Qualitative and quantitative study of constituents in Lysionoti Herba based on UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap HRMS and HPLC-UV / 中国中药杂志

Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-Exactive Orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry(UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap HRMS) was employed to systematically analyze the chemical constituents in Lysionoti Herba, and high perfor-mance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet(HPLC-UV) to determine the content of main compounds. A Synergi~(TM) Hydro-RP 100 Å colu-mn(2 mm×100 mm, 2.5 μm) was used for gradient elution with acetonitrile-0.1% aqueous formic acid as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.2 mL·min~(-1) and a column temperature of 40 ℃. MS and MS/MS were conducted with electrospray ionization(ESI) in both positive and negative modes. The chemical components in Lysionoti Herba were identified by comparison with the retention time and mass spectra of reference compounds and the relevant mass spectral data reported in MS databases and relevant literature. Furthermore, the content of five constituents(neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, forsythoside B, acteoside, and nevadensin) in different Lysiono-ti Herba samples was simultaneously determined by HPLC-UV at the wavelength of 330 nm. A total of 84 compounds were identified in Lysionoti Herba, including 27 flavonoids, 20 phenylethanoid glycosides, 5 amino acids, 18 organic acids, 1 alkaloid, 6 nucleosides, and 7 others. The content of neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, forsythoside B, acteoside, and nevadensin showed good linear relationship(r>0.999) with the peak area within certain concentration ranges, which were 3.22-102.90, 12.84-410.82, 31.63-1 012.01, 25.00-800.11, and 4.08-130.51 μg·mL~(-1), respectively. The instrument precision, method repeatability, and solution stability all met requirement, and the average recovery rate was 97.31%-100.2%, with RSD ranging from 0.95% to 2.4%. The content of the five components varied among different Lysionoti Herba samples collected from different regions of Guizhou, and the average content of forsythoside B was the highest. The established qualitative method can rapidly and efficiently identify the chemical components of Lysionoti Herba, and the developed HPLC-UV method can simultaneously determine the content of five components in a simple, ra-pid, and accurate manner, providing a scientific basis for the quality evaluation of Lysionoti Herba.

Therapeutic effect of electric-balance stimulation with scalp acupuncture for motor aphasia after cerebral infarction / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the clinical efficacy between scalp acupuncture electrical stimulation and routine scalp acupuncture for motor aphasia in subacute stage of cerebral infarction.@*METHODS@#A total of 54 patients with motor aphasia in subacute stage of cerebral infarction were randomly divided into an observation group (27 cases, 1 case dropped off) and a control group (27 cases, 2 cases dropped off ). Both groups were treated with routine medication and language training. In the observation group, scalp acupuncture was given at bilateral lower 2/5 of the parietal and temporal anterior oblique line and temporal frontline; after the arrival of @*RESULTS@#After treatment, the scores of listening comprehension, retelling, naming, spontaneous conversation and BDAE grade in the two groups were improved compared with those before treatment (@*CONCLUSION@#The scalp acupuncture electrical stimulation could improve cerebral circulation, activate specific functional areas of cerebral cortex, and promote the reconstruction and recovery of brain language function. Its curative effect is better than conventional scalp acupuncture.

Mechanism of Liangfu Dropping Pills in treatment of gastrointestinal diseases based on plasma pharmacochemistry and network pharmacology / 中国中药杂志

To study the active chemical components and mechanism of Liangfu Dropping Pills in treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. The UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS method was employed to analyze the components of Liangfu Dropping Pills in plasma. The protein targets of the absorbed compounds were predicted in the TCMSP database and the SwissTargetPrediction database. The targets associated with gastrointestinal diseases were collected from OMIM, CTD, GeneCards, and DrugBank. The common target genes between components and diseases were screened out for the building of protein-protein interaction(PPI) network in the STRING database. Metascape was used to carry out gene ontology(GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. Cytoscape was employed to construct the PPI network diagram and absorbed component-target network diagram. The molecular docking between the components absorbed in blood and potential key targets was performed by AutoDock vina 4.2.6 to screen and verify the main active components and targets. Twelve chemcial components were identified in Liangfu Dropping Pills, in which four components were absorbed in blood, including galangin, rhamnocitrin, galangin 3-methyl ether, and α-cyperone. These components acted on 189 common targets which were mainly involved in the cell responses to nitrogen compounds, organic cyclic compounds, and hormones, and enriched in the PI3 K-Akt signaling pathway, Foxo signaling pathway, and IL-17 signaling pathway. Molecular docking results showed that the four components had strong affinity with core targets. The material basis of Liangfu Dropping Pills treating gastrointestinal diseases may be galangin, rhamnocitrin, galangin 3-methyl ether, and α-cyperone. This study provides a theoretical basis for further development and application of Liangfu Dripping Pills.

