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Comprehensive profiling of the chemical components and potential markers in raw and processed Cistanche tubulosa by combining ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry and MS/MS-based molecular networking

Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry volume 413, pages 129–139 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Chinese materia medica processing is a distinguished and unique pharmaceutical technique in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which has played an important role in reducing side effects, increasing medical potencies, altering the properties and even changing the curative effects of raw herbs. The efficacy improvement in medicinal plants is mainly caused by changes in the key substances through an optimized processing procedure. Thus, the use of a rapid method for determining suitable chemical markers between raw and processed TCM is critical in order to elucidate how the bioactive compounds influence the clinical effects. In this study, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry combined with MS/MS-based molecular networking (MN) and a multivariate statistical analysis method is proposed for the first time. This combination was used to identify the complex chemical composition and clarify the changed constituents between raw and processed Cistanche tubulosa (C. tubulosa). The chemical analysis results demonstrated that a total of 85 compounds were identified in the crude and processed C. tubulosa. Moreover, 34 compounds were detected as chemical markers. This systematic research into chemical constituents and chemical markers of crude and processed C. tubulosa lays a solid foundation for further study of the quality control of C. tubulosa. Moreover, the study provides a new and valuable technical strategy for analyzing chemical components and identifying potential chemical markers for the processing of herbal medicines.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by Professor of Chang Jiang Scholars Program, NSFC(81520108030, 21472238), Shanghai Engineering Research Center for the Preparation of Bioactive Natural Products (16DZ2280200), the Scientific Foundation of Shanghai China (13401900103, 13401900101), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFC1700200), National Science and Technology Major Project (2019ZX09201005-007-003).

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Author notes

  1. Huibo Lei and Yuhao Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Affiliations

  1. Institute of Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1200 Cai-Lun Road, Shanghai, 201203, China

    Huibo Lei, Yuhao Zhang & Weidong Zhang

  2. School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Xianpeng Zu, Ji Ye & Weidong Zhang

  3. Guangyuyuan Chinese Medicine Co., Ltd., Taigu, 030800, Shanxi, China

    Yanlin Liang

  4. School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Taofang Cheng & Weidong Zhang

Authors
  1. Huibo Lei
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  2. Yuhao Zhang
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  3. Xianpeng Zu
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  4. Ji Ye
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Correspondence to Taofang Cheng or Weidong Zhang.

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Lei, H., Zhang, Y., Zu, X. et al. Comprehensive profiling of the chemical components and potential markers in raw and processed Cistanche tubulosa by combining ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry and MS/MS-based molecular networking. Anal Bioanal Chem 413, 129–139 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02983-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02983-0

Keywords

  • Chinese materia medica processing
  • C. tubulosa
  • Chemical markers
  • MS/MS-based molecular networking
  • Multivariate statistical analysis