A vascular smooth muscle/cell membrane chromatography–offline-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry method for recognition, separation and identification of active components from traditional Chinese medicines

• Published in: Journal of Chromatography A Vol. 1216; no. 42; pp. 7081 - 7087
• Main Authors: Hou, Xiaofang, Zhou, Mingzhe, Jiang, Qiao, Wang, Sicen, He, Langchong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 16.10.2009; Amsterdam; New York: Elsevier; Elsevier
• Subjects: active components; Active screening; Animals; aorta; Aorta, Thoracic - cytology; Aorta, Thoracic - drug effects; Biological and medical sciences; Calcium Channel Blockers - isolation & purification; Calcium Channel Blockers - pharmacology; calcium channels; calcium receptors; Cell Membrane - chemistry; Cell membrane chromatography (CMC); cell membranes; Cells, Cultured; chromatography; Chromatography - methods; Coumarins - isolation & purification; Coumarins - pharmacology; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - isolation & purification; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Furocoumarins - isolation & purification; Furocoumarins - pharmacology; gas chromatography; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry - methods; Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS); General pharmacology; herbal medicines; In Vitro Techniques; Male; mass spectrometry; Medical sciences; Muscle Relaxation - drug effects; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular - chemistry; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular - cytology; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular - drug effects; Nifedipine - isolation & purification; Nifedipine - pharmacology; organic compounds; Oriental traditional medicine; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; receptors; Reproducibility of Results; screening; smooth muscle; Vascular smooth muscle (VSM); vascular smooth muscle cell membrane chromatography; Asia; China; Cell membrane chromatography (CMC); Active screening; Vascular smooth muscle (VSM); Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS); Membrane chromatography; Chemical analysis; Vasodilator agent; Rat; Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry; Coumarine derivatives; Smooth muscle; Medicinal plant; Folk medicine; Blood vessel; Primary culture; Aorta; Validation; Coupled method; Pharmacognosy; Rodentia; Biomembrane; Biological activity; Gas chromatography; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Plant origin; Isolation; Active ingredient; Mass spectrometry; Psoralen derivatives; GC/MS
• ISSN: 0021-9673; 1873-3778
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2009.08.062

We describe an analytical method of vascular smooth muscle cell membrane chromatography (VSM/CMC) combined with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for recognition, separation and identification of active components from traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). VSM cells by means of primary culture with rat thoracic aortas were used for preparation of the stationary phase in the CMC model. Retention components by the VSM–CMC model were collected and then analyzed by GC/MS under the optimized conditions in offline conditions. After investigating the suitability and reliability of the VSM/CMC–offline-GC/MS method using nifedipine and nitrendipine as standard compounds, this method was applied in screening active components from the extracts of TCMs such as Radix Angelicae Dahuricae (RAD), Rhizomza Seu Radix Notopterygii (RSRN), Radix Glehniae (RG) and Fructus Cnidii (FC). Retention components from the extracts in the VSM–CMC model were imperatorin and osthole identified by the GC/MS method. In vitro pharmacological trials indicated that imperatorin and osthole could concentration dependently relax the rat thoracic artery pre-contracted by KCl ( P < 0.05). The maximum relaxation effects ( R max) were 63 ± 5% and 40 ± 6% for imperatorin and osthole, respectively. The VSM/CMC–offline-GC/MS method is an effective screening system that can rapidly detect and enrich target components from a complex sample and then accurately identify them.