Gastrointestinal motility modulation efficacy-related chemical marker findings and QAMS-based quality control of Agastache rugosa

Agastache rugosa (AR), a traditional edible and medicinal herb, is often used for treating gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorder. But little effort has been done on its gastrointestinal motility modulation (GMM) efficacy-related components and quality control of AR. In this study, a novel strategy was proposed to find GMM efficacy-related chemical markers for the quality control of AR. Firstly, network pharmacology and serum pharmacochemistry were applied to predict potential GMM efficacy-related marker components. Secondly, the GMM efficacy-related marker components were verified through literature matching, target isolation/identification and activity evaluation. Lastly, a quantitative analysis of multiple components by a single marker (QAMS)-based method for simultaneous quantification of marker components was established and validated by HPLC–DAD. The results showed that nine components in AR were screened as potential GMM related components, five of which (rosmarinic acid, tilianin, apigenin, acacetin, and cirsimaritin) were matched by literatures, and four (acacetin-7-O-(6''-O-malonyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside, agastachoside, acacetin-7-O-(2''-O-acetyl-6''-O-malonyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside, and isoagastachoside) were chemically identified and newly evaluated on zebrafish model. The nine components were used as marker compounds to develop an effective QAMS-based method for the quantitative evaluation of 26 batches of commercial AR samples.