Study of Serum Metabonomics and Formula-Pattern Correspondence in Coronary Heart Disease Patients Diagnosed as Phlegm or Blood Stasis Pattern Based on Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

Objectives： To study the characteristics of serum metabonomics in coronary heart disease （CHD） patients diagnosed as phlegm or blood stasis pattern and explore effects of formula-pattern correspondence treatment. Methods： A total of 102 stable CHD patients were enrolled and divided into phlegm group （P group, n=52） and blood stasis group （BS group, n=50） according to pattern identification. Gualou Xiebai Banxia Decoction （瓜萎薤白半夏汤, GXBD） and Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction （血府逐瘀汤, XZD） were used as drug interventions. Relevant indicators of metabonomics were observed by ultra performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry （UPLC-MS） and pattern recognition. Results： Levels of amino acids and phosphatidylethanolamine （PE） in the CHD group were much higher than those in healthy control group, while the levels of unsaturated fatty acids, sphingosine, Lyso, phosphatidylcholine （PC） were significantly lower （P〈0.01）. Most of the differential metabolites between the CHD and the healthy groups were also common metabolites of phlegm and blood stasis. 7（Z）, 10（Z）- hexadecadienoic acid and DPA were decreased in the P group and increased in the BS group. According to the quantity of retraced metabolites, improvement in metabonomics by formula-pattern correspondence was superior to that without correspondence in the BS group. Based on the varieties of metabolites, GXBD could improve the levels of docosapentaenoic acid （DPA）, sphingomyelin （SM） （d34：1）, and L-Lactic acid and XZD could ameliorate the levels of sphingosine and Vit E in the P group, in the BS group, GXBD could improve vitamin E level and XZD could make improvements in the levels of octadecanoic acid, phosphoglycerol, and SM （d34：1）. Conclusions： Phlegm and blood stasis in CHD patients present specific differential metabolites, and share common metabolites. Remarkable differences have been displayed in pathological properties and severity of phlegm and blood stasis. Patients with phlegm are more likely to have lipid metabolism disorders. However, in patients with blood stasis, problems mainly lie in glucose, protein and fat metabolism and the injury of vascular cell membrane is relatively severe. The metabolic disorder is more complicated in blood stasis pattem than that in phlegm pattem. Compared with non-correspondence, improvement of differential metabolites is more comprehensive and targeted in formulapattern correspondence with a better effect.

Determination of Tetracyclines and Their Epimers in Agricultural Soil Fertilized with Swine Manure by Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A rapid, sensitive and specific ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry （UPLC-MS） method was developed for the analysis of tetracycline antibiotics, including tetracycline （TC）, oxytetracycline （OTC）, chlortetracycline （CTC） and their 4-epimers （4-epiTCs） in agricultural soil fertilized with swine manure. Soil samples were extracted and cleaned-up with 10 mL EDTA-McIlvaine buffer solution （pH 4.0）, then cleaned-up and pre-concentrated using the Oasis MAX cartridge and then eluted with 1 mL solution by mixing formic acid, methanol and water at a ratio of 2：15：83 （v/v/v）. The purified samples were separated by an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column using acetonitrile and water containing 0.1% formic acid mobile phase and detected by a single quadrupole MS. The limits of detection for the soil extraction method （LODsoil） ranged from 0.6-2.5 lag kg-~ with recoveries from 23.3-159.2%. Finally, the method was applied to an agricultural field in an area with intensive pig-fattening farming. Tetracyclines were detected in soil from 2.8 to 42.4 μg kg-1 soil. These results demonstrate that soil from swine farms can become severely contaminated with tetracycline antibiotics and their metabolites.

A Strategy for Detecting Absorbed Bioactive Compounds for Quality Control in the Water Extract of Rhubarb by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography with Photodiode Array Detector

Objective： To detect absorbed bioactive compounds of the water extract whose pharmacodynamic effect was craniocerebral protection for quality control assessment. Methods： Anthraquinones in water extract of rhubarb （WER）, in cerebrospinal fluid （CSF） of patients with traumatic brain injury （TBI） and in ipsilateral cortex of TBI rats following oral WER were respectively explored by ultra performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detector （UPLC-PDA） method developed in the present study. The effects of anthraquinones absorbed into injured cortex on superoxidase dismutase （SOD） activity in TBI rats were detected. The antioxidative anthraquinones absorbed into target organ were evaluated for quality control of WER. Results： Anthraquinones in WER were aloe-emodin, rhein, emodin, chrysophanol, and physcion. Only the last anthraquinone was found in CSF and in ipsilateral cortex under this chromatographic condition. Physcion increased SOD activity in TBI rats significantly. Conclusions： Physcion was the main active compound of rhubarb against craniocerebral injury via antioxidant pathway. According to our strategy, the exploration of physcion suggested the possibility of a novel quality control of WER in treating TBI injury.

