Zhu Jinfeng, Yu Wenyi, Xu Qing, Liu Hongjiang, Zhang Sha, Liu Yanfang, Shen Aijin, Liang Xinmiao
Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory for Pharmacodynamic Material Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ganjiang Chinese Medicine Innovation Center, Nanchang, China.
State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Natural Medicines, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China.
J Sep Sci. 2025 Aug;48(8):e70247. doi: 10.1002/jssc.70247.
The therapeutic efficacy of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) is intrinsically linked to their quality. Differentiating Dao-di medicinal materials from non-Dao-di ones is essential for ensuring the authenticity, superior quality, and therapeutic efficacy of TCMs. Corydalis decumbens (Thunb.) Pers. (C. decumbens) is a renowned traditional Chinese medicinal herb widely employed in clinical practice for treating various diseases, including blood stasis, stroke, hemiplegia, rheumatoid arthritis, and headache. To date, few studies have addressed the geographical origin differentiation of C. decumbens, and the specific chemical constituents responsible for regional variations remain unclear. In this study, a UHPLC-HRMS (ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry) method, in combination with chemometric tools, was developed for the comprehensive profiling of C. decumbens collected from various geographical regions. First, an in-depth characterization of C. decumbens was performed using the established UHPLC-HRMS method. By integrating database matching, fragmentation pathway elucidation, and comparison with authentic standards, a total of 151 compounds were identified, including 131 isoquinoline alkaloids. More specifically, 86 of these compounds were reported in C. decumbens for the first time, including eight isoquinoline alkaloids bearing previously unreported substituent combinations. Based on the identified compounds, principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were performed to distinguish 33 batches of C. decumbens derived from six geographical origins. The analysis revealed that alkaloids were the primary discriminative constituents contributing to origin differentiation. This work has expanded the chemical foundation of C. decumbens and offers valuable insights into quality control and geographical origin discrimination research.
中药的治疗效果与其质量有着内在联系。区分道地药材与非道地药材对于确保中药的正宗性、卓越品质和治疗效果至关重要。夏天无（Corydalis decumbens (Thunb.) Pers.）是一种著名的传统中草药，广泛应用于临床实践，用于治疗各种疾病，包括血瘀、中风、偏瘫、类风湿性关节炎和头痛。迄今为止，很少有研究涉及夏天无的地理来源鉴别，导致区域差异的具体化学成分仍不清楚。在本研究中，开发了一种超高效液相色谱-高分辨率质谱（UHPLC-HRMS）方法，并结合化学计量学工具，对从不同地理区域采集的夏天无进行全面的成分分析。首先，使用已建立的UHPLC-HRMS方法对夏天无进行深入表征。通过整合数据库匹配、碎片途径解析以及与标准品比较，共鉴定出151种化合物，其中包括131种异喹啉生物碱。更具体地说，这些化合物中有86种是首次在夏天无中报道，包括8种具有先前未报道取代基组合的异喹啉生物碱。基于鉴定出的化合物，进行主成分分析（PCA）和正交偏最小二乘判别分析（OPLS-DA），以区分来自六个地理来源的33批夏天无。分析表明，生物碱是导致产地差异的主要鉴别成分。这项工作扩展了夏天无的化学基础，并为质量控制和地理来源鉴别研究提供了有价值的见解。
