Multicomponent Characterization of the Flower Bud of Panax notoginseng and Its Metabolites in Rat Plasma by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography/Ion Mobility Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 27; no. 24; p. 9049
• Main Authors: Yang, Xiaonan, Xiong, Ying, Wang, Hongda, Jiang, Meiting, Xu, Xiaoyan, Mi, Yueguang, Lou, Jia, Li, Xiaohang, Sun, He, Zhao, Yuying, Li, Xue, Yang, Wenzhi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 19.12.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Animals; Bioinformatics; Cardiovascular diseases; Chinese medicine; Chromatography; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods; Data acquisition; Data processing; Deglycosylation; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - chemistry; flower bud; Flowers; Flowers - chemistry; High definition; High performance liquid chromatography; In vivo methods and tests; Ionic mobility; Ionization; Ions; Liquid chromatography; Mass Spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Metabolic pathways; metabolism; Metabolites; Mobility; multicomponent identification; Oral administration; Oxidation; Panax notoginseng; Panax notoginseng - chemistry; Plasma - chemistry; Quadrupoles; Rats; saponin; Scientific imaging; Spectroscopy; United States > US; Panax notoginseng; metabolism; multicomponent identification; flower bud; saponin
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules27249049

The flower bud of (PNF) consumed as a tonic shows potential in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. To identify the contained multi-components and, in particular, to clarify which components can be absorbed and what metabolites are transformed, unveiling the effective substances of PNF is of vital significance. A unique ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography/ion mobility quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC/IM-QTOF-MS) profiling approach and efficient data processing by the UNIFI bioinformatics platform were employed to comprehensively identify the multi-components of PNF and the related metabolites in the plasma of rats after oral administration (at a dose of 3.6 g/kg). Two MS data acquisition modes operating in the negative electrospray ionization mode, involving high-definition MS (HDMS ) and data-dependent acquisition (DDA), were utilized aimed to extend the coverage and simultaneously ensure the quality of the MS spectra. As a result, 219 components from PNF were identified or tentatively characterized, and 40 thereof could be absorbed. Moreover, 11 metabolites were characterized from the rat plasma. The metabolic pathways mainly included the phase I (deglycosylation and oxidation). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that systematically studies the in vivo metabolites of PNF, which can assist in better understanding its tonifying effects and benefit its further development.