Analysis of hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers in plant samples using ultra performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

A method was developed for the analysis of hydroxylated brominated diphenyl ethers (OH-PBDEs) in plant samples using an ultra performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS) in negative mode. Plant samples were extracted and cleaned up through florisil column, resolved on a 100 mm C18 column with linear gradient elution and detected by mass spectrometry in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The method provided good recoveries rang- ing from 68.2% to 94.6%, relative standard deviation (RSD) in the range of 3.2% - 9.1%, and limits of quantification (LOQ) defined as the signal-to-noise ratio of 10 of 0.3-2.1 ng/g. It allowed a fast separation and sensitive quantification of the isomers and homologues of seven OH-PBDE congeners 2′-OH-BDE-3, 3′-OH-BDE-7, 4′-OH-BDE-17, 3′-OH-BDE-28, 3-OH-BDE-47, 5-OH-BDE-47 and 6-OH-BDE-47. The method was successfully applied to identify and quantify the formation of hydroxylat- ed metabolites in alfalfa exposed to BDE-209. Five OH-PBDEs were detected in plant tissues, and more congeners were found in roots than in shoots. To our knowledge, this work represents the first attempt to validate UPLC-MS/MS method to quantify OH-PBDEs in plant samples without derivatization.

Rapid Determination of Tetrodotoxin in Human Plasma by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A sensitive analytical method was developed to determine tetrodotoxin（TTX） in human plasma samples using protein precipitation, followed by ultra performance liquid chromatography（UPLC） analysis coupled with tandem mass spectrometry（MS/MS） using 11-deoxytetrodotoxin（11-deoxyTTX） as an internal standard. The plasma samples were prepared using protein precipitation prior to being analyzed by UPLC-MSfMS to identify TTX over a zwitterionic-hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography column. The retention time values of TTX and 11-deoxyTTX were 4.12 and 3.67 min, respectively. TTX and 11-deoxyTTX were monitored and quantitated on the basis of their ion transitions for their respective precursor ions to their product ions（i.e., m/z 320.0→162. l for TTX and m/z 304.0→176.0 for 11-deoxyTTX） in the multiple reaction-monitoring mode. The lower limit of quantification of this method was determined to be 0.0199 ug/mL. This method showed good linearity for plasma samples that contained TTX concentrations in the range of 0.0199--1.99 ng/mL. The specificity, precision, accuracy, matrix effect, and stability characteristics of this method were also examined. The intra-assay precision and accuracy ranged from 1.89% to 6.00% and from 92.21% to 100.00%, whereas the inter-assay precision and accuracy ranged from 0.64% to 7.75% and from 99.38% to 101.26%, respectively. This new method therefore represents a rapid, accurate, reliable, and highly sensitive method for the qualitative and quantitative analyses of a trace amount of TTX in human plasma samples.

GLOBAL ANALYSIS OF THE METABOLITES OF CURCUMIN IN RATS BY ULTRA PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY COUPLED WITH QUADRUPOLE TIME OF-FLIGHT TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY

Curcumin,a safe natural yellow pigment with a wide range of pharmacological activities,is used both in herbal drugs and as a food coloring agents.Studies have shown that curcumin would suffer from extensive metabolism in vivoand the predominant metabolic pathways are reduction and conjugation.In order to comprehensively study the metabolism and enrich the metabolic profile of cxurcumin in vivo,we carried out this research.A systematic method with highly sensitive UPLC-Q/TOF-MS was established to analyze different biological samples of rats after

Development and validation of RP-HPLC and RP-UPLC methods for quantification of parathyroid hormones (1-34) in medicinal product formulated with meta-cresol

Rapid and sensitive reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and ultra performance liquid chromatography (RP-UPLC) method with UV detection has been developed and validated for quantification of parathyroid hormone (PTH) in presence of meta-cresol as a stabilizer in a pharmaceutical formulation.Chromatography was performed with mobile phase containing 0.1% Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in MilliQ water and 0.1% TFA in acetonitrile with gradient program and flow rate at 0.3 mL/min for HPLC and 0.4 mL/min for UPLC.Quantification was accomplished with internal reference standard (qualified against innovator product and National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) standard).The methods were validated for linearity (correlation coefficient 0.99),range,accuracy,precision and robustness.Robustness was confirmed by considering three factors;mobile phase composition,column temperature and flow rate/age of mobile phase.Intermediate precision was confirmed on different equipments,different columns and on different days.The relative standard deviation (RSD) (<2% for RP-HPLC and <1% for UPLC,n=30) indicated a good precision.Retention time was found about 17 min and 2 min by HPLC and UPLC methods,respectively.Both methods are simple,highly sensitive,precise and accurate and have the potential of being useful for routine quality control.

