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Ginseng, as a food and nutritional supplement, has the functions of regulating human immunity. Here, the potential anti-hepatic fibrosis effect of ginsenoside Rd (Rd), one of the protopanaxadiol type ginsenoside,...

Citri Exocarpium Rubrum (CER) and Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium (CRP) are used as common functional foods and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). As different parts of the same fruit, CER and CRP have different effects in clinical applications. However, they are commonly confused due to the similarity of the chemical compounds and a lack of scientific method to distinguish them in the finished product. In this study, an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (UHPLC-DAD) technique and an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF MS) method were employed to generate the characteristic fingerprint under the optimum analytical conditions. Principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discrimination analysis (OPLS-DA) were applied to represent different chemical markers for CER and CRP. 44 potential markers including 15 polymethoxylated flavanones (PMFs), 5 flavone-C-glycosides, 6 flavanone-O-glycosides, 3 flavonoid-O-glycosides, 8 organic acids, 5 limonoids and 2 alkaloids were successfully identified by using UNIFI software. The heat map showed that there were significant differences in the CER and CRP samples. Furthermore, 12 potential markers were screened out by characteristic fingerprint and UHPLC-Q-TOF MS methods and were analyzed by quantitative analysis of multicomponents by a single marker (QAMS) method. Finally, a prediction model based on the discovered chemical markers was established for discrimination between CER and CRP. Using these markers can significantly distinguish the unknown processed products of CER and CRP. In conclusion, an effective way to quickly and easily distinguish CER and CRP was successfully established based on the characteristic fingerprint and UHPLC-Q-TOF MS. It could also be a new strategy for analysis of different processed products of the same plant source.

Leaves of Acanthopanax senticosus (Rupr. et Maxim.) Harms (ASL) have revealed significant biological activity in the treatment of ischemic stroke diseases. However, there was no in-depth study of the therapeutic material basis and effect of ASL from the pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics (PK-PD) analysis level. In this study, a method based on microdialysis coupled with ultra-performance liquid chromatography combined with triple quadruple mass spectrometry (MD-UPLC-QQQ-MS) was established to simultaneously and continuously collect and quantify the active compounds and endogenous neuroactive substances related to therapeutic effect in plasma and hippocampus of fully awake ischemic stroke rats. The acquired data were analyzed by the PK-PD analysis method. It was found that hyperoside, quercitrin, quercetin, and caffeic acid could pass through the blood-brain barrier, and quercetin needed a longer intake time than quercitrin and hyperoside, but the passage rate was higher. The exposure of the four compounds in the hippocampus affected the contents of seven neuroactive substances in different ways and was depicted graphically (concentration-time effect). In addition, the study found that the brain index and brain water content of ischemic stroke rats were significantly reduced after the oral administration of ASL. ASL observably regulated the content or activity of six important biochemical indexes in rats. On the one hand, this study verified that ASL could regulate ischemic stroke in many aspects. On the other hand, a visualized method to express the relationship between pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in the hippocampus of cerebral ischemic areas was established. This research gives a hand to the study on the therapeutic material basis and effect of traditional Chinese medicine mechanism.