Koh H L, Wang H, Zhou S, Chan E, Woo S O
Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore 18 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore.
J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2006 Feb 24;40(3):653-61. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2005.08.001. Epub 2005 Sep 15.
Problems with identification and labeling of medicinal plants, as well as substitution/adulteration of non-toxic plants by toxic ones have previously led to cancer, renal failure and even deaths. The non-toxic Stephania tetrandra (Fangji) has been known to be substituted by Aristolochia fangchi (Guang fangji), which contains the nephrotoxic and carcinogenic aristolochic acid (AA). In this study, 10 samples of "Fangji" were bought from local medicinal shops. HPLC-DAD chromatographic fingerprints of each methanol extract were compared with those of A. fangchi and S. tetrandra, using aristolochic acid I (AAI), tetrandrine and fangchinoline as marker compounds. Nine of the samples were found to be similar to A. fangchi. The presence of AAI in the nine samples was confirmed using LC-MS/MS. Neither tetrandrine nor fangchinoline were detected in these samples. The methods developed in this study allow the simultaneous detection of AAI, fangchinoline and tetrandrine. The results suggest possible substitution of S. tetrandra by A. fangchi at wholesale or retail level. This study highlights the importance of greater control of medicinal plants with toxic components as these may still be readily accessible to the public.
药用植物的鉴定和标签问题，以及无毒植物被有毒植物替代/掺假的情况，此前已导致癌症、肾衰竭甚至死亡。已知无毒的防己（粉防己）已被含有肾毒性和致癌性马兜铃酸（AA）的广防己替代。在本研究中，从当地药店购买了10份“防己”样品。以马兜铃酸I（AAI）、粉防己碱和防己诺林碱为标记化合物，将各甲醇提取物的HPLC-DAD色谱指纹图谱与广防己和粉防己的指纹图谱进行比较。发现其中9份样品与广防己相似。使用LC-MS/MS确认了这9份样品中存在AAI。在这些样品中未检测到粉防己碱和防己诺林碱。本研究建立的方法可同时检测AAI、防己诺林碱和粉防己碱。结果表明，在批发或零售层面可能存在广防己替代粉防己的情况。本研究强调了加强对含有有毒成分的药用植物管控的重要性，因为公众仍可能很容易获取这些植物。