Determination of Polydatin in Rat Serum and Its Changes by UPLC Method

[Objectives]To establish a UPLC-UV method for the determination of polydatin in the serum of Wistar rats.[Methods]Acquity UPLC BEH shield RP18 column(1.7μm,2.1 mm×100 mm,Waters Corporation,USA)was used as the analytical column,acetonitrile-water(55∶45)was used as the mobile phase,the flow rate was 0.5 mL/min,and the column temperature was 30℃and the detection wavelength was 306 nm.[Results]The linear range of the established serum sample analysis method was 1.0-20.0μg/mL,and the correlation coefficient was r=0.9994;the intraday and interday RSD of Wistar rat serum was less than 3.0%,and the accuracy was higher than 90%.[Conclusions]This method is sensitive,accurate,and rapid.It is suitable for monitoring the concentration of polydatin in serum after intragastric administration,and can also be used for pharmacokinetics and bioavailability studies.

A Study on Bisphenol A,Nonylphenol,and Octylphenol in Human Urine amples Detected by SPE-UPLC-MS

Objective To establish a comprehensive analytical method based on SPE‐UPLC‐MS for the simultaneous determination of bisphenol A （BPA）, nonylphenol （NP）, and octylphenol （OP） in urine samples. Methods Sixty urine samples collected from healthy subjects were analyzed for BPA, NP, and OP concentrations. The samples were de‐conjugated by adding β‐glucuronidase and sulfatase. After the enzymatic treatment, the samples were subjected to the OASIS HLB column solid phase extraction cartridges so as to be cleaned and concentrated. The UPLC separation was performed on a Acquity UPLCTM BEH C18 column （2.1×100 mm, 1.7 μm） with a gradient elution system of methanol‐water as the mobile phase. Triple‐quadrupole mass spectrometry analyzer was used for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of UPLC‐MS/MS system. Results The limit of detection of BPA, NP, and OP was 0.10, 0.10, and 0.15 ng/mL, respectively. The recoveries of BPA, NP and OP were 80.1%‐108%, 81.3%‐109%, and 81.5%‐98.7%, respectively. Among the 60 urine samples, BPA was detected in 8 samples at the level of 0.297‐32.7ng/mL, NP was detected in 29 samples at the level of 1.69‐27.8 ng/mL, and OP was detected in 17 samples at the level of 0.407‐11.1 ng/mL. Conclusion The method is simple with high sensitivity and selectivity, and is suitable for the determination of BPA, NP, and OP in urine. As shown by our analysis , BPA, NP, and OP appear to be prevalent in human urine. This is particularly true for NP. The results from our study is therefore valuable for future studies to assess the exposure to BPA, NP, and OP in the general population.

Glycosylation engineering of therapeutic IgG antibodies： challenges for the safety, functionality and efficacy

Glycosylation of the Fc region of IgG has a profound impact on the safety and clinical efficacy of therapeutic antibodies. While the biantennary complex.type oligosaccharide attached to Asn297 of the Fc is essen- tial for antibody effector functions, fucose and outer-arm sugars attached to the core heptasaccharide that gen- erate structural heterogeneity （glycoforms） exhibit unique biological activities. Hence, efficient and quan- titative glycan analysis techniques have been increas- ingly important for the development and quality control of therapeutic antibodies, and g｜ycan profiles of the Fc are recognized as critical quality attributes. In the past decade our understanding of the influence of glycosy- lation on the structure/function of IgG-Fc has grown rapidly through X-ray crystallographic and nuclear magnetic resonance studies, which provides possibili- ties for the design of novel antibody therapeutics. Fur- thermore, the chemoenzymatic glycoengineering approach using endoglycosidase-based glycosyn- thases may facilitate the development of homogeneous IgG glycoforms with desirable functionality as next- generation therapeutic antibodies. Thus, the Fc glycans are fertile ground for the improvement of the safety,functionality, and efficacy of therapeutic IgG antibodies in the era of precision medicine.