Pharmacokinetic study of Polygonum orientale extract in H9c2 cells by UPLC-MS/MS / 中国中药杂志

A detection method of ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(UPLC-MS/MS) was established to detect concentrations of isoorientin, orientin, quercetin, vitexin and kaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucoside in H9 c2 cells and applied to the pharmacokinetic study of Polygonum orientale extract in the cells. H9 c2 cells were treated with 100 μg·mL~(-1) P. orientale extract and then they and the corresponding nuclei, mitochondria and Golgi bodies were collected at the set time. After protein precipitation, UPLC-MS/MS was used to determine concentrations of isoorientin, orientin, quercetin, vitexin and kaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucoside in the whole cells and subcellular structures. Also, related pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated. The results showed that the peak time was 8 h for all these components. Orientin, vitexin, quercetin and isoorientin have high affinities to nuclei and mitochondria, while the affinity of kaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucoside is higher with mitochondria compared to nuclei. It is suggested that these chemical components of P. orientale may mainly act on nuclei or mitochondria to exert pharmacological effects of protecting cardiomyocytes.

Influence of ultrafiltration membrane on ophiopogonins and homoisoflavonoids in Ophiopogon japonicus as measured by ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry / 中国天然药物

Ultrafiltration is one of the most fascinating technologies, which makes it possible to improve the quality of traditional medicines for application in the pharmaceutical industry. However, researchers have paid little attention to the effect of ultrafiltration membrane on traditional medicines chemical constituents. In this work, Ophiopogon japonicus (L.f) Ker-Gawl. was used as an example to illuminate the influence of ultrafiltration with different material and molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) membrane on natural chemical constituents as measured by ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UFLC-IT-TOF/MS). Our results indicated that ultrafiltration membrane significantly impacted homoisoflavonoids, especially homoisoflavonoids that were almost completely retained on the polyethersulfone (PES) membrane. We also found that the larger number of aglycone hydroxy and sugar moiety in steroid saponins, the higher the transmittance. Furthermore, the passage rate (%) of ophiogenin type saponins was higher than that of others. The possible adsorptive mechanisms were hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and benzene ring interaction by π-π stacking. In conclusion, it is crucial to choose appropriate ultrafiltration membrane based on the characteristics of produce products for application of ultrafiltration technique.

Protective effect of the extract of Yi-Qi-Fu-Mai preparation on hypoxia-induced heart injury in mice / 中国天然药物

Yi-Qi-Fu-Mai (YQFM) is extensively used clinically to treat cardiovascular diseases in China. To explore the anti-hypoxia effect of the extract of YQFM preparation (EYQFM), the EYQFM (1.4, 2.8, and 5.5 g·kg(-1)·d(-1)) was assessed for its heart-protective effect in a chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) animal model (oxygen pressure 7%-8%, 20 min per day) for 28 days of treatment. Betaloc (0.151 6 g·kg(-1)·d(-1)) was used as a positive control. The histopathological analyses of heart in CIH mice were conducted. Several cardiac state parameters, such as left ventricular ejection fractions (EF), stroke volume (SV), expression of creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. The results showed that treatment with EYQFM markedly reversed swelling of the endothelial cells and vacuolization in the heart when compared with the model group. Further study demonstrated that EYQFM significantly improved ventricular myocardial contractility by increasing EF and SV. In addition, EYQFM inhibited the activity of CK, LDH, decreased the level of MDA and improved SOD activity. The results demonstrated that EYQFM significantly improved the tolerability of myocardium to hypoxia and ameliorated the cardiac damage in the CIH model.