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A comprehensive investigation on the chemical changes of traditional Chinese medicine with classic processing technology: Polygonum multiflorum under nine cycles of steaming and sunning as a case study

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Abstract

The processing of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays an important role in the clinical application, which usually has the function of "increasing efficiency and reducing toxicity". Polygonum multiflorum (PM) has been reported to induce hepatotoxicity, while it is believed that the toxicity is reduced after processing. Studies have shown that the hepatotoxicity of PM is closely related to the changes in chemical components before and after processing. However, there is no comprehensive investigation on the chemical changes of PM during the processing progress. In this research, we established a comprehensive method to profile both small molecule compounds and polysaccharides from raw and different processed PM samples. In detail, an online two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry (2D-LC/Q-Orbitrap MS) was utilized to investigate the small molecules, and a total of 150 compounds were characterized successfully. After multivariate statistical analysis, 49 differential compounds between raw and processed products were screened out. Furthermore, an accurate and comprehensive method for quantification of differential compounds in PM samples was established based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/Q-Orbitrap-MS (UHPLC/Q-Orbitrap-MS) within 16 min. In addition, the changes of polysaccharides in different PM samples were analyzed, and it was found that the addition of black beans and steaming times would affect the content and composition of polysaccharides in PM significantly. Our work provided a reference basis for revealing the scientific connotation of the processing technology and increasing the quality control and safety of PM.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82274362), and the Tianjin key project of traditional Chinese medicine (2022008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Haihe Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, 301617, China

    Xinyu Fan, Lin Zhou, Yanchao Xing, Liming Wang, Zixin Zhang, Zhifei Fu & Lifeng Han

  2. State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement of Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China

    Xinyu Fan, Xu Zhang & Caixiang Liu

  3. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035, China

    Yanchao Xing

  4. The Natural Science Research Institute, Department of Food and Nutrition, Myongji University, Yongin, 17058, Korea

    Shin Sik Choi

  5. Department of Clinical Laboratory, Nankai University Affiliated Third Central Hospital, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Extracorporeal Life Support for Critical Diseases, Artificial Cell Engineering Technology Research Center of Tianjin, Tianjin Institute of Hepatobiliary Disease, Tianjin, 300170, China

    Yu Zhu

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  1. Xinyu Fan
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Fan, X., Zhou, L., Xing, Y. et al. A comprehensive investigation on the chemical changes of traditional Chinese medicine with classic processing technology: Polygonum multiflorum under nine cycles of steaming and sunning as a case study. Anal Bioanal Chem 416, 1733–1744 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05177-0

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