Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210028, PR China.
Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210028, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Department of Chinese Medicines Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, PR China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2020 Jun 28;256:112799. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2020.112799. Epub 2020 Mar 31.
Sulfur-fumigation has been developed to prevent insects and molds during post-harvest handling of Panax ginseng C.A. Mey (ginseng) in the near decades. Our previous study indicated sulfur-fumigation could transform ginsenosides, the active components of ginseng, into sulfur-containing derivatives (SFCDs), the artifacts with unknown toxicity. However, whether the biotransformation could be occurred and absorption characteristics between ginsenosides and SFCDs are still needed to further investigate.
To evaluate the effect of sulfur-fumigation process on ginseng through comparing the metabolic profile and absorption characteristics between ginsenoside Rg1, Re and their SFCDs.
Intestinal microflora and liver S9 fraction were utilized to compare the metabolic profile, and single-pass intestinal perfusion and Caco-2 cell models were applied to compare the absorption characteristics, between Rg1, Re and their SFCDs.
Rg1 and Re were metabolized to 7 none sulfur-containing metabolites, while their SFCDs were metabolized to 18 sulfur-containing metabolites. The intestinal absorption and transport of Rg1 and Re were much greater than their SFCDs. Besides, the uptakes of Rg1 and Re were transport-dependent, but their SFCDs were non-transport-dependent.
Ginsenosides and their SFCDs could not be bio-transformed with each other and their absorption characteristics were quite different, which suggested that sulfur-fumigation is not a feasible post-harvest process of ginseng.
在过去几十年中，硫磺熏蒸已被开发用于预防人参（Panax ginseng C.A. Mey）收获后的虫害和霉菌。我们之前的研究表明，硫磺熏蒸可以将人参中的活性成分人参皂苷转化为含硫衍生物（SFCDs），这些人工制品的毒性未知。然而，是否会发生生物转化以及人参皂苷和 SFCDs 之间的吸收特征仍需要进一步研究。
通过比较人参皂苷 Rg1、Re 及其 SFCDs 的代谢谱和吸收特征，评估硫磺熏蒸过程对人参的影响。
利用肠道微生物群和肝 S9 部分比较 Rg1、Re 及其 SFCDs 的代谢谱，采用单次肠灌流和 Caco-2 细胞模型比较它们的吸收特征。
Rg1 和 Re 被代谢为 7 种非含硫代谢物，而它们的 SFCDs 被代谢为 18 种含硫代谢物。Rg1 和 Re 的肠道吸收和转运明显大于其 SFCDs。此外，Rg1 和 Re 的摄取是依赖转运的，但它们的 SFCDs 是非依赖转运的。
人参皂苷及其 SFCDs 不能相互生物转化，它们的吸收特征也有很大差异，这表明硫磺熏蒸不是一种可行的人参收获后处理方法。
