Discrimination of aqueous and vinegary extracts of Shixiao San using metabolomics coupled with multivariate data analysis and evaluation of antihyperlipidemic effect

A novel study using LCeMS(Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry)coupled with multivariate data analysis and bioactivity evaluation was established for discrimination of aqueous extract and vinegar extract of Shixiao San.Batches of these two kinds of samples were subjected to analysis,and the datasets of sample codes,tR-m/z pairs and ion intensities were processed with principal component analysis(PCA).The result of score plot showed a clear classification of the aqueous and vinegar groups.And the chemical markers having great contributions to the differentiation were screened out on the loading plot.The identities of the chemical markers were performed by comparing the mass fragments and retention times with those of reference compounds and/or the known compounds published in the literatures.Based on the proposed strategy,quercetin-3-Oneohesperidoside,isorhamnetin-3-O-neohespeeridoside,kaempferol-3-O-neohesperidoside,isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside and isorhamnetin-3-O-(2G-a-l-rhamnosyl)-rutinoside were explored as representative markers in distinguishing the vinegar extract from the aqueous extract.The anti-hyperlipidemic activities of two processed extracts of Shixiao San were examined on serum levels of lipids,lipoprotein and blood antioxidant enzymes in a rat hyperlipidemia model,and the vinegary extract,exerting strong lipid-lowering and antioxidative effects,was superior to the aqueous extract.Therefore,boiling with vinegary was predicted as the greatest processing procedure for anti-hyperlipidemic effect of Shixiao San.Furthermore,combining the changes in the metabolic profiling and bioactivity evaluation,the five representative markers may be related to the observed antihyperlipidemic effect.