Weiwen Chen
Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, China
Title: UPLC-Q-TOF/MS-based screening and identification of the main alkaloids and their metabolites in rat plasma,urine and feces after oral administration of Zanthoxylum nitidum decoction
Biography
Biography: Weiwen Chen
Abstract
Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC (Rutaceae), called Liangmianzhen in China, is used traditionally for several medicinal purposes. Its pharmacological effect have been primarily attributed to the presence of a number of alkaloids. However, due to lack of metabolism research, its main bioactive alkaloids in vivo is still unknown. A systematic method based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) technique combined with MetabolitePilot software was developed to speculate the metabolites and excretion profiles of the main alkaloids in Zanthoxylum nitidum decoction in rats plasma, urine and feces samples after oral administration of the decoction. As a result, 6 parent components and a total of 18 metabolites of 3 main alkaloids including magnoflorine (MF), α-allocryptopine (AC) and skimmianine (SA) were tentatively detected in vivo. All metabolites were detected including hydroxylated, demethylated, ketonization products and their sulfate and glucuronide conjugates. 11 metabolites were from the rat plasma, 14 from the urine and 8 from the feces. Among them, metabolites of AC and SA were reported firstly. In conclusion, the research provided useful information for further study of the pharmacology and mechanism of action of Zanthoxylum nitidum decoction in vivo.