Perfluorocarboxylic acids(PFCAs)and perfluoroalkyl sulfonates(PFASs)in surface and tap water around Lake Taihu in China

Perfluorinated compounds(PFCs)are ubiquitously distributed in the environment mainly as perfluorocarboxylic acids(PFCAs)and perfluoroalkyl sulfonates(PFASs).In this paper,six PFCAs and two PFASs were quantified in surface and tap water samples from 12 sites around Lake Taihu near Shanghai City in East China.Predominant PFCs were perfluorooctanoic acid(PFOA)and perfluorooctane sulfonate(PFOS),of which the concentration ranges were 6.8–206 and 1.2–45 ng·L^(–1),the geometric means were 35.3 and 9.4 ng·L^(–1),and the median(quartile range)values were 31.4(34.4)and 10.4(10.7)ng·L^(–1),respectively.Other PFCs were also detected but in much lower concentrations than PFOA.The sources of the PFCs were expected to be direct industrial discharges in the Lake Taihu area,and this area was also a possible source of PFCs contaminations in Shanghai district in the downstream.PFCs distributions were found different in the upstream,downstream and north part of Lake Taihu.Occurrences of PFCs in the tap water in Lake Taihu area indicated their exposure to the local people.A brief estimation of the environmental risks by PFCs implied no acute or immediate risks from PFCs to local human health,but chronic risks from PFOA in the tap water should be considered in the downstream regions.

Studies on the intestinal absorption of the alkaloids in the Gancaofuzi decoction in a Caco-2 cell culture system by UPLC–MS/MS analysis

In this study, the Caco-2 cell monolayer model was used to research the characteristic absorption and efflux of five diterpenoid alkaloids in Gancaofuzi decoction. An ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry（UPLC–MS/MS） method was developed for the determination of the simulated intestinal transport of five diterpenoid alkaloids with reserpine as internal standard. The use of the apparent permeability coefficient（Papp） and efflux rate（Er） was instituted to evaluate the intestinal absorption of the alkaloids. Transport of the five alkaloids in Caco-2cell monolayer model was observed to better understand whether the intestinal absorption of alkaloids was influenced by the compatibility of four herbs in Gancaofuzi decoction. The results show that the Papp values of the five diterpenoid alkaloids were all more than 1 ＊ 10^-6cm/s, confirming that the processes of permeability were valid. The flux of the alkaloids was time-dependent, and the intestinal absorption mechanism of the five alkaloids was mainly based on passive transport. The compatibility of Heishunpian, Baizhu, Guizhi and Gancao can reduce the intestinal absorption of alkaloids, especially the most toxic hypaconitine, and the attenuated effect of mixed herbal water extracts was better than that of different herbs＇ water extracts combination. The results prove that compatibility of four herbs in Gancaofuzi decoction is rational.

Simultaneous Determination of Six Quaternary Ammonium Alkaloids in Coptidis Rhizoma by UPLC

Objective To establish a new,rapid,and reliable reversed-phase ultra performance liquid chromatography (RP-UPLC)method for the simultaneous determination of six quaternary ammonium alkaloids(QAAs)in Coptidis Rhizoma.Methods The effect of different experimental parameters on the analysis of QAAs by RP-UPLC was evaluated.Results Optimal resolution was achieved with an Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column using a gradient elution profile and a mobile phase consisting of water spiked with 10 mmol/L ammonium bicarbonate(A,pH adjusted to 10.0 by ammonia water)and acetonitrile(B),at a flow rate of 0.30 mL/min and wavelength of 345 nm. The column temperature was set at 30℃.The proposed method was found to be reproducible,precise,and rapid according to the method validation.Conclusion The proposed method,which is compatible with MS analysis and the preparation of QAA,provides some helpful insights into the quality control of Coptidis Rhizoma.

Simultaneous Determination of Eight Bioactive Constituents in Shensong Yangxin Capsule by UPLC

Objective To develop a ultra performance liquid chromatography(UPLC) method for the quality evaluation of Shensong Yangxin Capsule(SYC).Methods The Waters Acquity UPLC HSS T3 column(100 mm × 2.1 mm,1.8μm) was used.Acetonitrile and water containing 0.1% phosphoric acid were used as mobile phases of UPLC with gradient elution.The detection wavelengths were set at 203(ginsenoside Rb1),286(salvianolic acid B),230(paeoniflorin),221(schisantherin A),280(sodium danshensu),327(chlorognenic acid),335(spinosin),and 345nm(berberine hydrochloride),respectively.The flow rate was set at 0.4 mL/min and column temperature was 35 ℃.Results The contents of paeoniflorin,salvianolic acid B,schisantherin A,sodium danshensu,chlorognenic acid,spinosin,berberine hydrochloride,and ginsenoside Rb1were determined from 10 batches of SYC.Conclusion The method of the quality evaluation of SYC has acceptable precision,reproducibility,and stability,which could be used as a new method for the quality control of SYC.