Planta Med 2011; 77 - SL49
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1282172

Application of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry methods in pharmacognostic investigations of Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM)

Y Yang 1, L Ge 2, TC Ping 1, KC Qiang 1, ZS Zhen 1, PS Ying 1
  • 1Natural Products Chemistry Department, & State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, & SIMM/CUHK Joint Laboratory for Promoting Globalization of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu-Chong-Zhi Road, Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, Shanghai 201203, P. R. China
  • 2School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, & SIMM/CUHK Joint Laboratory for Promoting Globalization of Traditional Chinese Medicines, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, P. R. China

TCM has a long history to treat human diseases in China. In our investigations to depict medicinal functionalities of TCM using LC-MS related technologies, a diversity of new chemical structures including novel skeletons were acquired.1 These molecule-orientated technologies have been integrated effectively into the pharmacognostic investigations of medicinal herbs.

In our chemical study of Stemona species, a HPLC-MSn method was developed for the characterization of alkaloids with a pyrido[1,2-a]azepine A, B-ring core from S. saxorum Gagnep. based on the ESI-MSn results of five reference compounds.2 41 components were separated, of which 12 compounds (4 new) were identified as Stemona alkaloids with such a core.

A practical HPLC method was designed to detect the content of shikimic acid, the start material of Tamiflu, in Chinese Illicium plants from 21 different species or habitats. The minor toxic anisatin and its analogues were also monitored by an UPLC-MS/MS method. Our results provided scientific evidences for safe usage of fruits of Illicium plants. Additionally, new series of sesquiterpenoids and phenylpropanoid flavonoid polymers were identified from these species.3

Marsdenia tenacissima (Roxb.) Moon is rich in C21 steroidal glycosides, of which some were proved to reverse the multi-drug resistance through inhibiting P-gp, ABCG2, and MRP1 transporters. An UPLC/ESI-LTQ method was established to quantitatively monitor the biotransformation of its extract by human intestinal bacteria. The results showed that three major compounds were degraded to their corresponding de-sugar active derivatives within 4 hours. This provided well evidence for TCM as a pro-drug, and a possible new way to verify its efficacy.

Keywords: HPLC-MSn, Stemona saxorum, Illicium plants, Marsdenia tenacissima, Stemona alkaloids, shikimic acid, anisatin, C21 steroidal glycosides

References: 1. Lin LG, et al. (2007) Tetrahedron Lett 48: 1559–1561.

2. Peng SY, et al. (2009) Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 23: 3621–3631

3. Zhu Q, et al. (2009)J Nat Prod 72: 238–142.