Systematic Analysis of Absorbed Anti-Inflammatory Constituents and Metabolites of Sarcandra glabra in Rat Plasma Using Ultra-High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Linear Trap Quadrupole Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry.

Xiong Li,Jin Zhao,Xing Zeng,Ya Zhao,Geng Li,Jianxing Liu,Saikat Dewanjee

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0150063

Abstract

Ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) was coupled with linear ion trap quadrupole Orbitrap mass spectrometry (LTQ-Orbitrap) and was used for the first time to systematically analyze the absorbed components and metabolites in rat plasma after oral administration of the water extract of Sarcandra glabra. This extract is a well-known Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of inflammation and immunity related diseases. The anti-inflammatory activities of the absorbed components were evaluated by measuring nitric oxide (NO) production and proinflammatory genes expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine RAW 264.7 macrophages. As a result, 54 components in Sarcandra glabra were detected in dosed rat plasma, and 36 of them were positively identified. Moreover, 23 metabolites were characterized and their originations were traced. Furthermore, 20 of the 24 studied components showed anti-inflammatory activities. These results provide evidence that this method efficiency detected constituents in plasma based on the anti-inflammatory mechanism of multiple components and would be a useful technique for screening multiple targets for natural medicine research.

Highlights

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been clinically used for thousands of years in China, and it is comprised of multiple components, which is in contrast to Western medicine, where single active chemicals are used
We have developed a rapid method based on a Ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC)-mass spectrometry (MS)/MS analysis for the comprehensive identification of the constituents of S. glabra [3]
In the alternative mode referred as the target Fourier transformation (FT-FT) mode, the data dependent scanning was operated by using a parent ion list to detect the specified or target constituents

Summary

Introduction

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been clinically used for thousands of years in China, and it is comprised of multiple components, which is in contrast to Western medicine, where single active chemicals are used. The components of TCM formulations are considered responsible for their therapeutic effects by exerting their synergistic effects on multiple targets and levels. Only the absorbed constituents and their metabolites reach these. Analysis of Anti-Inflammatory Constituents and Metabolites of S. glabra by UHPLC-LTQ Orbitrap

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