Comprehensive Stereoselectivity Assessment of Toxicokinetics, Tissue Distribution, Cytotoxicity, and Environmental Fate of Chiral Pesticide Propiconazole.

Propiconazole (PRO) has been widely used in the treatment of fungal infection in fruits, vegetables, cereals, and seeds. In this study, a newly established chiral liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method was applied to the systemic stereoselectivity evaluation of PRO enantiomers, including toxicokinetics, tissue distributions, cytotoxicity, accumulation, and degradation. Our results showed that both trans (+)-2S,4S-PRO and cis (-)-2S,4R-PRO had lower Cmax and AUC0-∞ and higher CLz/F values in plasma and lower accumulation concentrations in the liver, heart, and brain. In cytotoxic assays, cis (-)-2S,4R-PRO exhibited the lowest cytotoxicity in PC12 neuronal, N9 microglia, SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma, and MRC5 lung fibroblast cell lines. Moreover, the Eisenia fetida incubation experiment revealed that the accumulations of both trans (+)-2S,4S-PRO and cis (-)-2S,4R-PRO were higher than those of their antipodes in E. fetida. In summary, our findings first suggested that the application of cis (-)-2S,4R-PRO for agriculture would hugely reduce the environmental risk.

Rapid and cost-effective method for the simultaneous quantification of seven alkaloids in Corydalis decumbens by microwave-assisted extraction and capillary electrophoresis.

A rapid and cost-effective method based on microwave-assisted extraction followed by capillary electrophoresis was developed for simultaneous quantification of seven alkaloids in Corydalis decumbens for the first time. The main parameters affecting microwave-assisted extraction and capillary electrophoresis separation were investigated and optimized. The optimal microwave-assisted extraction was performed at 40°C for 5 min using methanol/water (90:10, v/v) as the extracting solvent. Electrophoretic separation was achieved within 15 min using an uncoated fused-silica capillary (50 µm internal diameter and 27.7 cm effective length) and a 500 mM Tris buffer containing 45% v/v methanol (titrated to pH* 2.86 with H3 PO4 ). The developed method was successfully applied to the quantification of seven alkaloids in Corydalis decumbens obtained from different regions of China. The combination of microwave-assisted extraction with capillary electrophoresis was an effective method for the rapid analysis of the alkaloids in Corydalis decumbens.

A rapid and sensitive LC-MS/MS method for the determination of linarin in small-volume rat plasma and tissue samples and its application to pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution study.

A rapid and sensitive LC-MS/MS method was developed for the determination of linarin in small-volume rat plasma and tissue sample. Sample preparation was employed by the combination of protein precipitation (PPT) and liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) to allow measurement over a 5-order-of-magnitude concentration range. Fast chromatographic separation was achieved on a Hypersil Gold column (100 × 2.1 mm i.d., 5 µm). Mass spectrometric detection was achieved using a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization interface operating in positive ionization mode. Quantification was performed using selected reaction monitoring of precursor-product ion transitions at m/z 593 → 285 for linarin and m/z 447 → 271 for baicalin (internal standard). The total run time was only 2.8 min per sample. The calibration curves were linear over the concentration range of 0.4-200 µg/mL for PPT and 0.001-1.0 µg/mL for LLE. A lower limit of quantification of 1.0 ng/mL was achieved using only 20 µL of plasma or tissue homogenate. The intra- and inter-day precisions in all samples were ≤14.7%, while the accuracy was within ±5.2% of nominal values. The validated method has been successfully applied to pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution study of linarin.