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Objective: To evaluate the pharmacokinetics of eight constituents in Yuanhu Zhitong tablets, which may provide a method for the poly-pharmacokinetic study of traditional Chinese medicine., Methods: A robust platform using Thermo Scientific™ Dionex™ UltiMate™ 3000 rapid separation LC, integrated with Thermo Scientific™ Q Exactive™ MS, was developed and validated to acquire, in a high-resolution full-scan mode, a global profile of all ionized components in rat plasma after oral administration of a suspension of Yuanhu Zhitong tablets., Results: This robust UPLC-HRMS method was successfully applied for pharmacokinetic evaluation after oral administration of Yuanhu Zhitong tablets. The MS response showed a good linear relationship, with a coefficient of determination (r 2 ) of >0.99. The levels of detection were in the range of 0.088-0.414 ng·ml -g for the different constituents. The recoveries ranged from 92.23% to 104.47%, and the matrix effect ranged from 85.24% to 101.02%. The intra- and inter-day accuracy was in the range of 0.00-12.54%, while the intra- and inter-day precision ranged from 0.44% to 7.63%. Short-term stability, long-term stability, freeze-thaw stability, and post-preparative stability ranged from -recision rangedThe time to reach peak plasma concentration (t max ) values for the analytes was less than 10 h, except that for tetrahydropalmatine, which was quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. The large area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) values (≥105 ng·h·l -g ) for the eight compounds indicated good absorption and utility in rat plasma. The mean residence time was more than 6 h, indicating slow elimination., Conclusion: UPLC-HRMS was shown to be a very promising and powerful tool for the kinetic screening and characterization of compounds in medicinal herbs and traditional Chinese medicine formulas. Pharmacokinetic profiling of multiple compounds enables the clarification of metabolic processes and fates of the selected medicinal herbs or traditional Chinese medicine formula. This allows us to better understand the actions and associated therapeutic mechanisms of the traditional Chinese medicine., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Integrative pharmacology has been used to identify the key active constituents (KACs) of Buchang Naoxintong capsules (BNCs), a traditional Chinese medical preparation; this approach involves the evaluation of the content profiles and drug-like properties of the BNC constituents and development of an ingredient-target network. In this study, we used a sensitive analytical method to simultaneously identify and quantify 16 constituents of BNCs. Metabolism of these constituents by gut microbiota and human oral bioavailability were predicted using an in silico approach, followed by construction of networks to analyze the interactions between BNC constituents, their molecular targets, and proteins known to be the molecular targets for Food and Drug Administration-approved colitis medication. Finally, an animal model of ischemic stroke was used to verify the therapeutic effects of the KACs of BNCs. Amygdalin and paeoniflorin were identified as the KACs because they were the 2 most abundant BNC constituents, having appropriate drug-like properties, and produced therapeutic effects against cerebral ischemia. Amygdalin produced an anti-cerebral ischemia effect, likely by interacting with the glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1) and serpin peptidase inhibitor, clade C (antithrombin), member 1 (SERPINC1). These results form the basis for conducting studies to identify KACs in traditional medicinal preparations; such studies might improve quality control and allow the in vivo evaluation of synergistic interactions between the complex mixtures of compounds.

The BuChang NaoXinTong (BNC) capsule is a well-known, traditional, prescribed Chinese medication for the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Nevertheless, the chemical profile of BNC has not been established. In the present study, ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with linear ion trap-Orbitrap tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap) has been developed for rapid and high-throughput screening of the preliminary chemical profile of BNC in both positive and negative ion modes. Twenty-five compounds were identified as the standard available compounds by comparing the retention time and high-resolution accurate mass. For the standard unavailable compounds, the structures were presumed based on high-accuracy protonated precursors and multi-stage mass spectrometry (MS(n)) using the proposed strategy. In particular, flavones, isoflavones, and tanshinones had the same skeleton. Therefore, the standards were utilized to characterize the fragment pathways and diagnostic fragment ions that could be applied for structural elucidation of their derivatives. Meanwhile, all the constituent groups of the compounds were detected in the individual herbs comprising BNC. Finally, a total of 178 components were identified or tentatively characterized in BNC, including 21 flavones and 6 flavone glycosides, 18 phenanthraquinones, and 22 terpenoids. The identification and structure elucidation of these chemicals provide essential data for further phytochemical studies, quality control, and pharmacological studies of BNC., (Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The Yellow River Delta (YRD) is a typical agricultural and petrochemical industrial area of China. To assess the current status of phthalate esters (PAEs) of soil residues, soil samples (0∼20 cm) (n = 82) were collected in Bincheng District, at the geographic center of the YRD. PAEs were detected in all topsoil samples analyzed, which indicated that PAEs are ubiquitous environmental contaminants. Concentrations of 11 PAEs are in the range of 0.794∼19.504 μg g(-1), with an average value of 2.975 μg g(-1). It was presented that PAEs pollution in this area was weak and monotonously increasing along the rural-urban gradient. Higher concentrations were observed from roadsides (and/or gutters), densely anthropogenic activities areas (such as the urbanization and industrialization), and agriculture influence district, which mainly originated from construction waste, municipal sewage, agricultural waste and pesticide, discarded plastic effusion and atmospheric depositions. Concentrations of PAEs were weakly positivity correlated with soil organic carbon content and pH, which suggested both of them can affect the distribution of PAEs. The concentration of di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and di-n-butyl phthalate dominated in the 11 PAEs, with the average values of 0.735 and 1.915 μg g(-1), respectively, and accounted for 92.1 % of the whole PAEs' concentrations. No significant differences of PAE congeneric profiles were observed between our work and others previously reported, which is consistent with the use of similar commercial PAEs around the world.