1. Database-aided UHPLC-Q-orbitrap MS/MS strategy putatively identifies 52 compounds from Wushicha Granule to propose anti-counterfeiting quality-markers for pharmacopoeia.
- Author
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Li, Xican, Chen, Shaoman, Zeng, Jingyuan, Cai, Rongxin, Liang, Yilan, Chen, Chuanbin, Chen, Ban, and Li, Chunhou
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HIGH performance liquid chromatography , *NONPRESCRIPTION drugs , *COMPARATIVE studies , *QUALITY assurance , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *MOLECULAR structure , *MEDICAL prescriptions , *TUMOR markers , *DRUG counterfeiting , *CHINESE medicine - Abstract
Wushicha Granule, an over-the-counter-drug (OTC) prescription, consists of 19 traditional Chinese herbals medicines (CHMs), such as Chaihu, Hongcha, Chuanxiong, Houpo, and Gancao. The five however have not been effectively characterized by the quality-markers (Q-markers) system in current Pharmacopoeia. The study therefore established a novel database-aided ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-orbitrap MS/MS) strategy. The strategy has putatively identified 52 compounds from Wushicha Granule, mainly including flavonoids, saponins, alkaloid, lignins, and lactones. Especially, saponin "glycyrrhetinic acid" in the Granule was specifically identified as 18β-configuration (rather than 18α-configuration). Meanwhile, two pairs of isomers were fully discriminated, including vitexin vs isovitexin and daidzein vs 7,4'-dihydroxyflavone. 8β-Glycyrrhetinic acid, together with saponin saikosaponin A, alkaloid caffeine, lactone S-senkyunolide A, and lignin magnolol, were further studied using quantum chemical calculation, UV–vis spectra, and anti-counterfeiting validation experiment. In the validation experiment, they have successfully recognized 6 counterfeit Wushicha Granules, by means of a LC–MS equipped extraction software. Based on these results, 8β-glycyrrhetinic acid is recommended to replace the old Q-marker "glycyrrhetinic acid"; while saikosaponin A, caffeine, S-senkyunolide A, and magnolol are recommended as new Q-markers. These recommendations can not only recognize the counterfeits regarding Chaihu, Hongcha, Chuanxiong, Houpo, and Gancao, but also prevent the possible safety-incident. All these will greatly improve the efficiency and specificity of current Pharmacopoeia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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