Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.
Department of Pathology, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.
PLoS One. 2021 Jul 7;16(7):e0254273. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254273. eCollection 2021.
The worldwide traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herbs sales figures have increased considerably to 50 billion US$ (2018). Astragali Radix (AR) is amongst the most often sold TCM herbs; sales in the European Union (EU) need European Medicines Agency (EMA) approval. However, comparisons of characteristic bioactive molecules concentrations in AR from different EU vendors are lacking. This study uses liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) with standard addition to evaluate the influence of different sample and preparation types and ammonia treatment on bioactive molecules concentrations in AR. We also compare AR samples from different EU-vendors. Astragaloside IV (AG-IV), ononin and calycosin 7-O-β-D-glucoside concentrations were higher in root powder samples when extracted with boiled water than with ultrasonication using 70% methanol. AG-IV content was by far the highest in granulates from vendor 1 (202 ± 35 μg/g) but very low in hydrophilic concentrates from vendor 1 (32 ± 7 μg/g) and granulates from vendor 4 (36 ± 3 μg/g). Ammonia-treatment significantly increased AG-IV concentrations in all samples (e.g., to 536 ± 178 μg/g in vendor 1 granulates). Comparable effects were found for most other bioactive molecules. AG-IV and other bioactive molecules concentrations differed strongly depending on sample types, extraction processes, ammonia treatment-or-not and especially between different vendors samples. Ammonia-treatment is debatable, as it is supposed to convert other astragalosides, to AG-IV. The results indicate that routine quantitative analysis of major bioactive compounds present in AR, helps in quality control of AR and to guarantee the quality of commercial products.
全球中药材销售额已大幅增长至 500 亿美元（2018 年）。黄芪（AR）是最常销售的中药材之一；在欧盟（EU）销售需要获得欧洲药品管理局（EMA）的批准。然而，缺乏不同欧盟供应商的 AR 中特征生物活性分子浓度的比较。本研究使用液相色谱-串联质谱（LC-MS/MS）结合标准添加法，评估不同样品和制备类型以及氨处理对 AR 中生物活性分子浓度的影响。我们还比较了来自不同欧盟供应商的 AR 样品。在使用沸水提取时，根粉样品中的黄芪甲苷 IV（AG-IV）、芒柄花素和毛蕊异黄酮 7-O-β-D-葡萄糖苷浓度高于超声提取用 70%甲醇。AG-IV 的含量在供应商 1 的颗粒剂中最高（202 ± 35 μg/g），但在供应商 1 的亲水性浓缩物（32 ± 7 μg/g）和供应商 4 的颗粒剂中（36 ± 3 μg/g）则非常低。氨处理显著增加了所有样品中的 AG-IV 浓度（例如，供应商 1 的颗粒剂中增加到 536 ± 178 μg/g）。其他大多数生物活性分子也发现了类似的效果。AG-IV 和其他生物活性分子浓度因样品类型、提取过程、氨处理与否以及尤其是不同供应商的样品而异而有很大差异。氨处理存在争议，因为它据称会将其他黄芪苷转化为 AG-IV。结果表明，常规定量分析 AR 中存在的主要生物活性化合物，有助于 AR 的质量控制，并保证商业产品的质量。
