory sensitivity was achieved and the limits of quantification (LOQ) obtained were lower than the regulatory threshold limits. The method was validated by assessing the linearity, precision, accuracy, recovery, reproducibility, stability, and matrix effects. The results were acceptable, and the developed method was successfully applied to biological exposure monitoring of volatile organic compound metabolites in fifty human urine samples.

Determination of residual arsenic compounds in chicken muscle by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultraviolet detection after pre-column derivatization with toluene-3,4-dithiol.

A simple and sensitive derivatization method using toluene-3,4-dithiol as a derivatization reagent for the simultaneous analysis of seven arsenic compounds (roxarsone, nitarsone, p-arsanilic acid, o-arsanilic acid, phenylarsonic acid, phenylarsine oxide, and mono-methylarsonic acid) in chicken muscle was developed and validated by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultraviolet detection (UPLC-UV). The structure of the derivatized arsenic compounds was confirmed by liquid chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Optimization of the derivatization reaction conditions was carried out by investigating the influence of reagent concentration, buffer or additive acids, temperature, and time. The optimized conditions were a derivatization reagent concentration of 20mg/mL with 0.05mol/L HCl as an additive acid at 60°C for 15min. In this study, baseline separation of arsenic compounds could be achieved within 13min, except for phenylarsonic acid and phenylarsine oxide whose derivatized products are equal. The developed method was successfully validated and applied to 12 chicken muscle samples from Korean districts and other countries.

Metabolite profiling of ginsenoside Re in rat urine and faeces after oral administration.

Following oral administration of ginsenoside Re, the compound and its metabolites were identified and quantified in rat urine and faeces by liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Ginsenoside Re (200 mg/kg) was orally administered to rats by gastric intubation, and urine and faeces samples were then collected during the next 24 h using metabolic cages. Samples were prepared by solid phase extraction and analysed by LC-MS/MS. The precursor-product ion pairs used for LC-MS/MS analysis were: m/z 945→475 for ginsenoside Re, 799→637 for ginsenoside Rg1, 783→475 for ginsenoside Rg2, 637→475 for ginsenosides Rh1 and F1, 475→391 for protopanaxatriol, and 779→641 for digoxin (internal standard). The major ginsenosides excreted in urine were ginsenosides Re and Rg1, and only minimal amounts of ginsenosides Rg2 and Rh1 were found. Greater amounts of ginsenoside metabolites were detected in the faeces samples; biotransformation to ginsenoside Rg1 was predominant but further deglycosylated metabolites including ginsenoside F1 and protopanaxatriol were additionally detected. The total recovery of ginsenosides over 24 h was approximately 46%.