Xiangming Sun , Mingyao Zhao , Wei Liang , Hui Song , Zhongyuan Qu , Liyang Sui , Wenlan Li
{"title":"Reverse traceability analysis of estrogenic active ingredients in Cuscutae semen based on intestinal and hepatic metabolism","authors":"Xiangming Sun , Mingyao Zhao , Wei Liang , Hui Song , Zhongyuan Qu , Liyang Sui , Wenlan Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jpba.2025.116819","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As a traditional Chinese medicine for reinforcing kidney, Cuscutae semen can be applied in regulating the level of estrogen. And nine direct-acting substances <em>in vivo</em> with estrogenic effect has been figured out according to our previous research. However, their transformation relationship and the prototype forms of some metabolites are still not clear, impeding the elucidation of the effective substances of Cuscutae semen. In this study, to reveal the metabolic pathways of nine direct-acting substances <em>in vivo</em>, the hepatic and intestinal metabolism of nine monomer components from Cuscutae semen were investigated using liver microsomes of female rats and intestinal flora in ovariectomized rats. Based on ultra performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOFMS) method, a total of 35 hepatic metabolites and three intestinal metabolites were tentatively identified respectively. The proposed metabolic pathways of main metabolites were discussed. Glucuronidation binding reactions played a dominant role in the hepatic metabolism. While in the intestinal metabolism, flavonoid glycosides were hydrolyzed into the aglycones without further phase II metabolic reaction. According to the achievements above, a reverse traceability analysis of the direct-acting substances <em>in vivo</em> was conducted, and the metabolic transformation relationship between the components was clarified except for methylated quercetin glucuronide. It is tentatively speculated that kaempferol, quercetin, apigenin, hyperin, astragalin and isoquercitrin in Cuscutae semen are potential estrogenic effective substances, which can be used as reference for quality control.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16685,"journal":{"name":"Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 116819"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0731708525001608","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, ANALYTICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
As a traditional Chinese medicine for reinforcing kidney, Cuscutae semen can be applied in regulating the level of estrogen. And nine direct-acting substances in vivo with estrogenic effect has been figured out according to our previous research. However, their transformation relationship and the prototype forms of some metabolites are still not clear, impeding the elucidation of the effective substances of Cuscutae semen. In this study, to reveal the metabolic pathways of nine direct-acting substances in vivo, the hepatic and intestinal metabolism of nine monomer components from Cuscutae semen were investigated using liver microsomes of female rats and intestinal flora in ovariectomized rats. Based on ultra performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOFMS) method, a total of 35 hepatic metabolites and three intestinal metabolites were tentatively identified respectively. The proposed metabolic pathways of main metabolites were discussed. Glucuronidation binding reactions played a dominant role in the hepatic metabolism. While in the intestinal metabolism, flavonoid glycosides were hydrolyzed into the aglycones without further phase II metabolic reaction. According to the achievements above, a reverse traceability analysis of the direct-acting substances in vivo was conducted, and the metabolic transformation relationship between the components was clarified except for methylated quercetin glucuronide. It is tentatively speculated that kaempferol, quercetin, apigenin, hyperin, astragalin and isoquercitrin in Cuscutae semen are potential estrogenic effective substances, which can be used as reference for quality control.
期刊介绍:
This journal is an international medium directed towards the needs of academic, clinical, government and industrial analysis by publishing original research reports and critical reviews on pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis. It covers the interdisciplinary aspects of analysis in the pharmaceutical, biomedical and clinical sciences, including developments in analytical methodology, instrumentation, computation and interpretation. Submissions on novel applications focusing on drug purity and stability studies, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic monitoring, metabolic profiling; drug-related aspects of analytical biochemistry and forensic toxicology; quality assurance in the pharmaceutical industry are also welcome.
Studies from areas of well established and poorly selective methods, such as UV-VIS spectrophotometry (including derivative and multi-wavelength measurements), basic electroanalytical (potentiometric, polarographic and voltammetric) methods, fluorimetry, flow-injection analysis, etc. are accepted for publication in exceptional cases only, if a unique and substantial advantage over presently known systems is demonstrated. The same applies to the assay of simple drug formulations by any kind of methods and the determination of drugs in biological samples based merely on spiked samples. Drug purity/stability studies should contain information on the structure elucidation of the impurities/degradants.