Medical College of Tibet University, Lasa, 850002, People's Republic of China.
Key Laboratory of Drug-Targeting and Drug Delivery System of the Education Ministry, Sichuan Engineering Laboratory for Plant-Sourced Drug, and Sichuan Research Center for Drug Precision Industrial Technology, West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, People's Republic of China.
Sci Rep. 2023 Feb 15;13(1):2735. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-29631-8.
Fritillaria Cirrhosa Bulbus (known as chuanbeimu in Chinese, FCB) is one of the most used Chinese medicines for lung disease. However, a variety of substitutes have entered the market, with Fritillaria Pallidiflora Bulbus (FPB) being the most common. Due to their similarity in appearance, morphology, and chemical composition but a large price difference, the FCB has frequently been adulterated with the FPB, posing a serious challenge to the distinction and quality of the FCB. Therefore, we aimed to distinguish FCB and FPB based on their main nine isosteroidal alkaloid contents and test the potential of chemometrics as a discrimination approach for evaluating quality. The nine major isosteroidal alkaloids were measured using a liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) approach in 41 batches of FCB and 17 batches of FPB. Additionally, they were categorized and distinguished using the methods of hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). Quantitative analysis revealed that the nine alkaloids were present in different amounts in the two types of Fritillariae bulbus. In FCB, the highest amount was peimisine (17.92-123.53 μg/g) and the lowest was delavine (0.42-29.18 μg/g), while in FPB, imperialine was higher (78.05-344.09 μg/g), but verticinone and verticine were less than the other seven alkaloids. The FCB and FPB were successfully classified and distinguished by the HCA and PCA. Taken together, the method has a good linear relationship (R > 0.9975). The LOD and LOQ of the nine alkaloids were in the range of 0.0651-0.6510 and 0.1953-1.9531 ng/mL, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precision were shown to be excellent, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) below 1.63% and 2.39%, respectively. The LC-MS/MS method in conjunction with HCA and PCA can effectively differentiate FCB and FPB. It may be a promising strategy for quality evaluation and control at the FCB.
川贝母(Chinese medicine,中药)是治疗肺病最常用的药材之一。然而,市场上出现了各种替代品,其中最常见的是浙贝母。由于它们在外观、形态和化学成分上相似,但价格差异巨大,因此川贝母经常被掺假,这对川贝母的鉴别和质量构成了严重挑战。因此,我们旨在基于主要的 9 种甾体生物碱含量来区分川贝母和浙贝母,并测试化学计量学作为一种鉴别方法来评估质量的潜力。使用液相色谱-串联质谱法(LC-MS/MS)在 41 批川贝母和 17 批浙贝母中测定了这 9 种主要甾体生物碱。此外,使用层次聚类分析(HCA)和主成分分析(PCA)对其进行分类和鉴别。定量分析表明,这两种贝母中 9 种生物碱的含量不同。在川贝母中,含量最高的是平贝碱甲(17.92-123.53μg/g),含量最低的是去氢浙贝甲碱(0.42-29.18μg/g),而在浙贝母中,浙贝甲碱含量较高(78.05-344.09μg/g),但浙贝宁和浙贝酮的含量低于其他 7 种生物碱。通过 HCA 和 PCA 成功地对川贝母和浙贝母进行了分类和鉴别。综上所述,该方法具有良好的线性关系(R>0.9975)。9 种生物碱的检出限和定量限范围分别为 0.0651-0.6510 和 0.1953-1.9531ng/mL。日内和日间精密度均表现优异,相对标准偏差(RSD)分别低于 1.63%和 2.39%。LC-MS/MS 法结合 HCA 和 PCA 可有效区分川贝母和浙贝母。它可能是一种有前途的川贝母质量评价和控制策略。